The writer and his wife before their hiking adventures began. — Photos: COLIN CHAN
Ever since I was young, I have always been fascinated by volcanoes and the fact that they are both beautiful and deadly. This was the main reason why my wife and I climbed Mount Rinjani in Lombok, Indonesia recently.
At a height of 3,726m, Mount Rinjani is the second highest – and active – volcano in the Indonesian archipelago. It has some stunning views, too.
We flew to Lombok from Kuala Lumpur, and then made our way to a village called Senaru, where we stayed the night at a guesthouse. We met up with a local guide, who briefed us about our trip and made sure that we had everything we needed.
The next day, we got up early to meet the guide as well as a team of porters. Our trip was going to take three days, so the porters had to pack and carry all the necessary supplies, including gallons of water, food, cooking utensils and camping equipment. We took an open-top pickup truck and headed to the Gunung Rinjani National Park office, located at Sembalun. I thought the ride was fun as it traversed through the lush tropical forest and some snaking roads.
Upon arrival at the office, we had to do a quick medical check-up to make sure that we were fit enough for the trek.
Our guide had planned for us to hike to three checkpoints, before heading to the designated camp site located on the crater rim. We were to sleep or rest there for one night, and then ascend to the summit early the next morning before sunrise.
It seemed like a manageable plan.
The hike from the first checkpoint was relatively easy and quick – it only took us about an hour to pass through a large savannah with little to no shaded area. We continued for another two hours, reaching the second checkpoint just in time for lunch. The porters swiftly set up the “kitchen” area and prepared our meals right in front of us. It was amazing to see how efficiently they worked together.
The porters had to carry necessary supplies like water, food and camping equipment, up the trail.
After the second checkpoint and all the way past the third, the trail started getting steeper and more strenuous as we were moving towards the highlands. The temperature, too, had dropped, and the surroundings had also changed. We started seeing different flora and even fauna.
After walking for about eight hours, we finally reached the crater rim at 4.30pm. Our porters were already there, setting up camp for everyone.
From the camp site we could see the beautiful Anak Segara lake, as well as the whole mountain range, including Mount Rinjani. The temperature had dropped to 10°C, and following our guide’s advice, we quickly had our dinner and went to bed soon after.
At 2am, our guide woke us up and told us to get ready for the final hike to the summit. A simple hot meal and coffee were already waiting for us outside to give us some energy for the hike.
We had to wear a thicker jacket and headlamps, as well as use walking poles to continue our hike in the dark. There were other hikers at the camp site who were also going to the summit, and the fact that we could only see tiny dots of light coming from their headlamps along trail was surreal.
As if the darkness was not enough, the hike was also not an easy one as we just kept going up. After four hours of non-stop hiking, things were starting to take a toll on me mentally. I kept wondering, “When will I see a flat path? When will this ascend end?”
The final 500m of the ascend was the worst for me – I was in sheer pain and agony by then. The trail comprises loose volcanic rocks and fine sand, which means that for every two steps taken forward, you are bound to slide one step back!
But, even though this part of the trail was extremely exhausting and frustrating, my wife and I continued to push ourselves and kept reminding one another that “we will get there”.
Our confidence and strength grew as we started getting closer to the summit, and hearing these words of encouragement from fellow hikers: “Semangat! Semangat!”.
When we finally made it, we were so relieved and proud of our achievement. However, it was extremely cold at the top so we could only spend about 15 minutes there, admiring the breathtaking views of the mountain range. We also had to jostle through the crowd of hikers in order to take some pictures of just the two of us, holding the Mount Rinjani signboard.
Once we were done we had to start our hike back down, which I initially thought was going to be easy, or at least easier that going up the summit. How wrong I was! It was just as difficult, or perhaps even more because by then my knees had started to hurt a lot.
So we took our time going down and when we finally reached the foothill, we celebrated our hard work and successful ascend to the top of Mount Rinjani.
The couple standing proud and tall at the summit of Mount Rinjani. — Photos: COLIN CHAN
I believe that climbing a mountain is 40% endurance and 60% mental strength. Also, having a good support team with you is important, too, and my wife and I are grateful for all the help we got from our guide and porters.
Looking back, I must say that the experiences I had gained during that trip were indeed very special and the fact that I did it with my partner made it priceless. I am all ready for my next climbing adventure.
The views expressed are entirely the reader’s own.
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