Days 179 – 180: Gunung Rinjani

Photos: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2064354&l=f3b5e&id=1101094

The next morning we packed up and set off for mainland Lombok; the only hitch was that our laundry, which was supposed to be ready that morning, was anything but done: Jay's had just been in the washing machine and was soaking wet, and mine hadn't even come out of the dirty plastic bag yet. I guess it's good I don't mind walking around in smelly clothes.

We caught the public boat back to the "mainland" (everything's an island in Indonesia) town of Bangsal, and from there we caught two bemos east to the town of Senaru, which lies at the base of Gunung Rinjani, Lombok's tallest and most holy volcano. The journey to Senaru was beautiful, if bumpy; we passed from palm-fringed rice fields into rolling green hills and finally into cool, foggy mountains. The dip in temperature was a welcome change.

We arrived in Senaru around 1pm, and after a quick lunch our main mission was to sleep until midnight, at which point we'd wake up and climb Rinjani in the dark to make it to the crater rim in time for sunrise. Officially, a guide was required to hike the volcano, but supposedly the trail was easy to follow so we didn't see the need in forking out extra cash. Besides, the park fee, which we'd each have to pay to climb the volcano, had only two days before jumped from Rp 50,000 to Rp 150,000 ($5 to $15), so our guide money was going to increased admission. Or so we reasoned.

We started our hike just after midnight, and the trail, though a bit wet and slippery, was indeed easy to follow, even in the dark. We climbed fast through the first few kilometers, but then the trail steepened, forcing us to slow our pace a bit. Finally we passed the tree line and made the steep ascent to the crater rim aided by a bit of moonlight; we arrived at the rim around 5am, well before the sun rose.

Sitting on the exposed crater rim waiting for the sun to rise, I was cold for the first time in months. We huddled in a partially-protected spot just inside the rim, but still the frigid wind whipped past our faces. Luckily, we had only about an hour to wait for the sun to rise, and when it did the view was spectacular: we could see the whole of northern Lombok, including the Gili Islands, and in the distance we could even see Gunung Agung, the highest peak on Bali. And looking down into the crater we got a spectacular view of the cobalt-blue crater lake and Gunung Baru, the new volcano-within-a-volcano that formed in the last few hundred years and erupted as recently as 2004.

After admiring the view for about a half hour we began the descent into the crater rim. This part of the climb involved the fastest altitude change; in the climb to the crater rim, we had gained 2000m of altitude over about 8km of trail, but in the 1.5km from the crater rim down to the crater lake we lost 600m of altitude. The change in altitude, coupled with the newfound shelter from the wind, was enough to notice a distinct change in temperature; by the time we reached the crater lake, I was sweating profusely.

We hiked along the crater lake for a bit, passing some fisherman and another group of hikers who had spent the night on the volcano. Eventually we reached the point where the crater lake emptied into a stream; the water poured out of the lake and flowed through a series of waterfalls on its way down the mountain. We were amazed at the volume of water that was flowing out of the lake; the volcano must get a huge quantity of rain to keep the lake as full as it is.

After a short hike along the stream, we reached the highlight of our hike: the Rinjani hot springs. Fed by boiling water that shot out of the rocks, the hot springs consisted of three small pools that felt something like a hot tub. And the best part was that the icy-cold stream was only a few feet removed from the hottest pool, so we could jump back and forth from the hot to the cold water as we pleased. We could have stayed there all day, but after an hour or so of enjoyment we started the ascent back to the crater rim, and by 3pm we were back in Senaru eating a well-deserved lunch. We spent the rest of the day relaxing in Senaru; the following morning we'd set off on the long journey to Flores.