RINJANI MOUNTAIN
RINJANI MOUNTAIN
Your Guide to Vacation AMAZING INDONESIA ( holiday travel guide )
Rinjani Mountain, an active volcano located on the island of Lombok,
West Nusa Tenggara. Mount Rinjani rises to an altitude of 3726 m, making
it one of the highest mountain in Indonesia and also a very popular
tourism attraction. This is the trip that got me addicted to travelling.
Oh, for those of you that are not familiar with Lombok, it is just to
the East of Bali.
Climbing Rinjani Mountains without help from local porters to carry our
stuff was no easy task. The track is pretty hard, going up from Sembalun
you will need to pass Sorrow Hills. I think it’s called Sorrow Hills,
because you are going to be several times up and down the hill and
you’ll end up regretting it. After a couple of hours of hard trekking,
we finally arrived in Pelawangan base camp. We need to stay over night
at Pelawangan base camp and will do the hiking to the peak on the next
morning without bringing any of our stuff / we are going to leaving in
our tent.
We started hiking to the peak around 1 am in the morning. We were going
to climb from an altitude of around 2600 m to 3726 m, which is almost
1000 m. The normal hiking time from Pelawangan to the Peak is around 3
hours. It took me around 4 hours, because really near to the peak the
track got even steeper and the hiking got harder, it was lots of small
rocks and was really sandy. It felt like I was moving two steps forward
and one step back. Exhausted I finally made it to the peak together will
all my friends. We are all very happy to have the opportunity to see
the view of 360 degree on the peak, which was really breathtaking.
Local people recommended to go to the peak of Rinjani mountain early
morning and come back again around 8-9 am because usually around 10 am
there happen storm around the peak and the track wil be obviously
dangerous. Exhausted we walked down our camp in Pelawangan and pack to
go to Lake Segara Anak. This was a really pretty place to camp. We found
a hot spring nearby and don’t get surprise if you find local person
taking shower there with a piece of fabric cover them up, they are on
their ritual moment. The area around the lake is also a place for
traditional ceremonies for the local people who live around Rinjani
mountain. After spending 1 night staying in Lake Segara Anak, we walked
down to Senaru track and eventually Senaru Base camp.
Hiking up Rinjani you get to see so much of Lombok and how the
environment changes. The North of Lombok is dominated by valleys and
hills overgrown by edeluis, ferns, tall trees and shrubs. The South of
Lombok is a lot drier. This was my experience as I walked down the dry
and arid tracks of Sembalun on the way up and found the typical tropical
forest with a lots of tall tress on the Senaru track on the way down.
It’s interesting to see this, because the plants and animals of Lombok
are hugely important for another reason. This island is actually on the
Wallace Line, meaning it is a “border” point that separates the flora
and fauna of Asia with that of Australasia.
I can say that I learnt a lot things that I had never really thought
about before that time on this trip. I even got to know my friends
better through sharing the journey together. Yes it is always about the
journey, not the destination. I learnt life is to be enjoyed, to be
present on every step. When I climbed I enjoyed the warmth of the
sunshine, the feel of the cool breeze touching my hair, the smell of the
plants and just enjoying the view all the way.
Calling back the good memories of this trip in 2006, I realise how much
it changed me as a person. I learn to push myself beyond my comfort zone
and experienced doing amazing things with other people, which was
totally exciting. I found out that I really enjoy exploring, discovering
new places, meeting new people and learning about other cultures. For
all these reasons I love travelling until now. As travel expands my mind
I am looking forwards to discover more in the future. Last but not
least, don’t be shy to say hello when you meet me somewhere! Like I said
I enjoy meeting new people
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