1 - 8 August
i'm back! it's been an awesome trip and one of my best adventure ever.
needed a getaway from the life i was having.
initially planned to climb Fanxipan in Sapa, Hanoi or the Annupura Trek in Nepal. however, i didn't have time to plan and was pretty busy at work. it was my 2nd last week at work when i stumbled a FB event by Equatorial Adventures. hahas. since the date fitted so perfectly, i decided to go for it.
asked james over a lunch and he was also excited about it! hahas and so, we decided to go for it. James' is my bro-in-law and we're never really very close. through this trip, we got to know each other and protect each other. ahhaha. he's a policeman for 12 yrs in the special ops unit btw. hahahas. many first times for him and i as well. for me, it was the first time
sleeping in a tent on a volcano,
burrying my shit into a molehill,
not bathing for a few days after strenuous activities,
climbing at 4 deg at 2am
and the list goes on.
as for him, everything we did was practically almost his first time. hahahahs!
ok, i guess i'll use the photos to summarise my exciting journey.
Day 1 - Getting there
we met at Lavender before heading off to JB for the flight.
had wanton mee.
and i guess because of the strike, JB was too quite for a 2am Friday night.
arrived at Senai Airport and it was closed.
first time being in a not 24/7 airport.
#singaporeans
before boarding..
loving the fact that there's no aerobridge.
first thing popping out of the skies is mt Rinjani - the 2nd highest volcano in Indonesia
Day 2 - the Waterfalls
Reached Lombok airport
ride to the lunch first before changing at a petrol station and heading for the Senaru Waterfalls
going to the 2nd waterfall first as it was getting dark.
heading for the 1st waterfall and wanted to try out the drain. it was a very fast moving drain! was quite scared at first. but it wasn't too bad. hahas.
from my point of view. hahas. the bump was looked scary and freaked me out abit... ahhahas. pardon the shriek.
at the end of the drain was this 'cave'. at first we didn't want to go in coz it was dark and we didn't bring our torches. hahas. but glad we did! it's basically a big drain for irrigation purposes.
at the 1st bigger waterfall..
so so amazing!
a group shot with our guide, all wet and cold.
reaching to a hotel nearby to stay for the night
dinner and then packing before the ascend up Rinjani.
Day 3 - The Ascend
good morning
at the start with the clouds covering the peak.
guess whr is this from. hahaahs
lunch break at POS II
7 hills to go. and the terrain got dustier and steeper.
after about 9hrs...
Finally at Base camp!
always wanted to stay in a tent and wake up to mountains and clouds. and tadah! :) so happy.
wished that all my favourite friends could be with me to just soak in the goodness of nature.
ok. from the view in the vid, the peak looks pretty near right. but NO. its's like a few hills away.
the toliet. hahas. where the shit hole became a molehill of shit.
the porters tent. they dont sleep in tents nor sleeping bags. they just wrap themselves up in blanket and cook all day long just for us. w/o them, i think we wouldn't make it. hahas.
last pic at about 7pm.... filled our waterpacks and getting ready to sleep for the summit climb later at 2am.
never travel w/o my smelly pillow and diary. even if it means the extra weight, i will carry it. hahas. stuffed all the extra clothes into the dry bag as my pillow. slpt with 4 layers + my down slping bag + 1 more sleeping bag as a cover. the 1st night was really cold. and it rained.
it was good that we had good tent. heard the rain pattering against the tent and was abit afraid that they would close the summit climb. but felt very safe in the tent.
Day 4 - The Summit Climb
2am.
8hrs up and 5 hrs down. took too long. probably made record time. but at least we made it. at it was the high season for climbing and on a sunday, there were many ppl. but we've got a feeling that not everyone made it up. coz we didn't see many ppl at the summit / the groups that we passed didn't come up. so, a pat on the back for all of us!
not much photos taken in the dark night. each time i remove my gloves, i feel the wind chill eating up my fingers.
light breakfast b4 we start heading up.
i rmbr this photo. it was taken with long exposure, aka, long exporsure of my fingers to the cold. i rmbr after doing this shot, i sat cross-legged crouched down and started to shiver uncontrollably. and for the record, i cried. hahahs. it was damn cold and i couldn't do anything abt it. the heat pack wasnt working coz it was too cold. apparently, it needed abit of heat to kick start the effect. so yea, it was quite unbearable for me. 4 layers of good clothing still not enough from the 4 deg elements.
i think my mind went out cold too. ah huat told me that fabian was trying to warm me up also but i couldn't rmbr anything about it. hahahs
while climbing up, we saw the sunrise. we're gg quite slow so we're gonna miss it from the peak. was rooting for the sun to rise faster. needed the heat asap.
at this moment, i want to thank Fabian. he was behind me all the way. each time i slip, he was there to hold me steady.. he was literally pushing me against the loose gravel from behind. really, w/o his support, i guess i'll hide behind some rock and not wanting to reach the summit. and thank u for also enjoying taking photos with me throughout the trip. hahas. at least someone understands the need to stop to do so. haha!
and i rmbr this fire very clearly. upon seeing the fire, i ran up towards it, overcoming all odds of the falling loose gravel. ahhas. i rmbr how close i was to the fire that the smoke and ash was going into my lungs and irritating my throat. but the warmth was so impt that i just let it continue to go into my system. hahas!
his vid. it is this grey section that was the most challenging part of the climb. this is the infamous 3 steps up and 2 steps down.
FINALLY AT THE TOP.
find this photo v funny. ahhahs
usually, i'd be excitedly taking photos upon some completion. however, i just collapsed and died facing the sun for at least a good 5 min. checkout the tube of the hydration pack. probably slept while drinking water. hahas needed the heat and the moment to pull myself together. hahas. everything was falling apart. i was cold and my shirt as wet. its like.. had to decide whether to take out the shoe/clothes to face the cold wind or have faith that the sun's heat was strong enough to overcome the cold weather.
after the break, was watching how the rest climbed. hahahs. everyone's expressions was the same. looked down while climbing - look up at the peak - stone + sigh - look down and repeat. hahahs. classic.
wasted! didn't take more photos or a landscape one. hahas. glad that fabian did. was probably to mentally drained to think of anything.
this is Zaino, our guide. we call him Zai. he is really "zai" with the hokkien tone to it, . hahas. he was really encouraging us all the way. his simple phrase of "come on, lets go" somehow seems very very motivating and full of hope. as mentioned, he climbed the summit with his full pack just in case anyone of us would have AMS probs.
ok. time to make our descend down.
going down wasn't that easy either. definitely, it's less tiring. but u need to be steady man. the loose gravel really #lastwarning. and looking back, since we climbed in the dark, we didnt realize how near we were to the edge and how narrow it was! hahas. some of us were quite freaked out while climbing down. hahas. #knowinglessisknowingmore.
hahas. a vid by ah huat. looked like a freakin drunkard and #loser. totally felt like just rolling down all the way.
kinda narrow uh.
ahhahas. this one epic. he almost fell off the cliff man. quite scary. but it was more funny than scary. so i laughed all the way. what a shot. hahas. he's got the footage from his gopro/SJ4000 in full HD. hahas. thank God he held on to the bar. this is y NS shouldn't take out the pull up part. it save lives.
finally back at base camp. coz we took too long, we didn't have time to go to the lake and hot springs supposedly to trek down there and pitch the tent there for the night. and then make the descend via the Senaru route. oh well, next time! hahas
check out my pores clogged with dirt and volcanic ask on my sunburnt face. tsk tsk.
lunch. and rest. too much free time since all the plans cancelled.
the last night on the mountain together.
it was nice. we had dinner with the setting sun.
we sat on the mat provided by the porters and chatted by the fire under the stars.
secretly hoping that i brought my slr cam. but i guess i'm with with the small cam.
though it was cold everywhere, it was warm inside. we really wished that we could stay up all night, but it was really getting too cold and we're all too tired. so we KO at about 9pm. probably the first night since the start that we're going have a proper 9hr sleep.
Day 5 - the Descend
we're fast. took about 7hrs.
nice scenery though it was somewhat the same route.
with network coverage on one part of the mountain.
changing into not so cold clothes as we make our way down.
hahahs. see how Porters vs Man.
and btw, they are in slippers while we're in like trekking shoes. hahas
last meal in the mountains with the full team.
getting the hang of it so running down. hahas
on the truck back to the main office.
saw a mirror and first look after 4 days. hahas. the horror.
then a quick packing before taking the speed boat to Trawangan
reached Gili Trawangan island in 15mins. hahas.
havent booked accomodations. so quite epic that we had a contingency plan to split up and look for rooms. and since it was peak season, most of the lodging were fully booked.. so it was quite an adventure. hahahhas
well, we managed to secure a boat ride to Kuta Bali for the next day though!
at this place. 400,000 for 3 person per night. so its about $13 per person?
no hot water. no wifi. no clean towel. no blanket. erratic a/c. hahahs. well, at least there's a comfy bed which i had to make my sheet first. hahahs.
chillin' out. last night with no QC Bintang beer.
Day 6 - out and about!
Gili island. not one of my fav island coz its full of angmohs and tourism.
interesting coz the only mode of transportation is horses and bicycles.
sorry i have to make fun of this.
the MINISTRY of transportation and tourism and comms... main email is a gmail account. #awesomelombok siol. HAHAH. this is hilarious. and the english is best.
nice beach. but still too touristified.
and we're off on an atas boat to Kuta Bali! and i found a 3 pin plug at my random seat. #whataretheodds.
2hrs boat ride + 1.5hr bus ride to Kuta Bali.
and its BYEEEE SHAUN! have fun at work the next day. ahahhas.
Day 7 & 8
while James and i embark on our Bali adventure. hahahhas
how nice. we stayed at Nau Here hostel. walked from Kuta Central park where the bus left us off.
k. have to confessed, i booked the place coz i really like the foldable table as noted in the photo of Agoda.com. ahhhahas. its $12 per night. why not right. anddddd... here's hot water, clean towel, blanket, comfy bed and a/c.
even made some friendly friends from Europe and an unfriendly one from China who ate cup noodles and left them there w/o clearing after he left. tsk tsk.
ok. so its R& R ALL THE WAY with a rented motorbike for $7. we bought 2 L of petrol in 2 1L voldka bottles for 70c each. hahas. quite nice. pillioned ah huat most of the time. got used to an auto bike. never liked it coz each time i let go of the throttle, my heart sinks, thinking it would stall coz there's no clutch lever.
kenna stopped by police at one point. market rate of 50,000 ($5) to settle it all. a good experience for the books. hahhas.
went to factory outlets.
ate indon food.
also ate atas and very nice dim sum.
saw the signature bali waves. not as crowded as i expected it to be.
got myself 3 shorts, 3 tops and 1 soccer boots in total.
had massage.
wanted to eat at Bubba Gump but it was closed... so went to this very nice place to eat nice angmoh food. #noregrets and really enjoyed ourselves.
had black canyon coffee. not as good as the real deal from chiang mai.
drank more Bintang beer coz its like $1.70 per bottle. chilled out till 3am. got to know my bro-in-law more.
Bali bakery for breakfast before we left for the airport
and really had a good 2 r & r days after the trek.
ok. let the photos do the talking.
hahas. finally done posting. what a long post.
alot of photos i really wanna share but let's not flood this space.
overall, its been a great week. probably the best week of 2014. and its really timely coz after this good break, its a start of a new job for me! hope that i'll put all the unhappy past behind, leave them at the grey gravel of the summit climb.
this is also a good reminder that i can really enjoy myself, live life to the fullest and positively, if i really want to. situations do not define me, but its how we respond to the situations that define us. i'm glad to have made new friends along the way. and also, happy that i got to know my bro-in-law more and that he has really enjoyed himself with the many first-times for him.
alright. time check, gtg and zzzz, all ready for tmr. hahas!
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