Changi Airport
Sneha and I wanted to climb Mt Rinjani located in Lombok, Indonesia. We found that Lombok Trekking is one of the best organizers in that region. We reached Changi Airport before time and spent the morning stuffing at Wang’s Cafe which we call B T Wang because the Chinese characters seem like alphabets B and T.
Jakarta to Mataram, Lombok
In Jakarta our adventure stared. After standing in the immigration queue for a good twenty minutes we were told that it was the wrong queue. After getting visa we headed to the domestic terminal located a couple of kilometers from the international terminal. It took us twenty five minutes to reach the domestic terminal and we got a glimpse of the infamous Jakarta traffic. At the Lion Air counter we were told that our flight had left and the authorities blamed us for arriving late even though we were there an hour and a half before departure. Lion Air is like a bus service and the seats are available on a first come first serve basis minutes before the flight and your e-ticket or early booking is irrelevant. The next available flight was after seven hours and we couldn’t risk going to the city because of traffic fears. So we spent the next five hours at a lounge in the international terminal drinking fruit juice because on Fridays the lounge doesn't server beer.
Our flight to Mataram aka Ampenan was noisy as a miserably behaved kid kept crying and shouting throughout the journey. It was not a good start to our holiday but things changed the moment we landed in Lombok.
The resort, Jeevaklui, had arranged for our pick up from the airport and as we drove along we noticed activity on the roads with corn vendors, bikers and restaurants full of people. The resort is on the coast with bamboo cottages providing modern amenities and an open bathroom with a garden. Nature's call in Nature.
Sembalun to the Rim
Next morning we left towards our base camp which was a three hour drive through the interiors of Indonesia. We got a chance to see the villages, coast and even the taste of fried bananas while we conversed with our guide who explained us the history, politics and culture of the country.
Lombok is an island where a mixture of Hinduism and Islam has given rise to a new religion and there are Hindu temples with a lot of Islamic rituals. The people of the island are very friendly and hospitable.
At the base camp we saw more than 300 trekkers set to climb the hill and after completing some formalities we started our trek. Our guide, Sar, was a little man but was strong enough to carry our bags and equipment.
The trek was the toughest we have ever encountered as the entire trek was a climb and at no point did we walk on flat land. Initially, we felt it was the two of us who lacked the physical stamina to climb the hill but there were a lot of seasoned trekkers who came from different parts of the world and they too struggled during the climb. There was a cloud cover and the temperature kept dropping as we kept climbing up but it was the humidity that took a toll on us and despite being as high as 4000 feet above sea level the humidity didn't come down. The way one can judge the mood is by the number of snaps taken during an event. We skipped taking a few good snaps during the trek and focused on getting to the camp for the night as we had reached exhaustion.
One thing that kept us alive was the fruit tea, Maggi and isotonic water that Sar kept giving us. He helped us a lot during our climb whether it was cooking our food, providing us with water or refreshments and even motivated us by singing Hindi film songs. He kept asking us about Bollywood and forced us to translate some Hindi songs into English. The climb though strenuous was scenic. It reminded me of the Himalayan treks back in India. There was just one small village en-route and only a few forest check posts in the middle.
The Rim
Mt Rinjani is an active volcano with a lake partially covering the crater. The point where the crater lake can be viewed is known as The Rim. There were moments during our climb where we wanted to give up but we didn’t and finally we reached The Rim after seven hours of trekking. The camp site was filled with students who had trekked alongside us in the morning. There were easily around 50 tents and the place was slightly littered. Despite all the hardships there was a sense of achievement. The view of the lake and the mountain from our tent was worth the effort.
Sipping tea sitting in our tent is a moment I will never forget. It was getting cold outside and we were getting hot tea and delicious food at 7500 feet above sea level. The next morning we decided against going any further as our body and bones were in a bad state and decided to return to the base camp. To add insult to injury or rather injury to injury I hurt my leg while trying to scale up a peak to get a better view of the crater lake. Poor Sneha got rashes.
The trek down was harder than the climb up and our spirits were waning until we saw our pick up vehicle a few kilometers away. It is amazing how a positive news or image can improve your spirits and all of a sudden we started clicking a few snaps. The motivation to go back to Jeevaklui made us walk faster and on reaching the resort we felt elated.
Back to the comforts
We spent the entire evening at the Resort sitting by the pool side and doing nothing. For a change I enjoyed doing nothing as my muscles were stiff after the trek and even a walk of ten meteres was difficult. Ordering wine and sitting by the pool sipping it while you look at the sea is a very well sold television idea but that day it felt special. After the hard work the comforts were well deserved. The next day I spent time relaxing my stiff muscles in the swimming pool while Sneha got herself a massage.
Later, we moved to a new resort called Quinci Villas. After a late lunch where I tried the local satay chicken with a lovely coconut gravy we headed to the town. There are lots of small items to purchase in the town and as always we bought show pieces for the house. You can purchase goods from the proper shops or take a chance with the local touts and street vendors who also have good stuff. A local vendor convinced us to buy his painting and that triggered a swarm of vendors who wanted to sell everything from small artifacts to island rides.
In the evening we were invited to a song, dance and martial arts performance by the local tribesman. The martial arts performance was the best item of the evening and the viewers could go and try their luck at fighting too. We preferred sitting by the sea while our dinner was getting ready. After a long evening we retired to our bed.
Back to Singapore
The next day we had a flight back to Jakarta. We decided not to take a chance with Lion Air and reached the airport 3 hours ahead of time. We shared a taxi with an Australian couple who were frequent visitors to Indonesia because fewer people from their country visited this region. I always wonder why we look for a place where our fellow citizens are fewer but we get our home food. How can that be possible ? On reaching the airport we were asked to board a Wings Air aircraft that flew us to Jakarta before our official scheduled departure. It seemed like a record and replay event in our life just that this time we weren't surprised.
The trip came to an end the moment we boarded a flight to Singapore from Jakarta. Indonesia was a lovely get away. Our Lombok experience was memorable because of the lovely and hospitable people of Indonesia.
Sneha and I wanted to climb Mt Rinjani located in Lombok, Indonesia. We found that Lombok Trekking is one of the best organizers in that region. We reached Changi Airport before time and spent the morning stuffing at Wang’s Cafe which we call B T Wang because the Chinese characters seem like alphabets B and T.
Jakarta to Mataram, Lombok
In Jakarta our adventure stared. After standing in the immigration queue for a good twenty minutes we were told that it was the wrong queue. After getting visa we headed to the domestic terminal located a couple of kilometers from the international terminal. It took us twenty five minutes to reach the domestic terminal and we got a glimpse of the infamous Jakarta traffic. At the Lion Air counter we were told that our flight had left and the authorities blamed us for arriving late even though we were there an hour and a half before departure. Lion Air is like a bus service and the seats are available on a first come first serve basis minutes before the flight and your e-ticket or early booking is irrelevant. The next available flight was after seven hours and we couldn’t risk going to the city because of traffic fears. So we spent the next five hours at a lounge in the international terminal drinking fruit juice because on Fridays the lounge doesn't server beer.
Our flight to Mataram aka Ampenan was noisy as a miserably behaved kid kept crying and shouting throughout the journey. It was not a good start to our holiday but things changed the moment we landed in Lombok.
The resort, Jeevaklui, had arranged for our pick up from the airport and as we drove along we noticed activity on the roads with corn vendors, bikers and restaurants full of people. The resort is on the coast with bamboo cottages providing modern amenities and an open bathroom with a garden. Nature's call in Nature.
Sembalun to the Rim
Next morning we left towards our base camp which was a three hour drive through the interiors of Indonesia. We got a chance to see the villages, coast and even the taste of fried bananas while we conversed with our guide who explained us the history, politics and culture of the country.
Lombok is an island where a mixture of Hinduism and Islam has given rise to a new religion and there are Hindu temples with a lot of Islamic rituals. The people of the island are very friendly and hospitable.
At the base camp we saw more than 300 trekkers set to climb the hill and after completing some formalities we started our trek. Our guide, Sar, was a little man but was strong enough to carry our bags and equipment.
The trek was the toughest we have ever encountered as the entire trek was a climb and at no point did we walk on flat land. Initially, we felt it was the two of us who lacked the physical stamina to climb the hill but there were a lot of seasoned trekkers who came from different parts of the world and they too struggled during the climb. There was a cloud cover and the temperature kept dropping as we kept climbing up but it was the humidity that took a toll on us and despite being as high as 4000 feet above sea level the humidity didn't come down. The way one can judge the mood is by the number of snaps taken during an event. We skipped taking a few good snaps during the trek and focused on getting to the camp for the night as we had reached exhaustion.
One thing that kept us alive was the fruit tea, Maggi and isotonic water that Sar kept giving us. He helped us a lot during our climb whether it was cooking our food, providing us with water or refreshments and even motivated us by singing Hindi film songs. He kept asking us about Bollywood and forced us to translate some Hindi songs into English. The climb though strenuous was scenic. It reminded me of the Himalayan treks back in India. There was just one small village en-route and only a few forest check posts in the middle.
The Rim
Mt Rinjani is an active volcano with a lake partially covering the crater. The point where the crater lake can be viewed is known as The Rim. There were moments during our climb where we wanted to give up but we didn’t and finally we reached The Rim after seven hours of trekking. The camp site was filled with students who had trekked alongside us in the morning. There were easily around 50 tents and the place was slightly littered. Despite all the hardships there was a sense of achievement. The view of the lake and the mountain from our tent was worth the effort.
Sipping tea sitting in our tent is a moment I will never forget. It was getting cold outside and we were getting hot tea and delicious food at 7500 feet above sea level. The next morning we decided against going any further as our body and bones were in a bad state and decided to return to the base camp. To add insult to injury or rather injury to injury I hurt my leg while trying to scale up a peak to get a better view of the crater lake. Poor Sneha got rashes.
The trek down was harder than the climb up and our spirits were waning until we saw our pick up vehicle a few kilometers away. It is amazing how a positive news or image can improve your spirits and all of a sudden we started clicking a few snaps. The motivation to go back to Jeevaklui made us walk faster and on reaching the resort we felt elated.
Back to the comforts
We spent the entire evening at the Resort sitting by the pool side and doing nothing. For a change I enjoyed doing nothing as my muscles were stiff after the trek and even a walk of ten meteres was difficult. Ordering wine and sitting by the pool sipping it while you look at the sea is a very well sold television idea but that day it felt special. After the hard work the comforts were well deserved. The next day I spent time relaxing my stiff muscles in the swimming pool while Sneha got herself a massage.
Later, we moved to a new resort called Quinci Villas. After a late lunch where I tried the local satay chicken with a lovely coconut gravy we headed to the town. There are lots of small items to purchase in the town and as always we bought show pieces for the house. You can purchase goods from the proper shops or take a chance with the local touts and street vendors who also have good stuff. A local vendor convinced us to buy his painting and that triggered a swarm of vendors who wanted to sell everything from small artifacts to island rides.
In the evening we were invited to a song, dance and martial arts performance by the local tribesman. The martial arts performance was the best item of the evening and the viewers could go and try their luck at fighting too. We preferred sitting by the sea while our dinner was getting ready. After a long evening we retired to our bed.
Back to Singapore
The next day we had a flight back to Jakarta. We decided not to take a chance with Lion Air and reached the airport 3 hours ahead of time. We shared a taxi with an Australian couple who were frequent visitors to Indonesia because fewer people from their country visited this region. I always wonder why we look for a place where our fellow citizens are fewer but we get our home food. How can that be possible ? On reaching the airport we were asked to board a Wings Air aircraft that flew us to Jakarta before our official scheduled departure. It seemed like a record and replay event in our life just that this time we weren't surprised.
The trip came to an end the moment we boarded a flight to Singapore from Jakarta. Indonesia was a lovely get away. Our Lombok experience was memorable because of the lovely and hospitable people of Indonesia.
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