- snapit -: Adventures at Mount Rinjani!

day 1, on the plane, so many mountains. is that the one we will be climbing?

first night, our trip guide bahar explained to us the 3 days climb and hike.

yummy coconut rolls served after dinner (yati told me its called 'dadar gulung')

relax at happy cafe bar before embarking on the long and tedious trek the next 3 days.

live band is my fav.!

lamps at the garden of our homestay.

day 2, the first day of climbing begins...

families come here to trek too?

the trekking begins...

across the fields, including this burnt field...

stopped for lunch! yummy mega sandwich! first time munching on 4 loaves of bread.

stop to take in the mesmerising scenery~~~

prof gan with our odac trip leader jinhao~

the clouds are floating just beside us...

at our base camp, starry starry night and milky way! thanks to trip leader for his tripod! (fellow trekker pointed out the milky way, ive no idea though and just researched and i guess it is!) -- http://www.google.com.sg/search?q=milky+way&hl=en&biw=1280&bih=597&prmd=ivnsu&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=DEUQTue3N8rVrQeLwZCIBA&sqi=2&ved=0CEgQsAQ

day 3, second day of climbing, summit push! woke up at 2am to start at 3am! but it is worth it, to catch the sunrise! ;)

should have bought hiking sticks.... it makes the climb less difficult. the gravel terrain is disgusting! take a step and slide a step down...

beautiful as seen from the summit! :P

at the edge of the summit~

another sister mountain~ hee

'im on the top of the world, looking down on creation...' not exactly though... until ive conquered mount everest...

fellow mount rinjani summit conqueror from thailand.

his friend reached and see the smile on his face!

this lil boy cried at a distance away from the summit. prob coz of the chill, or the terrain.

his father carried him up step by step, every step thrice as difficult.

this is the mountain that became dormant... it was still spilling lava 2 years back! cheat my feelings :(

pretty green on the mountains~

left our first base camp for the crater lake camp site~ went to an amazing hot spring in the middle of the wild that chilly night!

day 4, third day of trekking, the waterfall trek... before recovering from the summit push, we went on for a 10 hrs trek (up and down, sandy and rocky terrains) and due to 3 casualties, our 10 hrs trek seems forever... had to postponed part of the trek to tmr...

day 5, on our way to the waterfall!

traditional kampung man.

diving pose??

bad composition... pathetic view of waterfall...

e guys are really high...

an unusual trek in the tunnel where the water from the waterfall flows through...

its the yummy mie sedap for lunch again! slurp~~~

over here, i would really love to credit the local porters who have done so much for us. cooking, washing, serving, pitching tent, transporting stores... i was really overwhelmed by their service as usually we are the ones doing all these during camps.

cooking our fav. mie sedap!~

we always have banana for breakfast, banana pancake, crepe~

i like the light falling on his face... hee

these are the 2 porters whom im more familiar with and had interacted with coz they are the few who can speak a lil english.

Harim who pulled me up the summit when im totally exhausted... and nope, its neither jh (to angie) nor ck (to yc and sis)!

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150223482271619&set=t.1634438598&type=1&theater

Budin who hops around like a kid. haaaa.. and indeed, he is only 20! @@

last but not the least, our guide, Bahar who has brought us around from our homestay to mount rinjani, did all the liaising and stuff.

a fellow trekker mentioned that the porters seem to love what they are doing. i do feel so until yati pointed out to me that i have always wanted to experience kampung life when these lowly paid people yearn to be in the city.

time to say goodbye to our dearest porters and guide... i really miss them. continue on day 5, moving off from the outskirts to our homestay~~~

yati identified that this is bean plantation. dont u tink its so cool to nap in the hut amidst the greens!

on our way back, we stopped at the place where they called the monkey forest.

fellow trekker pointed out that this one here looks like the king of the monkeys! haaaa... the monkey god!

cute lil indonesian gal at a provision shop.

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150223496181619&set=t.1634438598&type=1&theater

had foot reflexology with some fellow trekkers. shiok to end my night with massaged feet~!

day 6, packed our day pack from homestay and took a ferry to the gili islands! snorkelling!

pretty night view~ love the composition.

the restaurants and resorts at this island are really awesome!!! many unique innovations!

get a lil romantic by the beach!

wonder if this is another mie sedap for dinner? haaa..

day 7, bye to pretty gili islands! have breakfast by the beach~ relax sua~

at the harbour of lombok. the workers are probably transporting stores to and fro gili islands and the lombok town.

entered a provision shop and requested to enter their house which is behind their shop. it seems like a secret garden in there! the man is making photo frames to be sold in their shop.

shy lil gal who was overwhelmed by the exposure and cried after a few snaps...

her sister looks shy too... what a pretty lil gal.

granny looks tensed when taking photo.

another shy gal with painted pink nails.

selling balloons along the street! so colourful!

had our dinner from a street stall. and i think its mie sedap again @@ mee goreng on the menu always turns out to be mie sedap :/

sang K at a cafe! it opens till 12am but our prof proposed to sing until 2am and the workers agreed~ @@ was too tired plus the oldies sang by prof made me KO at around 1am... slipped into a slumber on the chair in the chilly night...

prof really loves to sing! he was still singing even when we arrived back at our homestay at near 2am.

day 8, lunch at Cafe Lombi, managed by a swiss who also manages the homestay we are staying. his love story was extraordinary! the swiss was once a bag-packer who travels around and at one time came to lombok and met his current wife. it was love at first sight and he decided to stay in this small town and earn a living by investing in homestays and this Cafe Lombi.