Thursday the 30th of September HALLO LOMBOK!

Bye bye Gili dream life, bye bye annoying mosquito's. I'm spoiled with the lazy Rasta life at the Gili's :-) Although, my Rasta hair is almost gone because Samir fucked up and didn't finish his job. Bad for him, no result, no money. Uhm, why did we pay for the boat? Like yesterday nobody checks your ticket or asks for it. In Bangsal it took some time to find the right person where we booked our Rinjani Trekking with. But he came, we only wanted to pay money to this guy. ... was a trustworthy though. Waiting for our car, have some Loempia. First a free ride with the pony cart and after a big car with our personal driver Ferry. Linking Park and Jay-Z were banging out of the speakers. When Ferry changed his taste of music 1000% to Celine Dion Myrte and I felt asleep immediately. The 1,5 hour drive was feeling like 5 minutes. Senaru Village, the place for the start of the trekking. RTC arranged accommodation for us at Emy's Cafe, clean comfy rooms with a shower that actually has (fresh) water! No multiple dips in the sea anymore. Run away from the local guides and try to find a path along the small irrigation canals; the jungle track to the falls. First one; SIr Terjung Sindang Gila (a 40 meter high collection of falls out of the jungle). A lot of locals love it over here, taking a shower under the falls. Lonely Planet says you're risking your life if you join them, but the hard massage is worth it! What a blazing shower! More jungle trekking, meeting the locals and see their farm life. Friendly people. The views are great, and why do we need to get a guide? Luckily Myrte is not a pussy and easy to convince to walk a little bit further. Crossing a high aquaduct and a river (climbing rocks) was easy enough for her, even on her flip-flops. At the end we reached Air Terjung Tiu Kelep, even better than the last falls and probably on of the best I've seen until now. Massive collection of water drops. Traditionally I jump in or under every waterfall, even when it's cold. I did, a swimming hole was the refreshing treat. We spend 4 hours in the jungle and at the falls, a perfect training for the 3 day Rinjani Trekking. Oh and we made a really good deal with that price!

Friday the 1st of October RINJANI TREKKING DAY 1, KRATINGDEANG FOR THE JUNGLE WALK AND A WINDY NIGHT

Money money money, the guesthouse owner thought we were stupid when he asked to pay National Park fee. Some just keep on trying, but we Dutchies are hard to get. The friendly Canadians Alex and Sophie joined us for the trekking, local Dewa was our guide. A walk into the jungle, some Kratingdeang (Indonesian for Red Bull) and some chocolate waffels for the energy. A long hot day under the trees, the shade helped a little bit to cool us down, although I was only walking in my runners and shorts. During our 6.5 hour hike today there were a lot of breaks, maybe it was more for the porters who carried around 30-40kg of weight on their shoulders with big bamboo sticks. The lunch break took more than 2 hours! We started the track in Senaru at 400mtr and during the day we entered the clouds (and some rain). Our team was fast and Myrte is a real die-hard walking the track on her flip-flops (she already had loads of blisters from her shoes the days before). I was still sick, but feeling strong enough for a rough climb. The end of the day we stopped just 100mtr under the Rim (at 2500mtr). That last part became a little bit harder and you can slip away easily because of the gravel. The porters put our tents up and I went up for a quick view at the crater lake. Just find a dangerous spot for the best view, looking down in the depth. Dinner was again rice and some veggies with chicken and pineapple. Sophie convinced me that I was too picky sometimes so I started eating things that I didn't really like :-) There was a thing I liked; the rice wine from Dewar. A sunset that was acceptable after a cloudy day, not the best one I've seen on a mountain. Be careful when you want to watch the sunset from a better spot, the better spots are used as a good spot for a natural human toilet :-) 'Take your rubbish with you, just leave foot prints...' is what they say. Hahahaaa, I've never seen a National Park with so much human shit, toilet paper and garbage! And then, the night in the tent...yep, no sleep. The guide and porters put the tents on the windiest spot that you could ever imagine! My earplugs helped a little bit against the sound of the strong wind and Myrte's snoring :D But the wind was blowing the tent in all directions. The tent of the Canadians collapsed every time. So we all had maybe 15 minutes of sleep before we woke up again.

Saturday the 2nd of October RINJANI TREKKING DAY 2; UP AND DOWN, SWIMMING IN A VOLCANIC CRATER AND THE BEST HOT SPRINGS/SHOWER EVER!

After a night 'Sleepless in RInjani' we were surprisingly enthusiastic. A few banana pancakes for breakfast (and guys, if you have Dutchies on your tour bring more food!!! We eat a lot). Just before 8 we started walking again, 100mtr up to the Rim. This morning it was cloudy and we couldn't see the whole lake. We have a new friend in our team, a funny white dog. He became our guardian dog and protected us against monkeys. I was showing my teeth to some Macack's and the dog was fighting with them. While we were walking over the RIm and climbing down, the dog felt down a couple of times. But he kept following us, because we gave him biscuits and the chicken left overs. A 600mtr climb down (3 hours) to the lake, crossing some deadly points. Nice to know that they only put some sort of fence at spots where people died. Some parts were pretty steep. Down at the lake the clouds we gone and the sun was there. TIme for a dip in the crater of the volcano, you don't do that every day. While the porters were resting and preparing our lunch, we walked to the hot springs. I saw pictures of some concrete pools with pipes with hot water, but holy shit! This was much better. Just walk a little bit further along the stream in the valley that you can only imagine in your fantasy. A green/yellow natural hot pool. The stream had the same color all the way down. The best thing was the water fall were we stopped. This is the best hot shower you can have! And just think that this is the only hot shower you will probably have in Indonesia when you travel on a budget. We spend a lot of time there and I was taking a hot massage under the water fall. The area was absolutely stunning (just take a look at the pictures). The muscles were fine now and after a 2 hour break we went up again, 600mtr climbing up to the base camp. A wonderful walk over the hills in the crater. Unfortunately Myrte couldn't enjoy it as much as we did because she had to do a painful walk on her shoes. The last part of our 2 hour climb was steep, very steep and though. The good thing was that it was more cloudy up here. But the heat of the sun was replaced by the humid atmosphere and dry breathing of the high altitude. And the dog was still following us! Keep concentrated, because it is not only steep but also a long fall into the depth when you miss a step. This trekking is not for pussies and people that are afraid of heights. Our team was the only one that went for the summit, all the other teams from last day went back after the Rim. There was only a big group of Indonesian Polis, doing some sort of training there. This time we told the porters to put the tents at a better spot, out of the wind. Be careful when you go out of your tent for a piss at night or during the day. We were just a meter away from a deep cliff, one step too far and you will be dead. The sunset here was one to stay awake for! Go to bed before 8pm is crazy, but we have to wake up at 2:30am. A quiet night this time, and 3 sleeping mats is a little bit better. Good nights everyone! The sky this night was clear and the stars look so much better close to the Milky Way. Shootings stars and hope that we finish this track safe :-) So many stories that it's gonna be hard and we met some people today that couldn't make it or just had no view because of the bad weather conditions...

Sunday the 3rd of October RINJANI TREKKING DAY 3; THE HARD WAY, THE LONG WAY, THE COLD WAY...KEEP BELIEVING

Damn I'm hungry this morning! And what do we get before starting the long way to the top? Biscuits!? WHAHHAA, you gotta be serious! But yes, it's true. We shared some with the dog. A walk with just the five (6 including the dog) in the dark with our headlamp and torches. Wearing 3 layers of shirts, 2 pairs of warms socks, a rain/wind jacket, a winter hat and gloves to stay warm. The track was heavy and steep. A lot of gravel and slipping away. Deep cliffs on both sides, it's good that we do this in the dark first. The say it's 2 steps up, 1 step down in the gravel. Just walk as the last person of the group and use their foot prints...it works a lot better. It was getting windier and really cold now, the climb to the summit should take 3 hours. The guide told us to stop at some point and shelter behind a big rock against the freezing wind. The walk doesn't look that safe, can we make it? The guide told us to wait for 45 minutes before going further, it was 5:15am. Well, the sun comes over the mountain at 6am in the morning when you stay at the Gili's...I think he makes a little mistake in time. And he did, the sky was already turning yellow, red, pink and orange. So he told us to follow the only other team that was trying to reach the summit. 'Dewa, you fuckin pussy!?' Our guide left us and stayed behind. We followed the other group, but they were slow. Or are we just so enthusiastic and full of energy? We passed them and tried to finish the hard way. Damn, this was steep and windier than I expected. I can do this...Myrte, Alex and Sophie stopped for another short break. Don't stop, just go! 1st on top...wow! The rest of our team followed quickly and funny enough the dog was there too, hilarious. The views, unsubscribable. The sky was so clear, you could also see the other volcano from Bali. The most beautiful thing was definitely the rainbow circle around your own shade on top of the mountain. We've never seen a round rainbow before (later it became a double one).After a long time the other team reached the summit and we went down. This morning we climbed 1.200mtr in heavy conditions, we did it whohooo! More than 3.700mtr high. Going down was a treat, 3 to 4 times faster and fun. Jumping down in the gravel, sliding away and sliding down. We are so lucky with the weather today, amazing views over the smaller volcano and the lake. Back at the basecamp around 7am for some jaffles and pancake and a really long walk down. Trying to do a swimming contest with Alex in a river without water. It was hot in the green hills. Meeting other people who do the opposite direction and they already look exhausted. After a knee-killing 4 hours of falling on my ass and losing liters of sweat we jumped in the back of a pick up.'We made it!' Well, don't say that to quick guys... I warned Myrte to grab my shoulder might she fall off the truck. Guess what happened? The backside of the pick-up went open and we saw Myrte falling backwards out of the truck on the road. This girl is soooo lucky! No cars behind us and so scratches at all, unbelievable. Maybe it was because we fed our guardian dog so much chicken? The guide and porters were doing fruit picking from a driving truck, the trip back to Senaru took almost 1.5 hour. From there it was a 2.5 car trip to Sengigi, stopped many times by the local wedding 'parades' (brass bands and loud rhythmic music from big speakers...is this Summer Carnaval?).

A long day with the best and most adventurous trekking so far. In Sengigi we stayed at Sonya Homestay for cheap accommodation (80.000 Rp for a room including breakfast).Treat ourselves on some large Bintangs and a good meal. The Canadian were amazing trekking partners! Nastassja joined our night out in Sengigi (one of Myrte's friends from Bali). More dessert on our way back home, we have to sleep guys...surprised we are not feeling that tired. But those legs, they hurt! :-)