Tuesday, May 26, 2015

Mount Rinjani Trekking

After almost one year of planning and training, and with a total of 12 trekkers having shown interest but not able to make it; finally, the 13-member team continued with the Mount Rinjani trekking as planned from 17-23 May 2015.

This is quite a tough mountain to climb, especially the final 300 meters ascent where it is steep and cover with loose volcanic sand and stones. A trekker has to deliver extra strength to prevent him/her from sliding down that could easily sap the energy away. On the day of going up the summit, we trekked for almost 12 hours (not counting lunch time).

Do CLICK HERE for 193 photos courtesy of yours truly (KC Leong). 

Do click here for Part 2 - transfer to Gili Trawangan Island for relaxing at the beach. 

Journey of a thousand steps begin here at Sembalun Lawang trailhead … group photo with Mount Rinjani as background. Team members:
(back, left): ChongYF, Tan Han Cie, LimTH, Lee Wai Yin, Lim WH, George Siew, KC Leong
(front): Samantha Liong, Wenny Meelin, Ann Chua, Yuen Yit, Lana, Josephine. 

There were many other challenging situations: ascending the steep mountain slope from the lake to the crater rim where a mistake could cause a fatal fall off the cliff; descending the sandy steep slope where one can easily slip and fall.

The view of the mountain and the lakeside area was fantastic. One good thing about this trekking is that there is the hot springs where one can dip into the water and wash up after a few days without bath.

 Relaxing while porters cook our lunch … do refer to photo album showing other photos for the VIP and 5-star service

Treated like VIPs in the mountains, the team was very pleased with the excellent service of the mountain guides and porters for making the journey a pleasant one. They even asked you: "Sir, would you like to have a Coca-Cola, Sprite (pronounce as Spriiiiit), or Pocari Sweat (equivalent to 100Plus).” Other than using very good tents and sleeping bags, the trekking agent, Encik Sunny of Lombok Trekking Travel Service, even set up two toilet tents at every campsite just in case there was “traffic jam” situation in the mountains.
Planting a tree to help conserve the environment by the trekking agent ... Yuen Yit, Lana and Nasir, the Mountain Guide.

The campsites:
Night#1 – camping at the crater rim; though the view for sunset was excellent, it was very windy and extremely cold
Night#2 – camping at the lakeside area; though not windy, it was damp and cold
Night#3 – camping in the wilderness during the descent. It was a nice and cosy feeling of camping out of nowhere. With a lower altitude, it was calm and quite cold too.

 Feeling excited … arriving at the base camp located at the crater rim

The icing on the cake was that upon completion of the 4D3N trekking, we were quickly transferred to Gili Trawangan Island via speed boat that was pre-arranged by the trekking agent. It was a stark contrast at Gili Island where the team spent the following 3D2N in relaxing, chatting, snookering, enjoying ourselves with good food, etc.

In appreciating the excellent service of the mountain guides and porters, the 13-member team rewarded handsomely the good effort of the 17 support crew with tips of more than 5 juta Rupiah!

Note on local training requirement: in order to climb Mount Rinjani, you must be able to go up to the peak of Gunung Nuang (1500m) at Ulu Langat during your training; preferably, train on two different occasions.

Camping at the crater rim of Mount Rinjani … it is very windy and extremely cold here 

 3:00 a.m. at the base camp … the team in full gear is ready for scaling to the summit of Mount Rinjani
 Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! We make it to the peak of Mount Rinjani (this photo showing part of the team)

 Camping by the lakeside area of Mount Rinjani … dense moisture in the air (in the evening); exposed clothing within 30 minutes would be damp and moist.
Playing water and diving activity in the hot springs ... Lana, Said, TanHC, Josephine, Lee Wai Yin and Nasir

 10:00 a.m. at the lakeside area … the team is ready to continue the journey to climb up to the crater rim (at Senaru side).
 At the crater rim (Senaru side)
 Camping in the wilderness … camping out of nowhere for the third and final night of camping; this area is not too windy and not extremely cold
 A cosy and nice feeling of close to one another
 With beautiful sunset … 
Tips awarding ceremony to the mountain guides and porters ... Wow! 5 juta (millions)  Rupiah generously contributed by the 13-member team in appreciating the good effort put in by the guides and porters. Bravo!


Posted by KC Leong
Team Leader
Mount Rinjani Trekking (17-25 May 2015)

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