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Tuesday 17 March 2015

LOMBOK II: Rinjani and Gili Air

The second part of our trip to Lombok was in Mount Rinjani and Gili Air (one of the three island called Gili Air, Meno and Trawangan).
From Senggigi we took a tour to do Rinjani's trek.
We went by car to Senaru village (the village wich is on the foot of Rinjani volcano). We paid 1 million rupias each person for the trip 2 days 1 night until the rim (the antiq crater).

Rinjani is an active volcano situated in the north-east of Lombok island. It is 3.126 metres above the sea level and it is the second highest volcano in Indonesia. It has two craters, one, the old one called crater Rim and inside it has a lake and the new volcano formed by many eruptions called Mount Baru ("baru" means new in bahasa indonesia).
We did not have many days free, so we decided to do the 2 days 1 night trekking and it was enought to enjoy those views! They were amazing! 
When we arrived to Senaru village, we left our backpacks in the hotel (it is included in the price) and we went to visit a waterfall. You can get there one hour walking and the path is also very nice. 

The next day we start our trip to Mount Rinjani. We had a guide and some guys called "porters" wearing the food, tends, sleeping bags... everything! It was a bit crazy, each one brought 40kg and for sure they got a small money to do that. It is a kind of sad how that "touristic packets" work... One of the company get all the money and the others are used doing the hard work to get small money...  They couldn't speak in english and as I was the only one in the group who could speak bahasa indonesia, I could ask them about their conditions of their job... and in the end of the trip we decided to give them some tips (extra money to thanks them what they did for us!).  They were so happy! 



During the trek, we stopped many times to rest a bit and to eat lunch. Our porters cooked mie goreng (fried nodles) and it was delicious!
The way, in the beginning was a bit hard because of the sun (we started at 9am and at that time the sun is very strong!) but after a few hours was better (always going up and up..) but it was nicer, full of trees, plants, also some monkeys "pising" from the trees (yes, one of them tried to pis on me!). 
The last two hours were really difficult going up... I think, to get the top in every volcano, it is difficult because of the sand and the small stones everywhere what make you slide off all the time!
But, as I always say, it worth because the views are amazing while you are going up and up. You can see the clouds covering the mountains around the volcano. The cluouds under you what makes you feel as the "king of the world". 
And in the moment you just arrive to the top, you do not feel tired anymore. Somehow you get some extra power or energy to walk on the crater to look for the perfect view. 
We spent 8-9 hours  to get the top. I arrived 30 minutes before my sister and Andy, so I could relax and I could enjoy of the view of them, small as an ants, going up! 

The porters put our camp 100 hundred meters under the top (to be safe of the wind during the night) and there, we could enjoy of a beautiful sunset! 


The day after I went until the top to see the sunrise there and after an hour, we started going down. 
During the way down, we found some monkeys in the middle of the path, looking for food. One of them was a bit angry with us, but our guide knew how to solve the problem: "do not smile, if he see your teeth he will think you are challenging him!" And after that, the guide did something like: "Yes, I'm bigger than you. I'm the boss!". And the monkey went away! They had a very beautiful glance!
After that amazing trip full of challenges and some issues with the company, we went to the harbour to take the boat to Gili Air!
When we arrived to the harbour, there were a lot of people telling us that there was not cheap boat and that we had to take the fast boat paying 150.000 IDR (so expensive for 5 minutes trip!). We were very smart asking everybody and looking for the cheap boat (you have to walk to the right side, cross one building and after it you will find a small house selling the tickets! the boat will be in the sea shore). It costs 15.000 rupias and it spent 10 minutes to arrive to Gili Air. 

Gili Air was a small paradise! There are not cars, or motorbikes... only horse's carts and bicycles. We stayed in one very nice hotel near the beach, wich has the restaurant on the beach! We could order a beer and drink it on the beach!


Our days there were so relaxed! We were on the beach, snorkeling... One day we rented a bicycle and we went cycling all the day around the island stopping in some beaches to swim, refresh ourself and continuing our way. In the other side of the island we could enjoy the most beautiful sunset! The sun sets just behind the volcano of Bali! It was wonderful!
The last day in Gili Air we took a snorkeling packet and we went to Gili Meno, where we decided to stay. 
I have to say that snorkeling in Karimunjawa was more impressive for me talking about the corals and fishes, but in Gilis we could see turtles! It was a pity to not have a waterproof camera! They were so big and so beautiful! 
Gili Meno is more quiet island, with less people, also smaller and with amazing beaches as well. In Gili Meno we met with one girl from our village who was doing voluntary in Gili Meno Eco Hostel! 

The day after, this amazing trip in Lombok finished for me. I took the fast boat to Bali (400.000 rup) because the next morning I had my flight to come back to Jogjakarta. So, I spent the night in Bali's Airport. 
My sister and Andy stayed two days more in Gili Meno (where they got engaged!) and after that they continued enjoying their trip in Bali! 


It was an amazing trip! 
Terimakasih, Silvia and Andy!!