Lombok Part 1

Gunung (Mountain) Rinjani is located on an island called Lombok. The birth of Lombok is closely related to the “Gunung” which is also one of the volcanoes in the “Ring of Fire” region. I believe many are unsure about the locality of the island. Lombok is at the east of Bali, the touristy island which was bombed on 12^th Oct 2002 and 1^st Oct 2005. One can easily visit Lombok by taking a flight to Mataram or boat from Bali.

I spent ten days at Lombok and the Gili islands. The journey began on 17^th Sep, the day I completed my blog on Africa. It is indeed cool to keep traveling from one destination to another. Especially, when there is not shortage of good companies. The trek to Indonesia second highest volcano was organized by SAFRA and Ace Adventure. Mr Jack and Ms Joanne who respectively represent their organization were the advance party for the trip.

Using the Krisflyer mileage which I accumulated while studying at Brisbane, I save myself $220 when I took the Silk Air flight to Mataram. It was evening when I landed on the Indonesian island. While Indonesia share the same time zone as that of Singapore, the sun set earlier as it is about “two hours flight” East of Singapore.

If “Resting is for a longer journey”, I believe “Food and Water are essential for trekking a mountain”. Joanne brought the group of 16 trekkers to a restaurant next to Mataram Mall for the local delight and Jack encourage the team to drink more water as the humidity is relatively low compare to Singapore. I got to know two of the climbers Alan Soh and Patrick Poh better when we shared room for the first night. Mr Patrick could be annoyingly talkative! It was difficult to send the message “Let’s Sleep!” into his little brain.

With wake up call from the nearby mosque and pre dawn attack of the mosquitoes, we woke up for earlier than plan for the breakfast is provided by Indradi Guest House. Two vans were catered to ferry the total of 18 trekkers including Joanne and Jack to Sembalun Lawang at about 1100m ASL. Due to a little miscommunication between the drivers, the vans took different route to the “Garlic Village”. Nevertheless, both parties meet up at about 3 hours 30 minutes later.

Indonesian has an interesting way of serving food. They would cook all the food one ordered, keep them in the kitchen and serve them all together. It is probably their idea of having meal together. It is about 3pm when everyone taken their lunch and we started ordering the dinner immediately after we took our lunch. We moved on the visitors’ centre near our lodge and learn about the geographical history of one of the 155 volcanoes in Indonesia.

18^th Sep 2005 coincide with the Chinese Moon Cake festival on lunar calendar. We shared moon cakes, lanterns and little game of mahjong before hitting the bed under the concrete shelter.

I woke up early again, not because of mosquitoes or mosque, but to passion to view sun rise. The team set off the climb to the crater rim camp at close to 2640m ASL the next day at close to 7:30am, the team of 18 is supported by 16 porters and guides. Porters of Lombok adopted a unique manner of transporting logistic. They tied bags, food, bottled water, tents on both end of a thick bamboo, and balance the weight on the shoulder.

Among the rest of the climbers, I also know Ivy, Karen and Thiam Huat. It is important to good companies for trip, else I rather travel alone. The ten hours walk is slow paced and pretty relaxing. However for people has not been stretching his muscles regularly, muscle cramp is part of the trek. With a luxurious 90 minutes lunch break during the climb the team enjoyed better scenery while ascending.

Reaching the Rim Camp at about 5:15pm, we rested for a while before the Jack herd the “endurance” climber to the camp site just before sun set at 6pm. There is something I like to compliment the Indonesian logistic support team, they always remember meat protein as part of the meal essential.

The moon rise at about 7:15pm, temperature at the 2640m ASL could drop to about 12-15c as the wind began to howl and moon continue to shine. My friends kept the sprit high to combat the surrounding ambient. The neighbouring team thought resting is important, we returned to our tents shortly after we were advised on the volume of the conversation.

We woke up at about 3am for a very early breakfast and left at 4am for the summit bid. Unlike traditional summit, summit of Rinjani is the highest point part of the volcano rim. Nevertheless, it is the best place to view the caldera, volcano depression, of the mountain which used to stand 5000m tall. The 1000m climb is not difficult, but the final stretch to the 3726m pinnacle can be a little strenuous due to the scree slope. Personally, I think I can handle scree slope well. BUT for descent not accent. Probably the best way to tackle a scree slope is to place every footing steadily on the fine sand. Resting the foot on a loose rock could be dangerous for climbers behind. The climb is interesting with the sun rising and Mount A-Gung, Bali holy volcano emerge from at a distance.

I was having the best view of Lombok at about 8:50am. Well….. How can one keep track of the time during trip? With digital camera, keep snapping. After taking many shots, the team is happy to descent. It is only during the period when the sun is high that I took the opportunity of closing at Switzerland national flower, Edelweiss, more closely. Reaching the camp site at volcano rim, I see the pest of Gunung Rinjani!!!