Alang-Alang and the view of Rinjani
Cows from the village
Beautiful Butterfly
Vegetable Farm with the green houses
Our porters preparing lunch
While waiting for lunch
Day 1 Lunch
Edelweiss: A symbol of love
The sandy narrow lane to Ultimate Summit
The path behind and the sea beyond
Day 1 Camp in the setting sun
Tent for us
Other hikers around
The landmark of Capm site (Plawangan II crater rim)
Indonesia is blessed with awesome natural resources and Mount Rinjani is one of them. Starting on 22nd June, 14 of us went for a 4-Day/3-Night hiking trip with the help of our guide Full and 9 porters. The trip turned out to be a memorable one with picturesque views and beautiful people.
We were already excited before leaving Singapore's Changi airport. We wanted to have window seats hoping to see Mt Rinjani from the plane. As the seats were not fully occupied, 4 of us seated in a row had chance to see the views both on left and right of the plane by exchanging the seats. A few minutes before landing we saw a huge mountain in the clouds. Although we were not sure if that was Mt Rinjani, we happily took photos of the mountain, the clouds and the sunset. It was dusk when the plane landed at Mataram, Lombok, Indonesia. We were transferred to Senaru, the village where Rinjani trek begins.
The next morning, we have to take an arranged transport to Rinjani Information Center where we registered for the climb. The interesting ideology and operations of Rinjani trek are found on the Rinjani Trek Management Board (RTMB) web page. . Conceptually, the Rinjani trek operations are managed by partnership of National Park, tourism industry and the local community. This is a way for creating jobs and generating income by making use of natural resources, community's geographical knowledge and skills which will ultimately lead to the development of the region.
A source says "All porters are taught the importance of maintaining the environment and rest station facilities, sticking to established paths, customer service and emergency procedures". I hope the RTMB's training programs also educate the guides and the porters for safety and health concerns for themselves too. I met a porter who heavily coughed after every few steps while climbing up. Locally-made cigarettes are very cheap and easily available thus they become a temporary energy bosster for the porters.
We started the journey from Sembalun Lawang village around 9am on 22nd June 2010. The sky was so clear that we can see the summit from far. We walked through the savannah in which alang-alang grasses are about my height. I didn't see much animal lives in the savannah except the cows pasturing in the plains and butterflies hopping around the small flowers in the field.
When we looked back to Sembalun Lawang village, a large farm with green houses was seen. I wonder which kind of farm would it be and later found out the web site of the Tanzanian company Tendaji Agro which has invested in it. As the web page says, the vegetables grown in these green houses are exported to Singapore too. Who knows, some vege we consume might come from Lombok.
We walked until Pos II where we had lunch for the first day. The benefit of trekking with a big group is that the porters reach the rest point earlier and prepare food for us. The plain tea and piping hot noodle soup were perfect for lunch.
It was an easy walk until Pos III where we took a short rest. From Pos III to Day 1 camp (Plawangan II crater rim) was a tough hike in the heavy mist. The vegetaion has changed. As we approached the crater rim, we started to see more trees, mostly pine, and more flowers including edelweiss (Anaphalis viscida). Locals say these white little flowers are symbol of love. As they only grow at the altitudes of about 2000 meters and above, a man could climb up the mountain and pick these beautiful flowers to prove his love to his girl.
Around 4:30pm, we stepped on part of the crater rim with lots of penting and exhaustion. From that part of the crater rim, we could see the summit near and clear. But as our Myanmar saying "အၿမင္နီး ခရီးေ၀းတဲ႔ ေတာင္" goes, mountains are near in the sight, yet far to be reached. As we could see the summit trail closer, the sandy narrow lane became clearer. I decided not to go for it unless I woke up and felt "I am dying to go" in the next morning. The panoramic view from the rim was fascinating - the challenging summit of gigantic Rinjani right in front of me, the plain we passed through and the sea beyond partly covered by the clouds on my left and the crater lake completely hidden by the heavy clouds on the right. It was worth climbing so hard.
Soon after, we reached to the camp site for Day 1. Again, being a big group with 9 porters, the tents were already made for us. There were a few small groups of hikers staying around the single tree which serves as the marker for the camp site. It can be seen from the other side of the crater rim on the following days.
The sun had set, dinner was taken, what else to be done except a good night sleep? All the tents around were quiet. All I could hear was the sound generated by the strong wind rushing into the trees from far and slapping the small tents near me. Despite exhaustion, I just couldn't sleep. It would be probably a waste if I stayed inside the tent tossing around and forcing myself to sleep. So, I walked out of the tent.
It says "A picture tells a thousand words". But the truth is not every sight can be captured as a picture. The almost-full moon, the twinkling stars, the range of mountains, the Crater Lake and the shade of the summit - any form of art could fail to describe the beauty of the night. Standing still, I felt I was refilled with the mental energy for the next day.
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