Our flight getting delayed by a bit and only manage to reach Lombok airport at around 5 PM, late by an hour of time. Our driver, Max waited us patiently by holding a paper with my name in the crowd to welcome us, which easily spotted by us from far. However, there is a miss-calculation on the route to Senaru from airport as I thought it will take the route to the east but according to Max, that path is not in good condition and high hill area, hence usually nobody will take those path. In another word, we are taking a huge routing through Mataram that might take us 3-4 hours to reach Senaru.
Seem to be Mount Rinjani summit took from the plane. Photo credited to Kim.
Max holding a paper with my name for easier recognition. Photo credited to Kim.
It would be kinda late when we reach Senaru and we can hardly find any dinner spot there, hence Max recommend us to a restaurant named Taliwang Alam Nyaman in Mataram city to have our dinner before heading towards Senaru. The food was not bad at all, especially Cumi Goreng Sos Tiram, which in actual was squids cooked in oyster sauce, and also Gurami fish in pepes sauce. The cost for the meal of 6 was around 600000 rupiah, which is still acceptable for a tourist spot.
We continue our remaining 2 hours drive to Senaru, which is crossing another very curly hill road. Few of us getting car sick badly when passing through this 20 KM++ path, but luckily the road condition turn flat and for the rest of the journey. Finally after a long journey in car, we met with Faisal here at Segara Anak home stay at village of Senaru which is 500 METERS above sea level . He then start brief us on the details of our hike program. Too bad he won't be there personally to guide us along the journey, but he ensure that two more guides that he assign for us will do their work professionally. We do some minor packing, to keep our back pack as light as possible before heading on to sleep early, as we had been informed to be awake at around 3:30 AM later in the morning.
Faisal brief the team the details of our expedition.
All the details of the hike can be see here.
Group photo before we have our rest.
Everyone wake up on time sharply and get ready to move on! However, no one at the canteen are there to prepare our breakfast and we start to doubt are we getting the correct information. After hearing us chit chat in the midnight, the home stay owner approach us the time to have breakfast should be 6:30 AM and not 3:30 AM. Everyone is in doubt as almost all of us heard the time of 3:30 AM, but it feel great anyhow knowing that we have 3 more great hours to rest instead.
VS getting ready with the half awaken face.
Shawn ready with his cowboy hat.
Our rooms for a short night rest.
The sky is already bright at around 6 AM here, we are not just rewarded with fresh air out there, but also direct view on the peak of Mount Rinjani just to the back of the home stay. It was such a great weather here today for us to do the hike. After done our breakfast, we get to meet with one of our guide of the day, Maman and Rendy before heading over to Sembalun region to start our trek. Along the path, we can see clearly the peak from every possible angle, which make all of us so excited! It take one hour drive to reach Rinjani Trek Registration Office to register our self, this is a must for everyone that perform the hike, no matter you are doing it with or without a guide. However, it seem for foreigner, it is a must to hire one, and I truly recommend that you should.
Good morning via SegaraAnak homestay.
Our rooms in the morning.
Closer view on the hike expedition detail.
Great photos display on the wall.
Group photo took while waiting for our breakfast.
Shawn and Tze Siang.
Kim and John.
Simple but satisfying breakfast.
Other potter team are preparing stuff for expedition.
The summit are visible with the great weather!
FLZ team Mount Rinjani expedition begin! Photo credited to Kim.
A busy street on the way to Sembalun.
Seem to be a central marketplace for the area.
Another great view toward the summit.
Fellow cute students saying hi to us.
Road condition getting bad for a while on the way to Sembalun.
A very steep downhill road!
Another great view toward the summit of Mount Rinjani.
The miniature model of the Mount Rinjani area.
The queue in the registration office before we are allow to do the hike.
The summit from the registration office.
Group of female student are marching on the road side.
We take slightly U-turn back to Sembalun village and stop by a grocery shop, as this is our starting point to start the trek. Our porters had already started their journey way earlier and they will setup our lunch accordingly as Pos 2 according to both our guide. Final check on our backpack before start the journey based on Faisal recommended list:
– Day pack – Torch or head lamp – Trekking shoes – Toiletries – Insect repellent – Sun block/lotion, hat/cap, sun glasses – Spray for muscle/balm – Camera – Small towel – 2/3 pieces of T-Shirts – Long trek pants/wind proof – Windproof Jacket – 2 pieces of shorts – Trekking stick (optional) – Sandals (optional) – Swimming Suite (optional) – Binocular (optional) – Extra trail snack (we supply fruits,biscuits ) – Fishing Gear (optional)
After final check is done, finally we start our first step to the summit of Mount Rinjani!
Perform final check and apply sun block.
Ready to storm the trail!
Sembalun - Indonesia
august 2017
