Yesterday we started the most exciting and for some people the most dreaded part of the tour, the 9km trek up mount Rinjani from our base at 600m to 2600m. We were trekking to the volcano rim, the summit of Rinjani itself at 3700m is closed due to danger from volcanic activity at the moment and the crater rim has only just been re-opened.
We started out at 7am for a short drive up to the trekking centre where our porters took our tents and sleeping bags, food and other kit and we started off walking.
The first few sections of walk were through forest and had steep sections, despite being in the shade it was still very hot and sticky so we were all soaking in sweat. People walked at their own pace so we arrived at each stop at different times.
Our porters prepared lunch and we continued the ascent which by now was getting very steep and tougher. The final two sections were very steep scrambles up through dust and rocks, very slippy and exhausting. At least at one of the stops we had some relief by a group of monkeys up to their tricks nearby.
We finally reached our camp near the crater rim at around 5pm after about 7 hours hard climb. Luckily it was overcast for some of the day which helped a little. Everybody was exhausted by the time we arrived, have never sweated as much as this before.
We climbed up to the volcano rim for amazing views, it is actually a rim of an old volcano with a huge crater 6km in diameter which now has a very deep lake in it.
In the centre of the lake is a new volcano which began erupting only 200 years ago and started erupting again around 3 months ago and is currently very active, we could see the smoke coming out of it.
The sunset was well worth seeing too and we could see all the way to the Gili islands where we are going later in the trip.
As we were camping near the rim we got to see it at night and got great views of it spewing red hot lava from its summit and lava flowing down into the lake. We also had a great view of the stars which were amazing without any light pollution to ruin the view.
Camping wasn’t the most comfortable so we didn’t get much sleep, it was very cold too and the tents were on a bit of a slope so kept rolling down to the bottom the tent! Luckily the porters cooked all the food and set up camp so that helped.
The trek back down was probably even more difficult as we were all tired so a lot of people took the odd tumble or two, especially on the first steep section but we all made it up and down in one piece and were able to make the drive to our next stop of Senggigi, the main tourist town in Lombok on the coast.
We must mention the porters who showed an incredible level of fitness carrying huge loads up and down the mountain very quickly, cooking all the food, setting up camp, don’t know how they did it, even more as it is currently ramadan so a lot of them couldn’t eat or drink during daylight hours.
Here is a link to a picture of the volcano with the new cone emerging from the lake.
http://skorookolo.szm.sk/in/images/Gunung%20Rinjani%20crater%20(Lombok).JPG
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September 16, 2009 at 7:44 pm |
The Albion went a goal down again and it could easily have ben 2. However they recovered and ended up deserved winners against a quite good Doncaster side. Olssen headed two goals from set pieces and Wood, on as substitute, scored with a great volley. A bit sloppy at times but they are still unbeaten. Middlesborough, who are going great guns, away on Saturday so it will be interesting to see how they do against some tough opponents.
Building developments: plastered and roofed; floor being laid on Friday; just after you get back electrical work to be completed and sanitary ware fitted.
September 16, 2009 at 9:43 pm |
Hi, that walk sounded tough but worth it . Well done. Love Cath.