The Heights of Indonesia

We’re back from our camping expedition on the Mount Rinjani volcano. We’re spending some well-deserved time relaxing in the city of Sengiggi before we leave for Jakarta and then back on to Calgary from there. It was only two days but our legs are dead, we’re half asleep and we probably should’ve planned for some down time before we had to start the crazy traveling again.

The climb from Senaru to the crater rim was relatively uneventful. There isn’t much of a view for the first few hundred meters, just jungle trees. It was very hot under the thick canopy of brush and the humidity was so heavy sometimes it felt like we were breathing in water. We did get to see packs of black monkeys as well as many, many birds but the climb is uphill and so tiring, we generally just concentrated on putting one leg after the other. You’d think we would have been prepared for some hard labor but we were more or less thinking this would be a nice hike in a quiet setting. It was far from quiet at any time of day with those birds and monkeys though!

Eventually we made it to the break in the trees and all of a sudden we were surrounded by clouds covering moss and lichens over the ground. Kind of surreal! This didn’t last long and soon there was nothing but volcanic rock and some grass until we made it to our campsite at the crater rim. By this time, the clouds had cleared and that’s when the views came out! I’d been so focused on reaching the crater that I didn’t expect the beautiful view of the ocean we’d get from up there. It was gorgeous, with the sun gradually setting in the horizon. And the volcanic crater itself, with the lake in the middle, was indescribable! It stretched much further than we expected and gave a sense of foreboding, along with excitement at the idea of camping next to an active volcano.

It was a cold night but we made it through with a bit of shivering and lots of blankets. In the morning, our guide made us a hearty breakfast and allowed us to leisurely walk around the one edge of the crater to get a good, thorough view. It really was spectacular.

The hike down was technically easier than the going up, but it was still a journey. The jungle on this side of the mountain seemed to be a bit thinner, which was nice and we could see the expanse of land and sea stretching out below us. We took this half a little slower and enjoyed the warm day, listening to the guide tell stories of his many treks up the mountain, some spanning a month at a time. He was entertaining to listen to and jumped around animatedly as he talked. He also was more than excited whenever he found flora or fauna we hadn’t yet encountered and encouraged us to take many, many pictures of everything. Obviously very proud of his homeland, it was fun, exciting and educational.

The town we descended on (of which I cannot remember the name at all) was barely a town at all, with a small in-floor bathroom, no running water at all, and a few locals wandering around going about their various agricultural businesses. Our mini bus was waiting to take us immediately to our hotel in Sengiggi, which is again where we are now.

It’s been a long, amazing trip but I think we are all looking forward to heading back to Canada, with all of our wonderful goodies and photo in tow.

Today we checked into the only hotel in Senaru with hot-water facilities, the Pondok Senaru, which is an eco-lodge, a common Indonesian accommodation. We’re at the base of Mt. Rinjani (an active volcano) and decided the next 2 days are going to be long and arduous and we deserve one last night of hot water. There’s a beautiful garden surrounding the hotel (like most wonderful little hotels we’ve stayed at throughout Indonesia) and we’ll probably spend the rest of the evening sipping drinks out on our verandah overlooking the Sendang Gile waterfall. Tomorrow our wake-up call is at 4:30am to ensure we’re ready to go when the bus picks us up at 6am.

We’ve booked the Rinjani Rim Package http://www.lombok-trekking.com/rinjani-trekking-rim-program.htm through the Mount Rinjani National Park ranger services. It’s a 2 day, 1 night package that will have us hiking all the way up the mountain tomorrow and spending the night on the rim of the crater. There is apparently a beautiful lake we’ll be camping on the edge of. More on that when we get to Sengiggi in two days time.

Today we spent some time around the village of Senaru and got an idea of the land and nature we can be expecting on our expedition with a leisurely walk up to two of the waterfalls in the area. The best known and most easily accessible is again the Sendang Gile waterfall which is huge attraction and falls from about 600m above. Further upriver, we saw the Tiu Kelep waterfall, which was a little harder to get to but the view was spectacular. After a couple hours of walking we were more than ready for the refreshing dip in the pool at the bottom of the waterfall. It was so much fun to splash around in the falls and soak up the goods in this natural mineral spa.

We were lucky enough to see a few brightly coloured butterflies and birds but no monkeys yet! They assure us we’ll see more than our share of long tail macaques on our trek up Mount Rinjani.

This evening we spoke to a local guide who showed us around the Senaru Traditional Village, something only those who have obtained special permission are allowed to explore. We were spoiled with basket after basket of local, fresh fruit. Dinner was at a local restaurant where we had the chance to see a traditional music and dance performance by some village locals. All in all, I feel like we were treated to a special day that not many have the chance to enjoy.

Off to enjoy the sun set over the waterfall!

Yesterday morning we took the ferry from Bali over to Lombok, where we’ll be for the next few days. We thought we’d try a different mode of transportation which is why we took the Public Ferry. It was also the least expensive way to connect between the two so it worked out well. We left Padang Bai at about 7am this morning and didn’t make it in to Lembar on the island of Lombok until almost noon! It was a long journey (we found out later we could have taken a faster boat for only a bit more cash) and of course, I was sea sick and motion sick as usual. Apparently the views of the ocean were beautiful but I spent most of the time secluded inside trying to shake that nauseous feeling. I was still feeling a bit queasy by the time I made it to bed but pushed through the afternoon; we don’t have a minute to spare!

You’d think after that ferry I’d have had enough of the water but we spent most of the afternoon touring the harbour of Lembar. The ports are very quaint but the town itself didn’t have much to offer. We had lunch and just walked around until our bus was ready to depart to Bangsal Harbour so we could continue our journey to the much-talked about Gili Islands. From Bangsal Harbour we immediately jumped onto another ferry which took us to the island of Trawangan, known for very hospitable locals and a fun, easygoing atmosphere. They weren’t lying! We spent the evening touring local bars (there’s even a Irish pub that is a local hot spot!) and enjoyed many fruity specialty beverages that had us sleeping soundly in our beds at a relatively decent hour.

Our time here on Trawangan is being spent in an amazing resort called the Kelapas Villas http://www.kelapavillas.com/index.php. Our villa has 3 very large poolside rooms and a giant living room and kitchen. Kelapas is hidden away on a coconut plantation, so we kept the windows open as often as possible to smell the sweet smell of the coconuts. The gardens all around the villa also emit a wonderful scent.

We heard the scuba diving in Bali was great but to check out the Gili Islands if we had the chance, as that is where the real diving is experienced. In addition, there aren’t as many other tourists to fight through the throngs of down here. Since none of us have ever really scuba dived before, we signed up for a beginner class. Right into the water, after much instruction and warning, our instructor spotted white tip reef shark. During the pre-dive course, they had given us a rundown of the marine life we might see, and of course we were there with the hopes of seeing some beautiful reefs and interesting fish. Never did we imagine running into one of these scary (though harmless) sharks! That was the one and only shark of the day however, and he quickly removed himself from our path. We also had the pleasure of seeing several sea turtles swimming around simply enjoying the warm water.

At the moment, we are relaxing on the beach as we prepare to head off tomorrow for our final adventure in Lombok, a short camping expedition on Mt. Rinjani. Well, I’m off to enjoy another Bintang beer with the girls!

From Ubud we are now going south to Kuta Beach, a must for any visitor. The car ride from our villa in Ubud is about 30 to 40 minutes. Not too bad at all, a nice way to see the scenery as you travel. We arrived in Kuta early in the morning; they say the best time is in the morning to get the best picture with the sunrise. In Kuta beach we spent time at the Tanah Lot, a sea temple that is situated on a large offshore rock. Tanah Lot has been part of the Balinese mythology for centuries. Having the temple offshore creates somewhat of a problem of getting to, handy that they have made a footpath to reach to the top of this picturesque temple. Since the temple is highly commercialized there is a small entrance fee of 10,000RP which converts to $1.11 CAD per person. For that small of an entrance fee we were able to roam around a little bit more in the area and purchase more things for a day budget. While we were roaming around, we came across a very odd fruit that kind of looks like dragon fruit! This one had a very odd name Rambutan Fruit. We all had a taste and it was nothing like we expected it to be. We all loved this fruit, we bought enough to last us a while on the trip.

For a unique activity we decided to part take in the fun enjoyment of riding an elephant. We know it’s nothing to be nervous about but we wanted pictures so we let the locals go ahead of us for this one time, we got a great picture! Good thing this one uploaded to our computer just in time…because we had a huge problem and some of our pictures got deleted, and none of us have an extended knowledge of cameras. Riding the elephant was a lot of fun, not something you can do every day.

After a lunch at a local McDonald’s, yes we gave in only because we have been having a lot of local food and why not something classic.

As for the rest of the day in Kuta we spent it working on our tans on the beach, also doing some water activities but just having a good time with friends.

Before even heading into Bali, we already knew to expect some type of festival. Bali is known to have one to three festivals in a month for twelve months. We were thinking, “Wow these Balinese really are grateful!” In our case we were really grateful because the festival that we arrived on was the special holiday Pagerwesi. This marks the beginning of Pawukon to be aware about your surroundings and protecting yourself from evil. When you translate Pagerwesi, Pager means Fence and Wesi means Iron, Iron fence from evil is ultimately how they want people to understand.

Bali is the largest tourist destination in this country with highly developed arts; dance, sculptures, painting, music and metal working, they also have a Hindu majority of 93%. While you’re traveling in and around the many cities just be aware of their beliefs and don’t dress too inappropriately.

We are travelling to a city located in the middle of the island, Ubud. This city is the main location for all of their arts and culture, with that being said this is an up and coming hot spot for the glitterati let alone backpackers. When we got into Ubud we felt that anyone could come into this city and be welcomed and acknowledge the amount of character that one city brings.

We decided to make sure we had a good time everywhere we went, and sometimes that includes staying at very nice hotels and villas. For our stay in Ubud we’re open to staying at the Sayan Terrace (Known as the Best Kept Secret in Bali). What we did enjoy from our villa is not only the amazing view but the choice of our complimentary breakfast which has local and western favorites.
http://www.indo.com/hotels/sayan_terrace/

We all thought that Bali was great you get to mix an island up in so many different ways. Bali is very real and focuses on real life situations and feelings for their different festivals, however if you escape to the beach to be in a fantasy land that’s where you need to do it, Bali’s most visited point is Kuta beach, this beach has long beaches and clear colorful water that makes you want to be in it. For our first few days in Bali we are going to experience our ‘real’ portion first and always finish leaving with a lasting view of their beaches.

When you’re heading around town, you will always notice a similarity in their transportation. Buses, motorcycles and bicycles are extremely popular not very often where you see something else. Lacey mentioned that this is a really popular form of getting around, unlike in Canada where you don’t ever see a lot of people riding their bikes or having a motorcycle. Also in our case the weather and climate here doesn’t always permit us from using those modes.