Woke up as early as 5am get suit up and check the bag packing was all in place. Waited at hotel lobby for the pickup by Adventure Lombok tour company Operation Manager Mr. Budi. Then found out the van will be slightly late and Mr. Budi will not be leading this trip. Later the van arrived with Mr. Haris, Guide Chief for this trekking trip. Last year when I trek up to Senaru Crater Rim with my co-worker Mr. Haris was our Chief Guide too. He did very well in managing a big group of us (21pax) and none of us were left behind though some difficulties arises.
Get on to the van taking us to the starting point which is also the office to register and pay for the entrance to Mt. Rinjani National Park. The journey took about 2 hours and when reach the destination we see a group of porter with another guide Mr. Sako were there to greet us. Every porter will get their portion of stuff to carry and that includes our stuff which is not needed during trekking. We decided to leave ahead of porter because usually they are way faster than us though with the over-weight stuff they carry. Mr. Haris will stay back to organise with the porter and Mr. Sako will lead us to move on.
With this group of experience trekker our pace were quicker compare to what I did last year. We arrived first rest point ahead of time and had rest as well as fluid replenishment. Move on after a short break while the sun still not so blazing hot. Nest stop we were there too early thus have to wait a while for the porter because they are carrying the food supply. We will have a simple breakfast which is fruit to replenish the energy used.
After taking the fruit everyone was so energetic and move on much quicker. The mist getting thick when we are at higher altitude. By the time we reach another rest stop the visibility was greatly reduce due to mist. We are ahead of scheduled arrival at this rest stop for lunch. While waiting for our porter cum cook, we start to "dry" our shirt due to high humidity and get warmer clothing on.
Porter quickly setup kitchen and starting to cook our lunch while we get our rest under a cozy tent setup by them. Not too long of wait we can smell someone brewing coffee. We have a selection of instant coffee (3-in-1 premix coffee), tea or Lombok coffee (local coffee which is actually for the porter). But this local coffee taste much better than other and everyone of us like it very much. So sorry to the porter for taking most of their coffee. We are having Mi Goreng (local fried noodles) with fried chicken and egg then fruits as desert.
This time I am trying to reach the crater rim before dark so I could enjoy the view of dawn on crater rim. The pace is getting slower than earlier today because physically we are weak. Along the way met few Malaysian and Singaporean whom will compare this trek to Mt. Kinabalu where the later was too easy. Arrived Senaru Crater Rim before sunset and managed to capture few shots of the Lake Segara Anak from crater rim at this hour. And looks like we are late to the campsite thus can't setup tent at best spot on the crater rim. Our guide finally found a place for us which is not far from the top where we can see the lake.
Picked out our tent for the night then I do some clean up with wet tissue and change. Lay down on the floor mat prepare by the guide enjoying starry sky. Later coffee, again we asked for Lombok coffee, and fries was served. Out of sudden felt several rain drop and it started to rain, not heavy though. When dinner is ready we squeezed into the kitchen tent to enjoy the meal then call it a day.
Back to my tent I started to re-pack my stuff to backpack for tomorrow trekking. Check my phone battery level before making call home to update my status. Seems like not need a charge but my Garmin Edge800 left only 14% of battery. Shit!!! Forgotten my charging cable which I left in hotel with my other bag. For few hours I was not able to sleep because I made such a silly mistake which I told myself I should not when do packing. Last year when trek to the crater rim I forgotten to charge my GPS logger before heading back and this round was worst.
Our transport from hotel to starting point.
Passing by fishing village along the way to starting point.
Break time to replenish lost fluid in our body.
Stefan arriving to the lunch stop, this was too easy for him.
The rest of the team, Thomas, Angela and Peter are following up together with Mr. Haris.
Happy look, must be enjoying the fun.
Many other trekking group was already here for lunch break.
Two of my fellow trekker (Darren and Stefan) who were much stronger than me, looks like I need to have more training.
Thomas arrive minutes later and mist getting thicker.
Follow behind Thomas was Angela and Peter.
Our temporary resting tent, also can be dining area.
The kitchen...and the cook lead by Mr. Haris in red top.
While waiting for lunch...
Let's have a cuppa.
Lunch, Mi Goreng with fried chicken.
Darren was fascinated by the scenery when we are at 3/4 of the journey for today.
A shot at Lake Segara Anak at dawn.
Approaching campsite where our tent was setup.
That's out tent, Darren on the left and Peter on the right while mine was in the center.
