5 Days Volcano Climbing in Lombok by Florian K.

A trip to the summit of the Rinjani volcano – Climbing up to 3724 m above sea level

After another hard week of lectures and a weekend which was dedicated to finish assignments and presentations it was time to do some travel.

 Lombok is a really nice island with about 2.4 million inhabitants. It is located about 40 kilometers from Bali and has a size of 4725 sq km. In the northeastern part of Lombok the second largest volcano of Indonesia is located – the Rinjani mountain.

Day 1

 Early in the morning at 8 pm we (Max, Martin Christoph and Florian) started our tour to Lombok. We started in Jimbaran with our motor bikes and were heading to Padang Bay where the ferries to Lombok and other neighboring islands leave. After 1.5 hours and countless potholes we reached the Harbor of Padang Bay. After leaving the mandatory police control behind us we could by our tickets which charged us 92.000 Rp. per person for a one way trip inclusive motorbike. 4 hours and 3 sandwiches later we reached Lombok. A wonderful island. To reach the volcano it took us another 6 hour ride on our motorbikes. The first part of the track was gorgeous. Empty roads, edged with palm trees and an invaluable view on the ocean. But after passing the city of Senggigi the “street” turned out to be a test track for suspensions. Full of potholes and other obstacles. The more we were heading north the more humid it got and we passed through wonderful rainforest areas. Shortly before we reached our Room Stay a bat strayed into Max’s short and planned to stay there. After getting quit of the bat we could finish our drive and reached the “Rinjani Master” [Tour Guide] in the dark. Every body part was aching and it was time to go to bed because the next day should start early.

Day 2

At 6 am and after a short breakfast we started our trip. Fortunately we booked the “Deluxe Tour”. That means you got a porter for carrying the tents, food and drinks for 3 days and cooking equipment. We started at 600 m above sea level, 30 degree Celsius and a humidity which seemed to be beyond 100 percent. The “path” we were supposed to walk was abundantly covered with vegetation and the humidity was exhausting. After passing several checkpoints we reached the 1500 m above sea level. Time for a break. Our guide and the porter prepared the lunch and we enjoyed the nature and relaxed for the next leg. After being full and having recovered we continued our trip. We reached the timber line at about 2000 m above sea level and discovered a strong decrease in temperature. The path changed from muddy to sandy with a lot of rocks and boulders and due to the altitude it got more and more exhausting. But then, after another 600 m difference in altitude we reached the border of the crater. The view was fantastic and compensated us for the exertions we had the whole day. The sunset above the clouds was absolutely breathtaking. Fortunately our porter arranged our tents and prepared the dinner. After sunset it got very windy and very cold and it was time to go to bed because the next day should start early in the morning before sunrise.

Day 3:
A harmonic ringing alarm at 4:45 pm woke us up and we climbed up a little hill on the crater border to view the sunrise. Really fantastic. Now we had to descend to the Crater Lake which lies on 2000 m above sea level. It took us several hours to get there because the so called path was cliffy and very dangerous. Down at the lake we could have a break at the hot springs which were heated by the volcano. Very relaxing.
From there we started to climb up to the “Rim” (2634 m). The base camp from where we were supposed to start our climb up to the summit (3724 m). And again we reached our camp just in time to see the sunset.

Day 4:
The night was over at 2:30 am after just a few hours of sleep. Our guide wanted to mount to the summit at 3 am. We had a little cup of tea, packed a few warm clothes and some water and started. The first meters passed by quick but after reaching the altitude of 3000 m above sea level it got more and more difficult to go ahead. The way was full of pebbles and it seemed that with every step we made we slip back two steps. After 3 hours (which felt like 10 hours) we reached the summit and we could enjoy one of the most beautiful sunrises ever. The view was fantastic. We could see Bali and the Gili Islands and all exertions were forgotten. But resting is rusting and after a few minutes we had to go back. This day we had to climb down the whole way to another village (600 m above sea level) from where we could get back to our room stay by Bemo. The way back was hard but we were all looking forward to having a warm shower and that kept us going. We reached our Room Stay in the afternoon and decided to drive to Senggigi because it offers great opportunities for relaxing including nice beaches.

Day 5:

We could sleep late and started our way back to Bali at noon. After a short stop at the capital of Lombok, Mataram, we reached our ferry and went back to Bali.

All things considered it was a great trip! It was very hard and at some points we reached our performance limit. But it was a great experience and the fantastic views and the landscape compensated all exertions.
Be prepared that everything will ache after such a long motorbike travel. And of course everything will ache after returning from the volcano.
Long shorts and warm clothes are really necessary and a pair of trekking shoes is to be recommended. Everything else (food, water, tent and further equipment) is organized by the tour guides.