What's it like to climb Mount Rinjani

When I was thinking about climbing Mount Rinjani in Lombok Indonesia, I really had no idea what it would be like or what challenges I’d face along the way and most importantly what kind of physical fitness would be required.  So now that I’ve actually completed the climb and brought back a lot of photos of the trip, I thought I would share my experiences is great detail in the hope I can give others an idea of exactly what it's like to climb Rinjani.

We booked out trip though IWannaTravel.com who in tern booked our trip up the mountain with ruddytrekker.com

Firstly, so you have some context for the experiences I had, I should point out that I consider my self to be in reasonable physical shape. This was the shape guide to Rinjani given to us by Rudy Trekker suggested that anyone looking to climb Rinjani should be in. I play a lot of soccer, cycle semi regularly and try and lead a fairly active lifestyle. So its in this context you should read what follows.

Photo Credits: Rob Davis, Phil Venz, Abigail Yongping

Day 0

The first day is just about arriving and getting settled in so its not really considered to be day one.  We arrived at the Lombok airport in Praya at about 7 pm where we were met by our driver in a little van. He took us on the 3 hour trip up to the Ruddy Trekker lodge where we arrived by about 10 pm. We were informed this could take longer but we had pretty good traffic so we got there sooner than we otherwise might have. The drive up to the hotel was very much like driving in most of Indonesia (I've been to Bali before). There are no real road rules, people seem to drive faster than they should and you have a lot of near misses (especially at night) with random pedestrians and other vehicles, specifically ones with out lights. The locals do seem to have a knack for getting through unscathed though so maybe it's not as chaotic as it looks.

The Ruddy Trekker lodge we stayed in

Once we arrived we were greeted with a welcome drink and a short orientation talk. They showed us a large map on the wall of the trek and where we would be going on each day. Finally we were shown to our rooms for the night and told to be up at 5 am the next morning for breakfast and departure.

The wall map of the trek

We were told that the rooms we all new, and indeed they did look pretty new but they had certainly been built on a tight budget. The hot water arrived slowly and departed rapidly and the air conditioner made a pretty extreme din. I was sharing a room with a friend who I wasn’t super keen to share a bed with so they had given us a room with two beds, one of which was a mattress on the floor. Other than those issues and the rather dodgy locks, the rooms were clean and functional if a little sparsely furnished.

Despite being very tired I didn’t sleep particularly well that night. I was rather nervous about the climb and what the morning would bring. I woke up at a bit past 4 am and wasn’t able to get back to sleep until my alarm went off about an hour later.

Day 1

We woke up at 5:00 am which gave us an hour before we had a breakfast of juice, pancakes and fruit to prepare us for the day ahead. We had hired a personal porter (in addition to the others provide by the Rudy Trekker) carry an extra bag for us so we handed over that bag before we headed off. One thing they hadn’t informed us of was that we needed to make sure that our belongings in the extra bag for the porter needed to be placed in two equal bags not just one big one. This was because the porters carried everything on big bamboo poles and they needed to be balanced at both ends.

The view from the Rudy Trekker lodge just before dawn.

Once the luggage issues were sorted out and breakfast devoured we met our guide, who was called  Bulloh. The trip to the start point took about forty five minutes and ended up depositing us in a small village called Sembalun at the base on Rinjani. The morning was bright and clear and we were told to take some good pictures of Rinjani as the cloud would soon roll in and we'd miss the chance.

Our Starting point in the village of Sembalun

After signing in at the park headquarters (a building in the village) and receiving a tag each for our bags we assembled at the start point outside the building. 

Signing in at the start

There were four of us from the group I was with but there were a lot of other groups. Pretty much everywhere we went on the mountain there were hordes of people. I’d estimate that in peak season when we went, there would be around three to four hundred people on the whole mountain at any one time.  

Our group at the start

We had one guide and five porters to carry all the gear. Four of the porters were carrying our food, water and tents and the other one was the extra guy we’d hired to carry our bag of many things. We were told that the porters wouldn’t be sticking with us throughout each day's climbing because they would be going ahead. That meant that we needed to take our cameras, sun block, and the water they gave us each day, in our own packs.

 Bulloh just near the start with his large pack and Rinjani in the background. 

 Bulloh who also carried a huge back pack had a lot of extra bottles of water. He'd dispense these to us as we’d finish each one we had in our bag. It was truly amazing how much these guides and porters could carry and still manage to climb a mountain.

We started hiking at about 8:30 am from the village at a height of 1,153m. The first couple of hours weren’t too bad. We saw several monkeys in the trees but mostly the only thing we had to contend with was the scorching sun as there wasn’t much in the way of shade. They call it the savanna and I guess in some ways it’s kind of like the African plains, but it’s a lot more hilly and the vegetation is quite different.  

The Rinjani Savana

With several short rest stops we made it to what’s called Position 1 Pemantuan at an elevation of 1300m in just over two hours. This was our first real stop and time for lunch even though it was only 10:45 am. We got about an hour for lunch and as was the case with all our meals, it was prepared by our guide and porters. They even carried little seats and a mat for us to sit on while we ate.

Our lunch setup at Position 1

Each of the main rest stops had little shelters already built there but because of the large amount of people, seating in the shade was usually at a pretty high premium. 

The rest stop at Position 1

The food for all the groups was prepared in a large communal cooking tent behind the shelter (seen in orange in the above photo). I didn't managed to get a photo of this but I did get a look inside and it certainly wasn't the most sanitary cooking environment I've ever seen....by some margin. That being said the food did taste good, more so because of how hungry we were.

The first course for lunch 

The second course for lunch

The standard fruit and condiments that accompanied most meals. 

Once we'd re-hydrated and stuffed our selves it was time to push on towards Position 2. At this point the climb slowly started to get steeper and the terrain became more difficult to climb. One thing that started to become a problem was the dust. This was the dry season as that's the best time to climb. However that means that the tracks become incredibly dry and dusty, especially when there are so many people using them daily.

We reached the 1500m elevation of Position 2 at about 1:15 pm and took a short break to watch the porters throw rocks at the thieving monkeys and ring the sweat from our clothing. Something that I wasn't expecting was the amount of personal music players that the guides and porters carried in their packs. This meant that we were never really out of ear shot of what I imagine was some kind of indo-pop, but I'm really sure.

The porters resting at Position 2

Position 2 was a fairly short stop and we soon pressed on towards Position 3. By this time the terrain was starting to be come much steeper with exposed tree roots and rocks making climbing all the more difficult.

The exposed tree roots helping to make the climb even harder.

One thing I had been warned about which turned out to sadly be true, is that vast amount of rubbish that littered the mountain and the tracks. It made us very paranoid about the use of hand sanitizer and rather spoiled many of the areas where people congregated such as the rest stops and all the camp sites; more on that later.

Climbing towards Position 3

By the time we'd reached Position 3 at 1800m I had started to reach the limit of my physical fitness. The final climb from Position 3 up to the creator rim at 2639m was a very slow process for me. I had to keep going by climbing a few meters and stopping for a rest. Mercifully we weren't being roasted by the sun any more as some cloud cover had set in. Because of the altitude it was now much cooler as well. Very kindly  Bulloh also offered to carry my pack for me, but I declined since he had a huge one already.

The final assault no the crater rim.

When we finally reached the crater rim at about 3:50 pm it was safe to say I didn't really feel like I could go on. Fortunately I didn't have to as this was the site of our first campsite. There were so many tents from the large amount of people climbing that the campsite was spread out along the crater rim and down over the lip and slightly into the crater its self.

The first few tents on the crater rim

Something I'd mentioned before is the fact that there was so much rubbish everywhere. This was even more noticeable around the major campsites. When I arrived at the crater rim site, one of the first things I noticed was a large pile of rubbish (in addition to all the random trash scattered about) right at the entrance to the camp. This would become an unfortunate pattern with all the campsites we saw.

A large pile of rubbish next to the tents at the entrance to the camp site. 

By this time the cloud cover had completely obscured the summit and filled the crater. The only area mostly free of cloud was the crater rim on which we were camped.

The view into the crater. The small peak in the background of this shot is the other side of the crater. 

The porters had gone ahead and started to make camp for us. They had rather thoughtfully gotten us a place that wasn't right on top of the rim so we didn't have to endure the howling icy wind all night as the temperature had fallen to about 7 or 8 degrees.

Our camp being set up by the porters. 

To reward us for making it to the crater rim we were given a Bintang (Indonesian beer) each and some fried banana snacks to enjoy while we watched the sun set and tried to stay warm.

The fried banana pre-dinner snack. 

Dinner was served just as it was getting dark and just before the light vanished all together we got a glimpse into the crater and the adventures that lay ahead. Afterwards we had tea made from local spring water. This was a staple after every meal.

Dinner on the crater rim

As the sun went down we were treated to a beautiful sunset over the west rim of the crater.

Sunset Over the Crater and the view from our campsite. 

That night the combination of aching legs and over tiredness made it difficult for me to get to sleep, which was a problem. We'd been told we would be getting up at 2 am the next morning to begin our assault on the summit so every minute of sleep mattered.



Day 2

The morning of day two found us crawling out of our sleeping bags in the cold dark night to begin climbing to wards the summit. We got given a small breakfast of toast and tea to give us some energy for the grueling hike ahead.

Leaving the campsite with our guide and a among the hundred or so other people heading up the mountain that morning we started the long ascent to the top. Everyone had a small head torch (which we'd been told to bring) which meant all you could really see other than the small patch of gravel and dust in front of you was a long chain of little lights slowly wending their way up the slope.

We soon lost our guide and each other in the dark and throng of climbers. It was just a case of keeping putting one foot in front of the other and hoping you had enough energy to keep moving. The temperature was down near freezing and slowly fell as the altitude increased. The driving wind also didn't help as it whipped up the fine dry dust making it hard to breathe in any places between rocks where it wasn't immediately blown away.

One of my friends standing beside the cliffs we'd climbed beside in the dark.

Once the dawn began, the light revealed the sheer cliffs we'd been climbing next to with out even realizing it. Its probably needless to say at this point that there were several times during the climb where I really felt like I couldn't go on.  I just took a small break and kept slowly putting one put in front of the other. One thing which I found tended to help, was putting my feet in the footprints of the person in-front of me. This gave me less things to concentrate on and let me just keep focusing on the next step. It was also a big physical advantage because for the last third of the climb which was by far the steepest, it was thick volcanic ash and rock. Every time you put your foot down it would slide back at least half the distance you'd gained in that step. It was exhausting and discouraging, and not being able to see the summit until the sun was almost up meant that you really had no idea how close you were to the end. This was a good thing because if I'd known just how far it was, I probably wouldn't have attempted it.

The very long trail back to camp which goes down the ridge to the left and winds back around to the upper left quadrant of the shot.

With the help of one of my friends who was letting me follow in his footsteps we slowly plodded our way up, I did finally make it to the top just after the sun peaked over the horizon at about 6:00 am. The view was amazing there's no doubt but for me I was so cold, weak and sick from the altitude (3726m) that I really couldn't enjoy the experience. There was enough room on the very top for quite a few people but even so it was rather crowded up there. After taking a couple photos and eating a couple of biscuits that  Bulloh gave me (he'd found us again) I went to find a little shelter from the wind to rest and try and get my strength back for the decent.

The view from the summit of Rinjani just after dawn. The long ridge to the right of shot was where we climbed

Lying down on the hard volcanic rocks under a little over hang on the leeward side of the peak didn't really help as much as I'd hoped it would. Because of the altitude I just didn't feel like I was getting my strength back and due to the exhaustion and sleep deprivation I was feeling pretty sick as well. I was also quite stressed due to the fact that I realized if I had pushed my self to hard, if I was to get into any real medical trouble I would be far from any kind of rescue.

Part of the track that was cut into the mountain. This is about a third of the way up and you can faintly see the line of tents along the ridge in the middle of the shot. 

All these thoughts combined to cause me to make a hasty retreat down the mountain while the others were still up at the top. In fact there were still a lot of people making their way to the top or in fact giving up and going back. Quite a few who set out for the summit didn't make it all the way, so I guess I wasn't the most unfit person there, despite how I felt. I told one of the porters I wasn't feeling well and was heading down and he very nicely came with me the whole way.

Looking out to sea over the south eastern side of Lombok from the top of Rinjani

It was remarkably easy to descend, not only because it was down hill but because the ash which had been so torturous to climb in was now a soft slithery cushion for each foot fall.  That being said it was also very slippery and at one point towards the end I slipped and smashed my knee into a large rock. Fortunately I was still able to keep walking albeit painfully.

Just below the summit a little rocky overhang where I took shelter

It was amazing how as I descended and got more and more oxygen into my lungs and got further from the peril of the summit (where occasionally people do fall to their death) my physical and mental state improved and I realized I hadn't exerted my self to the point where I couldn't make it back.

A small tree clinging to the side of the volcanic slopes with the line of tents in the background.

I made it down in about an hour, less than a third of the time it took me to make it up. As soon as I reached our tents (we had two for the four of us) I lay down for some much needed rest. I had about an hours more rest (although not sleep) by the time the others arrived back at the camp and we were served our second and much needed breakfast of the day.

Our second breakfast of the day

Once we'd eaten and had a little more rest, it was time to begin heading down into the crater for the long days hike ahead. We collected our stuff from the tents, repacked our bags for the porters and made use of the toilet tent one last time before heading off.

Speaking of the toilet tent, this is probably a good time explain how that worked. The porters would erect a little square topless tent somewhere in the camp for us and the people near us to use as a toilet. There would be a little hole dug in the ground inside and a roll of toilet paper placed on one of the poles.

The toilet tent

This worked reasonably well, however there was one issue. It seemed that because the tents were placed in different places every time and there were loads and loads of companies and people using the mountain, you really never knew what you might step in when walking about the camp site. This resulted in errant bits of toilet paper in the grass everywhere and some pretty bad smells in some parts. Also because it seemed a lot of people got caught short on the trail, several times I saw whole poos sitting on or beside the track making a pretty grim scene and smell. This was by far the worst down by the lake at a very frequented campsite where the smell was horrific.

Well I think that's probably enough said about that. Back to the trek. We left our camp site at about 10:00 am and started the slow decent to the crater floor. It was a series of very steep and rocky switch backs. The view however made up for the discomfort.

The view of the lake as we descended towards it. 

I'd like to take a moment at this point to mention the porters. These guys, to me anyway seemed to defy what should be humanly possible. They carried huge loads on bamboo poles on their shoulders up and down the most unforgiving terrain. They made camp for us, broken camp for us, cooked our meals and probably did a bunch of other things we didn't even realize. What makes their porting more impressive is not only were they way faster than us, despite their enormous loads, but they also usually just wore thongs (flip flops) and in some cases socks or even bare feet. How these guys managed to do all that in those shoes or lack there of, I'll never know. They also climbed to the summit in their socks and thongs and some of them even carried a pile of wood up to build a fire on the summit.

Our indomitable porters coming down in to the crater and doing it faster than us. 

We stopped for lunch down near the crater floor (2000m) on our way to some hot Springs a little bit further down the mountain. Despite how exhausted I'd been on the summit climb, having a little rest, food and lower altitude seemed to do wonders for me. I was feeling fine as I followed  Bulloh down the trail to the lake after lunch.

Lunch down in the crater

When we arrived at the lake shore at 2:15 pm, to start the short trek down to the hot springs (below the level of the lake by about 100m) I was stunned by how much waste (human and non-biodegradable) was strewn about the camp sites and even in the lake. There were a vast amount of dead fish washed up on the sore or floating in he shallows and the smell from that and the other rubbish was pretty appalling. Fortunately we weren't camping there and I felt sorry for those I saw who were.

Some of the campsite by the lake littered with rubbish and even (right be hind where I was standing to take this photo) human waste. 

The hot springs were a nice way to get rid of some of the accumulated dust and sweat that we had caked to us. They were quite crowded with all the people there but here was still enough space for all. They weren't super hot but certainly warm enough to enjoy for an hour or so. The others in my group were putting their heads and faces under and didn't suffer any ill effects but unfortunate experiences with this kind of thing before prevented me from doing so. Some people were also jumping off the rocks into the pool, but with out being able to see what was below the water, and being so isolated from any medical help I decided to ignore our guides encouragement and not jump.

The hot springs down on the crater floor

By the time we left the hot springs at about 3:50 pm we needed to make good time up and out of the crater to the rim and our final camp site. This leg of the hike initially took us along the lake shore where we could admire the views of the small steaming second peak forming out of the late and the dead fish along the shore.

The second peak forming out of the lake

It was at this point that I came face to face with one of the more unpleasant aspects of trekking in Indonesia, the all too proverbial "Bali belly". I don't really know what gave it to me as I was extremely careful with the hand sanitizer. I suspect it could have been the chicken that we had for several meals. There was no way of keeping it cold so I'm not sure how well preserved it was when it was cooked for dinner. Either way the result was the same, as we started the hike up and out of the crater, I suddenly found my self in very urgent need of a toilet.

Fortunately one of my friends had a roll of toilet paper with them and I was forced to head off into the bush to try and find somewhere in the tall weeds and trees to take care of the situation. I can tell you how, no matter how long I live I hope never to repeat that experience. Once I was back on the trail however I was mostly OK as we slowly climbed up the steep terrain towards the rim.

The trail seemed to go on for ever as the night closed in around us. However it did afford us the chance to see the sunset reflecting off the crater walls behind us.

The sun setting as we climbed out of the crater.

Much as I had hit my wall on the first day and indeed earlier that morning up to the summit, one of my friends hit his wall on this part of the hike. We slowed out pace right down and just took it a few meters at a time.  Bulloh was very good about all of this and actually took our packs from us to make it easier. How he managed to climb with our packs and his giant one I have no idea. He did tell me however that the guides of some companies are not quite as understanding of people who can't go at the pace the guides think they should.

We again made good use of the lights we brought as darkness fell and we had to rely on them to differentiate between the small trail and the steep cliffs along which we were climbing.

The light fading in the Rinjani Crater

Further to their credit, our porters had gone on ahead to find us a good camp site and have everything ready for our arrival. About half an hour before we reached camp two of them came back down the trail to meet us and help  Bulloh with out packs and to give us some extra light. This certainly helped and made me grateful we had booked with a company who didn't mind us taking this at out own pace.

We eventually made it to the camp (2641m) at about 7:30 pm. That was one of the longest days I've had in a very long time. The porters had another great meal ready for us and also found us another camp site out of the wind which was pretty wild on this side of the rim. The only thing which marred this night for me was having once more to deal with the dreaded Bali belly. At least this time I had a toilet tent to protect my dignity, what was left of it anyway.

Dinner after the climb out of the crater

That night, despite being exhausted the view from just above our camp site on top of the crater rim, was far too spectacular to not photograph. The milky way was clearly visible even though the moon was out as well. The air was cold and clear providing minimal optical distortion plus the city of Matram was visible through the clouds below us. So I took my camera up on the ridge and enjoyed some of the best astro photography conditions I've ever seen.

The milkyway over Rinjani

Looking north west towards Bali the moon shining over the city of Matram

Our tents just below where I was shooting

The milky way stretching out to the south east

Eventually the need for sleep over came the fun I was having and I turned in for the night. I woke up again about six hours latter and feeling kind of refreshed I ventured out of the tent to enjoy the night once more. This gave me the chance to see the rather amazing site of the main peak of Rinjani with the small trail of lights up the side of it as the next several batches of climbers made their torturous way to the top.

Day 3

Breakfast on the final morning

I finally returned to my tent and slept soundly for the rest of the night before being awakened by the sounds of breakfast being made. The view from our campsite that morning of the Rinjani caldera was pretty spectacular.

The Rinjani Caldera from our campsite on the last morning

Once we'd finished eating and packed up our stuff it was time for the final leg of the trek. The hike back down the mountain to the village of Senaru.

Our campsite on the final morning.

Leaving the rim at 7:50 am we made out way down the steep sun soaked slopes of the mountain. This was mostly just dry dusty trails with sections of steep rocks.

The trail down to Senaru

Eventually we found our selves descending into the dense tropical jungle which provided some welcome shade. Here we once more saw a selection of birds and monkeys playing in the trees as we passed below.

The rocky slopes gave way to the dense jungle

At various points along the way we were joined by random stray dogs which just seemed to live on the trails eating what ever was left over by trekkers.

Stray dogs on the track

There are three positions on the this leg of the trek just as there are on the first day plus an extra one. We stopped at Position two (1500m) at about 12:30 for lunch, our final meal on the mountain.

Lunch on the final day

The porters cooking our lunch for us at Position 2 on the decent to Senaru

Despite being exhausted the decent didn't take it out of me nearly as much as the accent had. I put this down to the fact that it was downhill and so vastly easier but also the fact that there's a natural kind of energy reverse you have when the prospect of a hot shower and a soft bed at only a few hours hiking away.

After about an hour for lunch we commenced the final decent to the village of Sanaru where there would be a car waiting to take us the short drive back to the hotel. We arrived at about 2:30 pm (601m) at the entrance to the national park. Below you can see four very happy, exhausted and smelly people.

The four of us and  Bulloh our guide at the end of the hike.

From the entrance or exist (depending on you're direction of travel) it was still about half an hour walk through small farms and local huts to the waiting four wheel drive. The car trip then took us about 15 minutes to get back to the hotel where we started from.

It's hard to explain how good it felt to be back. After we'd showered and washed off several days worth of volcanic dust and sweat we all took much needed naps before heading off to find something to eat. We also gave out porters cash tips for all the hard work they had put it to bring us back down safely.

Now that I've completed the trek I can say I'm glad to have done it. However if I ever attempt something like that in the future I will train and prepare for it much more rigorously. There was a lot of the trek, especially on day two where I was regretting going on it. It's easy to let the memory of how hard it was fade and imagine that I could do it again but I know that would be a bit crazy. There were parts where I greatly feared I'd pushed my self to far and gotten my self into a situation I couldn't get my self out of.

It's important to remember that this is my personal experience and that of the people I went with was quite different. They all greatly enjoyed it and would do it again in a flash. I hope this account will help others who are thinking of going get a better idea of the challenges you'll face along the way. If you have a love of hiking and are very fit then you will probably love this hike. If like me how ever you're not as fit as you think you are, you might want to reconsider or at least do a lot more training that I did.

One other thing to consider is the company you go with. There are a lot of companies that take people up Rinjani and according the reports I got from people there, they are not all equal. Some are good and some are not. I can only speak for the ones we used (Rudy Trekker) but they  certainly seemed excellent to me.