Lombok, Indonesia

I interrupt the recent posts of Sri Lanka to share about a trip from the beginning of the school year... I found it as a draft in my list of blog posts, almost completely written.  so I added a few sentences and captions, and decided to post it... mainly for my own purpose... so that I remember the details that I'm sure I will forget.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I will when I look back on it to remember.

I feel like I have barely settled in at my new home and school, and it's already time for a holiday.  Once I'm a little more settled in, I'll show you around my new home.  

Because we are in a predominately Muslim country and Ramadan is ending, we had a week off for Lebaran. This season is similar to the Christmas season back home.  Tons of shopping sales.  Decorations everywhere.  Everyone traveling somewhere.  I wanted to be a part of the travelers, but still be able to have time at home to prepare for school next week.  I asked Janna and a new SPH friend, Janis, if they wanted to take a trip.  After talking with a number of other teachers who have traveled, we decided to take a trip to Lombok, which is two islands over from my island (Java).  It has excellent beaches and a volcano, Mt. Rijani. 

Friday evening we bought our plane tickets.  Indonesia has a system where you do everything from the ATM.  So when we couldn't pay online via credit card since it was so last minute, we made quite a few trips down the fifty stories of my building to the ATM to transfer money, attempt to set up online banking, and finally directly transfer money to the airline.  Super sketchy, but it's the way they do it here.  

After buying our tickets, we needed something to do on Lombok.  Our first choice: hike Mt. Rijani.  Every time I told someone that I wanted to do it, they commented how difficult it is.  But we were totally willing to try!  All the online reviews recommended a company called Rudy Trekker for hiking up.  We emailed Rudy, requesting a trek, and within ten minutes, he responded.  Saturday we confirmed that he had space for us! 

So Sunday evening, we hopped on the plane for our last minute trip to Lombok!

Janis and I at the airport ready to go!

 Rudy Trekker picked us up from the airport and put us up in a hotel Sunday night. A hotel where there was no electricity.  It was great getting ready for bed using headlamps and candles for light!

Monday morning, Rudy made us banana pancakes and omelettes for breakfast and we headed out!

At first the going was easy.  We walked through the foothills towards the volcano.

But the gentle hills were a tease.  I was in for the hardest hike I have ever done.  We read online that much of the hike consists of 50-80 degree angles.  And that was not a lie.  Once we started up the mountain, we went straight up.  The worst part, was that much of the hike was on gravel.  One step forward, and I would slide backward.  At some points, I was scared for my life.  The 80 degree slope ahead of me with no foot holds, no plants to grasp, and no end in sight made me want to give up.  In pain and on the verge of tears, our guide, Abul, grabbed my hand and pulled me up.  His sure footing, encouragement, and strong hand enabled me to continue forward.

I couldn't help but compare that experience to what God does for me.  He knows what is next.  He knows how much we can handle.  He knows where to step.  He has the strongest hand and will pull us along when we think we have no more strength.  I praise God for giving me the strength to continue up the mountain.  And for this experience that reminds me of His faithfulness.

It is hard to capture the steep hills that we traveled, but here's an attempt.

Abul, our guide

Janis, Janna, Abul, and Joel (the other guide) and I

I really felt like I could trust Abul.  At one point, he left a break much later than the rest of us.  No one was following immediately behind, and I was nervous.  But not to long later, he was right here, offering assurance, and I felt so much better about the trip.  His advice was incredible!  He told how to take a step up the steep gravel hills.  Said which path would offer better support.  Warned us of the dangers ahead to prepare us.  I learned quickly to follow his advice, because he was always right.  

This guy, he didn't listen to his guide.  He ran past us on one of the trips down the gravel paths.  RAN.  Stupid.  Janis's words as he blew right past us: "He's gonna bif."  Not five seconds later, we saw his feet in the air.  Ten minutes down the path, he sat off to the side, bloody and bruised.  Stupid.

Sweaty mess

With the exception of the last couple hours on the first day when Abul had to drag me up the mountain, the trip was fabulous.  I was sweatier than I have been in ages.  Dirtier than I have ever been during a hike.  And more struck by God's creation than I ever remember.  

During the trip up, there was a ton of cloud cover.  It was sad that we couldn't see the beautiful view, but I guess we really needed to focus on hiking, not the view.  But the view from the top made up for all that we thought was a disappointment.  We made it to the rim of the volcano in time for sunset. Sitting above the clouds, we watched the sun set and the stars come out.

 

The view from my tent.  Be jealous.

The plan for day two was to get up at 2:30am and hike to the summit of the mountain to watch the sun rise.  But the majority of that trek consists of straight up gravel.  While the idea of that view sounds wonderful, knowing how well I did on day one with gravel, and knowing that I still had two full days of hiking without adding this sunrise hike, Janna and I opted to stay at camp while the rest of the group went to the summit.  We saw them off at 3:00, went back to bed.  Woke up for the sunrise, which was just as beautiful as the sunset.  We got to see the view that was covered with clouds the night before, and it was breathtaking!  Then, we went back to bed as we waited for our team to come back down. Lazy?  Nah.  We just wanted to save our energy for the rest of the hike.  And when they came down and admitted how hard and fun-less it was, were were happy to have spent the time together at camp.  

iPhones can take some great photos

After breakfast, we packed up and started down into the crater towards the lake.  While day one consisted of straight up, day two was straight down.  Thankfully, not on gravel, but on rocks.  I have never been so grateful for large, pointy rocks and drop offs of a hundred feet.  They beat gravel any day.  

The majority of the morning had cloud cover so we could not see our destination, the lake.  But as we neared the bottom, the clouds lifted.  The view below is the first glimpse of the lake as we rounded the bend on our final leg down.

We got to have lunch at the lake.  For about five minutes we had a beautiful view.  Then the clouds came in, like always! As the porters cooked lunch (I'll tell you about these guys later), we took a short walk around the bend to the hot springs.  Amazing!  Our tired legs received a much needed rest.  And we washed off some of the dust and grime (because we were covered!)  As we got back to the lake for lunch, it started to rain.  But like most tropical rains, it lasted all of twenty minutes.  And it stopped by the time we were ready to leave!

This was the view for five minutes before the clouds came in

Hot springs, so relaxing!

 Let me just tell you about Ruddy Trekker.  They provide everything.  Porters to carry everything.  They carry tents, and chairs, and food, and water, and even our packs when we are too weak.  They give us snacks at every stop.. the best of which are BengBengs.  (Though... we found them in the airport on the way home, and they are not nearly as good when you are not hiking and exhausted.)

 The porters do the hike about seven times a month.  They typically arrive at the campsite before us and have our meal already cooking.  They feed us so much!  Our first lunch: a three course meal.  Salad, spaghetti, and piles of fruit. I typically don't eat much besides granola bars and carrot sticks when I am hiking, but not wanting to be rude, I tried to eat as much of each feast as I could.  When we finished eating, they cleared our plates, cleaned the dishes, and packed up the chairs as we continued hiking.  But we are much slower then they are, so within a little while, they would catch up, pass us, and make it to the next stop well before we would.

Three servings of spaghetti on each of our plates.

We didn't ever set up anything... the porters did it all!

Below is a picture of a porter.  He has a large bamboo stick on his shoulder.  On each end he has tied a basket or a pile of tents/chairs.  He hikes in flip flops.  He chain smokes the entire time.  And we always had to move aside to let them through because we are way too slow for them.

The second and third days of the trip were not nearly as difficult as the first one.  I never wanted to give up.  I never felt like I was going to die.  Yes, some parts felt like a stair-master.  And some parts were jumping across little cliffs.  And some parts were rock climbing up along a drop-off.  But that was fun... compared to the volcanic ash.

Volcanic ash... and actually the entire Rinjani experience, has become the standard by which I base the rest of my hikes off of... didn't realize how intense it was until I got there!  But it was totally worth it!

So. Much. Dirt.

Pre-dinner: Banana fritters with chocolate (yum) and cheese (not so much)

Ruddy Trekker... so much awesome in one small price

Our team was awesome!  I'm realizing that the traveling-and-backpacking-and-hiking-people are generally pretty awesome all around.  This group was especially special to hike with.  We had a British couple, French guy, French-Canadian guy, and then Janna and Janis (who is also Canadian).  They became my family for those three days, and I enjoyed every minute with them.  Every laugh... and lots of them!  Every cry out in pain.  Every egg we ate at every meal.  I wouldn't have traded these guys for anything!  I'm trying to plan a trip to KL to visit the British couple who teach there... hoping that works out!  

Our main man Rudy, who booked us one day in advance.. Thanks!

Team, guides, and porters

After our three days hiking like crazy, we went to the beach to rest our legs, eat some pizza, take a swim, and sit in the sand.  It was the perfect way to re-group for a day before taking our sore legs back to Jakarta.