Sabbatical Week 19

Opening

Last week in Indonesia – Lombok, lots of pain and lots of memories. Rinjani is amazing.

Day 1

Another travel day.

I managed to tag along with the Scottish girls to the ferry terminal to go to Gili Islands (500k for 3)

Unfortunately, upon arriving at the harbor I encountered probably the worst experience in my whole travel.

The taxi driver dropped us to a ticket tout who’s trying to sell us inflated ferry tickets which we already knew the correct price for. The tout would not leave us alone and started cursing at us after being told not to follow.

After realizing we were not going buy his scam, he started saying something like “don’t come to Bali if you don’t have money”… The most scary part was him tried to take pictures of me and saying he’d follow me forever. What a cunt.

The long wait for the ferry to arrive didn’t exactly help either. I told the guesthouse about our experience, the owner apologized profusely and told me I should have called him right away. This is a good advise and also next time I should just inform the tout that we have a reservation already.

Though both the girls and I booked the same hotel, I was told that they needed their alone time. Fair enough – (perhaps I didn’t take the signal well enough earlier on and thus made the situation more awkward than it should have been)

I took a walk around the beach.

It’s indeed lovely, Gili Air is so laid back. No motor vehicles at all on the island. The weather is noticeably drier which makes it pleasant throughout the day. The overcast is a nice addition to act as a natural sunblock as well.

Found this beef Randang at a local restaurant.

Then a local key bar for an evening relaxation.

called it a night, it’s just perfect.

Day 2

Hopped on a boat from a half day snorkeling (150k), even though it’s cloudy but I somehow got sunburn which peeled off a bit trunk of my back skin. Maybe I should always something underwater?

Unfortunately, I didn’t have any underwater photos. It’s amazing to see Dory fish and turtles.

We were taken an isolated area where we were supposed to eat at this very low rating restaurant presumably expensive with kickbacks to the boat operator. I decided to organize the girls for some local treats.

After a break, we decided to meet up for sunset.

Then we found this amazing Italian restaurant for dinner.

Both the pasta and the pizza dough were freshly made.

Lots of lovely service workers are relaxing end of the day. This is exactly I was looking for this trip. Low key island life, good weather, good food.

As much as I wanted to stay for more days, my visa was running out. I made the hardest decision this trip to forego the island and in pursue something more memory – summiting Rinjani

Day 3

Bittersweet to get to the harbor to wait for my Lombok ferry. It’s okay 10min ride (18k), however, it needed to gather 35 people to operate. I could take a fast boat. I had doubted it was going to save time due to the Bali experience.

After about 2 hours wait, finally enough people was gathered (I was the first one signed up, but last one to board due to lack of communications)

I was picked up by my 3D2N summit tour (3m, about $200. I overpaid a little. Others in my group paid 2.8m) operator right away at the port.

Upon arriving, I was offered to do a mini hike to see the local waterfalls.

Though it was nice to walk around a bit after the transfers, my tour guide which happened to be the trip organizer seemed to be less energetic the whole time. He wasn’t trying to push me to finish but on the other hand he kept the interaction to the minimal. Since I was the only person in the group, it was a bit odd. (This part was done by the organizer, not the real tour operator hence why I didn’t get to have others joining)

I hadn’t had lunch at this point yet, just wanted to get everything done before settling in to my guesthouse.

There were some guides hanging out at the guesthouse, they were both legends and friendly as well. Offered me tons of local drinks plus showing off their singing and guitar skills. One guy, who had a band years before, wanted me to stay for extra days. He’s really sweet, got that charisma and attractively tall. Unfortunately due to logistics (I had to be transferred near to the airport since it was included) and visa, I had to say no. Bittersweet, it was definitely a memorable night – small town charm.

Day 4

Waking up at 6:30 to get breakfast and ready for the climb.

We got a great start – a bit overcast to act as shades

There were 6 of us (2 British, 2 Arabic French, 1 Swiss), off the bet the Arabs were just outliers, didn’t want to be in the pictures and went straight up without waiting or caring for us. Though I later found out they were doing Ramadan and were actually funny.

In just under 2 hours, we arrived at our rest stop for lunch. It was quite easy at this point.

We had one guide plus 3 porters for our group. The porters were all just wearing flip fops. I really have to appreciate the gourmet kitchen up in the mountains.

After the lunch, we continued on climbing. At this point we were to cheerful without realizing the storm was closing in

The rain started pouring in, and I didn’t take pictures and the last mile climbing the crater was hard. It was about 800m gain in a bit over 1 hour.

The porters were faster than us and even set up the tents for us. By the time we arrived, we were all exhausted. It’s down-pouring and no sunset for us (it would probably be epic)

Right around dinner time, the cloud started a dissipate a little.

Dinner!

The temperature was around 15C, so the hot curry was exactly what’s needed.

It was still really early by the time I went to bed (8pm). with the volcanic rocks on the ground and not so paddy floor mat, it wasn’t the most comfortable thing to sleep on. I probably had a shut eye for 2 hours. (I also had way too much water intake that required me to use the toilets all night long)

The climb for the day was about 1500m gain for 7km distance. This is more than Mailbox Peak (a trail in WA) though it’s one way only.

Day 5

Got up at 1am for a mini breakfast. My guide decided to join the Arabs to fast. They had to prepare an extra meal to be eaten at 3:30am before sunrise. The summit was 1100m gain in under 3km. This is intense 45degree climb most of the time.

The first hour of the climb was uneventful since it was completely dark.

I probably had to pee on the crater for like 5-6 times, I was just downing all the water possible to help with the climb. Didn’t take many photos for the next 2 hours.

Finally at around a bit past 5am, I arrived at the summit. I was the last one up in our group. I think I was the only Asian tourist that made it, nevertheless.

So far this was already the most difficult climb I’ve done. This is more than Mt. Kinabalu where the ascend was around 2100m. Rinjani is 2500m!

Finally got to see the surroundings

Took our time to do a bit more photos before going down

With the sunlight, I could finally see what I have accomplished.

I didn’t take many photos at this point but just soaked myself in sun and enjoying the views.

We got back to our campsites where we had a bit more hot tea and breakfast (so much needed) before heading to the lake / hotspring

The two Brits were so not prepared for the wildness, they were definitely city people. They actually wanted to bail out instead of camping for another night. Logistics wise it’s just very difficult, and the hot spring was really what motivated her to continue.

The rain had started again at this point, and going down wasn’t exactly a cat walk. It’s very rocky and deep in steps.

The British couple kept bitching about the tour and the guide as well, this entire time. It’s basically way harder than they had thought. but, who forced then go come? Also, sometimes the guide downplayed the challenge to motivate children a bit.

The steepest part was over at this point. It’s about 800m descend in 3km. In just about 3hours, we arrived at the lake (it was so misty and rainy that I didn’t take any pictures of the lake at all).

Our porters already prepared our lunch, with the rainstorm no one was in the mood to hike more. Some groups chose to stay at the lake. I wish we could have done that. The lake would have been quite enjoyable.

Our shoes were completely soaked especially we had to cross the wrist deep river. I changed in to sandals per recommendations from our guide.

After lunch, we went to the “hot” spring.

Sun came out a bit which cheered us up.

We stopped taking any more photos, the following 3 hours were just pure torture (I changed to my slippers in lieu of my wet shoes). We had to climb up another 800m in 3km in storms and thunders. Trail was in very bad conditions where fallen trees everywhere. We were just completely out of energy and just wanted to get the whole thing over.

It’s almost completely dark by the time we arrived at the campground, it’s extremely tight in space and no toilet tent was set up.

The tents were up already, so we just hang out in the tents the rest of the evening with the guide delivering water and food for us and I occasionally got up to urinate on the crater in dark.

I felt asleep in 5 seconds after dinner while the Swiss guy was still conversing with me.

11hr straight hike up and down – this was like two Mailbox Peak in a single day. Needless to say, I slept for 12 hours for the day.

Day 6

Though not exactly comfortable but it was a good rest and everyone was up happy again.

After breakfast, we started our 7 hour descend.

It wasn’t bad to climb up with my sandals, but coming down with loose rocks were a bad idea. I got blisters very quickly.

This was where I started fallen behind. I changed into my wet shoes and endued the next 3 hours before lunch. It’s through the rainforest, quite similar to most trails in WA. There wasn’t really much photo opportunities. It’s enjoyable in dry condition, and not too steep.

I wish I had more photos to share. The last two hours were pretty miserable, It’s probably one of the biggest storms I’ve seen. I got a leech bite as well. The trail was just flowing like a river bank. After lunch, we tipped and said goodbye to our porters.

It’s about 1800m descend in about 9km.

Total:

TrailMap (Length 22.1 mi Elevation gain 11,040 ft Route type Point to point)

Finally thought on Rinjani

Adding on extra day would probably make the experience much more enjoyable. Particularly, I think camping by the lake the second day would be a great.

Further, I think it would be nice to have everyone met up the night before with the guide to know each other and having the guide checking on gears and essentials. Having prepared for more wet weather conditions would have made a huge difference in between a pure torture vs. enjoyable journey.

Lastly, having accurate description of the trail condition (where they were portions of the trail underwater) and weather pattern (early April can be very wet) can help with the trip planning a lot. I probably would have chosen a different time to climb, frankly. I ended up having to throw away my shoes and paid quite a bit money to have my wet clothes properly washed in Malaysia.

It’s dry again at the bottom, ironically. My group decided to go to the harbor where to ferry welled to each other and I continued my transfer at a hotel near the airport

Had a nice meal and called it a day. (though my hotel didn’t have a window and the AC was loud. I was too tired to care. It’s $12 a night anyways.)

Day 7

Checked out at around noon. It’s Ramadan, so breakfast wasn’t offered. I went to the airport early for my flight back to KL in hope that the lounge would have decent food.

The lounge was alright, food was a bit cold but adequate. I was the last passenger in the lounge. Right after 5:30pm, we started boarding

The rest of the night was just arriving and training to the KL city center. Checked into a 4-star hotel for a treat before my next adventure!

The hotel was a good redemption by taking advantage of the one night free. I paid 36,500 in Marriotts points which would have been $281 using 0.77cpp.

Expenses

Week 19	Currency:	INR	15
Day	Food&Drink	Lodging	Transportation	Other (tickets/tours etc)
1	$11.67	$20.42	$28.32	$0.00
2	$27.27	$20.42	$0.00	$14.67
3	$5.33	$0.00	$1.20	$214.33
4	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00
5	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00
6	$5.67	$12.41	$0.00	$13.33
7	$7.21	$60.27	$97.38	$0.00
	$57.14	$113.52	$126.90	$242.33
	Total		Grand Total:	$539.90