Introduction

The main objective of this trip was to trek Mt Rinjani:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Rinjani

Mount Rinjani or Gunung Rinjani is an active volcano in Indonesia on the island of Lombok. It rises to 3,726 m (12,224 ft), making it the third highest volcano in Indonesia, and similar in height to Mount Fuji. The first historical eruption occurred in September 1847. The most recent eruption of Mount Rinjani was on 10 May 2009. The volcano had started erupting again on 27 April 2009, and the mountain was closed as the eruptions intensified with plumes of smoke and ash as high as 8,000 m.

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After looking at the picture of Mt Rinjani, my friends and myself were very keen to explore this natural beauty. However, we were disappointed that we were not allowed to climb to the summit for safety reason as the volcano had some recent eruptions. Fortunately, we were still allowed to trek to the rim of the crater (Elevation of 2,600m), this arrangement would shorten our trek from 3D2N to 2D1N.

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Even though we did not make to the summit, we saw molten hot lava and heard the rumbling sound of the volcano. It is priceless. And if we were allowed to trek to the Summit, it meant that the volcano is not erupting and it is safe - meaning that we would miss all the "actions of the volcano".

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I would rather see an active volcano in action than to trek to the summit of a dormant volcano.

=)

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On the hindsight, it was a blessing in disguise.

That's life, never place too much judgement.

Just Go with the flow.

View Lombok & Bali in a larger map

Day 2 - Bali & Lombok

There was nothing much on the first day, so I decided to start with Day 2.

We took a flight from Singapore to Bali, and stayed in a cosy hotel in Sanur

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http://www.sindhumertha.com/

It was a nice & cosy hotel with swimming pool. The rates are reasonable as well.

However, given a choice, I would rather stay at Kuta Beach area, where it is more happening.

Next time...

I love its bed linen...

damn smooth and comfortable.
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Strips...
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Buddha
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Offerings

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We took a domestic flight - Merpati Airline from Bali-Lombok.

It was the shortest flight that I have ever taken - around 30mins.

Basically, we just took off and landed.

See the joy in everybody's face when we landed. =)

Indonesian Airlines do not have good track records, so it was pretty scary experience for me. The alternative mode of transport would be ferry, which will take 5 hours, and normally the ferry is overloaded. Indonesia ferry services do not have good records as well.

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I got an accident insurance coverage prior to this trip.

Just in case...

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Mother & Child

(On the way to the base camp)
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Farmland - laidback and relaxing

This is one of my favourite pics of the trip - the green field, the coconut trees and the sky.
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Sunset in Lombok
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Sunset II
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Candlelight dinner @ basecamp.
It wasn't our choice, as there was a blackout.
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Day 3 - Rinjani (Lombok)

After one night stay at the basecamp (elevation 600m),

we set off to trek Mt Rinjani in high spirit.

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Logistically, trekking Mt Rinjani was more troublesome than Kota Kinabalu. As there was no accommodation in Mt Rinjani, we had to bring tents, sleeping backs, food & water. Fortunately, we had 4 porters and 1 guide for the 9 of us.

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Well, everybody was still carrying bags and bringing water.

The porters did not carry everything, well, almost... :P

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Balinese Dance inspired postures??

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Jumping shoot!!!

As usual, at the beginning of all treks, the spirit was high, as exhaustion and fatigue had not set in yet.

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Trekking through the jungle.

The vegetation is still tropical rainforest - typically what we see in Singapore & SEA.
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Lunchtime!!!

The porters would setup fire and prepare lunch for us.

Vegetarian food. woohoo!!! =)
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During lunch... time to chill-out and play "Polar Bear", and posing for photos...
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As we trekked higher, the vegetation changed as well.

It started to get abit foggy and cooler.

Not surprisingly, I was enjoying the journey.

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The floral was beautiful.

The weather was cooling.

The air was extremely fresh.

Wonderful experience!!

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Still trekking... (Chandra & Jon). It was abit foggy.
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And then, the sky cleared up.

The Sky was so BLUE!!!

Indulging in Happiness.
I was really happy to see the clear blue sky.

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It was this moment that Yunyun sang the Discovery Channel Song.

I love the mountains

I love the clear blue skies

I love big bridges

I love when great whites fly

I love the whole world

And all its sights and sounds

Boom-de-ah-da, boom-de-ah-da

I love the oceans

I love real dirty things

I love to go fast

I love Egyptian kings

I love the whole world

And all its craziness

Boom-de-ah-da, boom-de-ah-da

I love tornadoes

I love arachnids
I love hot magma

I love the giant squids

I love the whole world

It's such a brilliant place

Boom-de-ah-da, boom-de-ah-da

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Indeed, the world is just awesome!

I was jumping in joy.

I felt alive and thankful for all the natural beauty.

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I love the world.

That was a special moment that I would remember for a long long time.

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Clear Blue Sky.

=)

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Porter

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Princess Yun

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Yogi Melissa
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Clear Blue Sky and the Moon

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Crater of Mt Rinjani

(See the smoke from the new volcano & the Summit on the top left-hand corner)

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Low Clouds and Smoke from Molten Lava

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Beautiful!!!

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Sunset View of the Crater and the Moon

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NOC Gang @ the rim of the crater of Mt Rinjani

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Heavenly Landscape & Sunset.

=)

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Magnificient!!!

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Awesome!!!

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Woohoo!!!

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Changing Colours

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Sunset over the horizon

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I was awed by the beauty of Nature,

and extremely thankful to be alive to experience all these. =)
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Dinner time!

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Before going to sleep,

I stood out the tent to enjoy the surrounding.

Away from civilisation.

There was no light pollution.

The wind was cold and strong.

It was almost full-moon, hence, it was not ideal for star gazing.

But the sky was still decorated with many little twinkling diamonds.
Awesome!!!
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Unfortunately, my camera was not good enough to capture it.

I will keep it in my memory.

Floral in Mt Rinjani

Sometimes, the most beautiful things in life might not be the biggest.

Small things are also beautiful and magnificient.

Day 4 - Rinjani (Lombok)

During the night, I could hear the strong howling wind and the rumbling of the volcano.

Woke at 4.30am to get ready to climb to the rim of the crater again before sunrise.

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Pre-dawn.

I could see the molten lava and hear the rumbling of the volcano.

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Mt Rinjani

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Turquoise Lake

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Unfortunately, I did not have the opportunity to swim in the lake.

It would have been an awesome experience.

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Simply magnificient

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Clockwise from Top lefthand Corner:

Jon, Mich, Mel, SR, SM, Chandra, Boon, PY

Unfortunately, YP was not feeling well to join us in the morning.

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Group Photo @ the rim of Crater (2600m)
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Our campsite

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I had to do my regular morning "business".

It was really hard to find a flat and grassless spot.

The trick is to flatten the grass & bushes with your leg.

It was by sheer luck that I found a spot that I could smell the fragrance of the flowers.

The smell was freshing and fragrant.

It was a pleasant surprise in the morning.

=)
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Breakfast time!!!

Yummy Banana Pancake.

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Taken from the Base Camp

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Waterfall from the Canopy.

This is something that I have never seen before.

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Nice!!!

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Ferns watered by the waterfall

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7 of them enjoying the waterfall.

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SR and myself decided to give it a miss.
I would have joined them if I did not have a wound on my shoulder.

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Anyway, after the descend, majority of the group did not want to trek to the waterfall, and I was the minority that I wanted to see the waterfall (I even changed into my swimming gear). But to my disappointment, there was no pool for me to swim.

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So once again, I did the "stunt" of suggesting and not participating again.

haha...

Chandra would find this very familiar. :P
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Farmland

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