trekking mount rinjani – day 1

To trek Mt Rinjani was an impulse decision made purely based on a friend’s remark: if you don’t try, you will never know (if you can make it)... which i totally agree. So without much thought, i went online to purchase the trekking package and air ticket. And finally last month, i experienced my very first 3D2N mountain trekking.

Day 1 started at 4.45am and i only had 2 hrs of sleep the night before. It was a full day trekking ahead. i must be insane to sign up for this.

Beautiful village view from the trekking agency at 7.30am.

A short ride to Rinjani Trek Centre. In front of us were our guides and porters. (Photo by Angel)

After registration, we’re ready to go!

Cute puppies at the foot of the mountain.

Rest stops. We usually break for a few minutes for water and sometimes biscuits.

At around noon time, we reached our lunch stop.

Enjoying tea and waiting for lunch.

Our guides and porters preparing lunch.

Delicious!

The terrain became more and more steep as we trekked. My legs were tired and i was sweating like mad even though the weather was cool. i had no idea why i had to torture myself like this. And finally, out of the heavily forested ground, we were greeted by this view of endless lush green landscape. It was beautiful! But shortly after, it was another challenge – trekking on steep rocky terrain which i thought i would never make it. My very patient guide had to hold my hand and lead me all the way to the top, i didn’t dare to look down at all.

After climbing the rocks for about half an hour (though it felt much longer), we reached a short narrow path where i can walk instead of climb. It was such a relieve. Even though there’s still more climbing waiting ahead but at least i can take a proper break and no need to hang onto the rocks for my dear life. Then i turned around, saw this breathtaking sunset view and all my fear and tiredness vanished by half.

After a while, i saw my friends making their way up from another direction. Only then did i realise that the guide had taken me on a short cut, thus the steep rocky terrain throughout. i remember at one point i was still thinking how did my friends climbed so fast with no fear at all that i can’t even see any of them!

So happy to be reunited with them, we took more pictures and continued our way up to look for our campsite for the first night.

Dramatic looking sky just before night fall.

Dinner in the tent. It was freezing outside! (Photo by Lay Peng)

i can’t believe after trekking the whole day, i didn’t have any appetite for dinner. My food was left almost untouched and i had trouble falling asleep (again) that night. So with only 3 hrs of sleep, i woke up at 6 am and get ready for my second day on the mountain. To be continued...

Mount Rinjani, Lombok, Indonesia