Kuta Lombok

Wednesday morning I started driving from Mataram direction Kuta Lombok, which shouldn't be confused with Kuta Bali. At least not yet, Kuta Lombok isn't very developed yet, but one can clearly see that this place is going to be big in let's say 5 years time. The water here is crystal clear, and the surf 200m off the beach is obviously really good. Novotel has also built a really nice resort just east of central Kuta, the hotel looks really nice and is right at the beach.

Kuta Beach in the middle of the day, no people to be seen anywhere

Sunset at Kuta Beach 

Sunset a Kuta Beach

Climbing Mt. Rinjani 3,726 m

Wednesday 18. May
This afternoon I got a lift with the dive boat from Gili Trawangan to the harbour of Tuluknare in Lombok. After waiting there for an hour I was picked up by the driver at met up with my Swiss fried Lorenz again. After driving along the coast to the village called Senaru we arrived at our guest house where we spent the night.


Thursday 19. May
This morning we started early with banana pancakes for breakfast at 6:30am, and pick up at our guest house at 7am. After a small ride on the motorbike we arrived at the Rinjani Trek Centre where we paid the fee for the national park. Here we also met with our guide, and two Austrian guys going with the same guide. At 8am we started the trek, the guide, Lorenz, Adreas, Martin, me, and the two porters who carried our supplies for the next 3 days.

The view from our guest house in Senaru, where we also left most of our baggage

Our first proper break, at position 2 on the way from Senaru

The monkey waiting for us to leave some food after our lunch break

After hiking through dense forest for some hours the trees started to get smaller, and when we finally arrived at our first camp site there were few trees around. The altitude of our first camp site was 2400m, and for dinner we had nice local Indonesian food with chicken. Also we were served nice tea before our meal. The starry sky at the camp site was really amazing, and the sunset to the west was also really stunning.

Lorenz and Marting having a rest on the way to the first base camp

Our porters, carrying food supplies, tents, cooking gear and more

The tent at the first base camp in the late afternoon

Friday 20. May
After a really cold and windy night we woke up early in the morning, the view when we opened the tent was truly amazing, so then we quickly forgot about the chilly night, and got some hot tea and banana pancakes for breakfast. From the first base camp our hike continued up to the first rim of the volcano at an altitude of 2700m. From the first rim we got a glimpse of what we had coming, the summit another 1000m up from where we stood.

The view when we opened the tent in the morning

The view from the first rim at 2700m

 The view over the volcanic lake and the summit from the first rim at 2700m

From the rim we descended down to the crater lake called Segara Anak, so basically we dropped down to 2000m again. The reward that awaited us here was the hot springs, so after a nice bath there we had our lunch at the lake. The next goal after lunch was the base camp at the second rim at an altitude of 2700m. Reaching the base camp around 4pm we pitched our tents and had dinner before going to bed really early.

Descending the steep path down to the lake

The volcanic lake at 2000m

The scenery on the way to the base camp at the second rim

Andreas, me, and Lorenz just before arriving at the last base camp

This is the base camp at the second rim, from here we would leave at 3am the next morning

Sunset at the last base camp

Saturday 21. May
At 2:30am we woke up and had some hot tea and cookies, the temperature outside was only 10 degrees. We got our head lamps and started the trek towards the summit at 3am, the goal was to reach the summit by 6:20 for sun rise. The hike was quite hard, with loose volcanic stones covering the path. For every step forward, there would be a half step slide back. This basically meant that we had to do 50% work.

On our way to the summit it was really windy, the local guide told us that it was far beyond normal, but the good thing was the the weather was still completely clear. Climbing in the dark for 3 hours was quite hard, and then finally we could see the goal, the summit of Mt. Rinjani at 3,726 m. Lorenz and I representing the Swiss and Norwegian mountain countries led the way and arrived at the summit just 5 minutes before sun rise.

Sunrise seen from the summit of Mt. Rinjani at 3,726 m

The view from the summit to the south of Lombok

Lorenz and me at the summit, it's really windy

Me at the summit of Mt. Rinjani

Posing again, with the sunrise

The view to the South-East of Lombok

 The trail leading down to Sembalung

The view from the summit basically included all of Lombok, parts of Bali, and parts of Sumbawa to the east. After taking in the spectacular view we started our decent back to the base camp again. Our porters had prepared a nice breakfast for us, so before we started on our long way down to Sembalung at 900m, we enjoyed breakfast and relaxed in the sun for a while.

The walk down to Sembalung really seemed to be endless, but at 4pm we finally reached Sembalung where we got our transport back to Senaru where we started. One Bintang later we got on our way to our destination, the Austrian guys going to Gili Air, and Lorenz and me to Singgigi for the night.

Finally down on a path that's not steep

Rice terraces outside of Sembalung village

Martin and me finally back in a vehicle after 25km of hiking

Mt. Kinabalu in Malaysian Borneo.

Especially I think we have to thank our porters who carried all the supplies, only wearing thongs as footwear. Down in Singgigi I'm really happy to have my thongs again, but I would never ever climb a mountain with them..,

Next up is exploring some more of Lombok on the motor bike, so stay tuned!

Gili Trawangan, Lombok

After staying in Kerobokan north of Kuta for 6 days to recover from a small illness I finally made my way to Gili Trawangang, one of three Islands on the west coast of Lombok. The other islands are Gili Meno, and Gili Air which is closest to Lombok. Arriving here I went to a place called Nusa Tiga on the north tip of the Island. Here I got a basic but good accommodation really close to the beach, and with a good breakfast included in the price.

After meeting up with a friend staying at the same place during the day I went for a few beers in "town" which is a 20 minute walk from Nusa Tiga. The next day started quite slowly, with a banana pancake for breakfast and hanging around on the beach for the rest of the day. In the evening I met up with some friends from the night before to have some drinks in a small bamboo hut on the beach with a reggea band playing.

Well that's how the days go by here in Gili Trawangan, on Monday I went diving at a dive site called Manta Point, the visibility was quite good and so was the dive company. It was really great to go diving again, since the last dive I did was in Australia just before Christmas.

The next plan is to meet a Swiss friend to go for a hike on the Rinjani Volcano in Lombok, this trip will take us 3 days, so 2 nights we'll spend camping in the mountain. Our trek we'll start from Senaru which is 2 hours drive from the ferry port of the Gili Islands. 

On the fast boat from Padangbai to Gili Trawangan

The sunset view from Nusa Tiga, the place where I was staying

A local boat outside of the main jetty in Gili Trawangan

Top End bar in the late afternoon, just before sunset

Sunset at Nusa Tiga, at the north of the island

Early morning at Nusa Tiga, the tide is high and the sun is rising

Sunrise at Nusa Tiga

The view towards the mountains in Lombok from Gili Trawangan

Beautiful Bali, Indonesia

Since May 6 I've been in Bali, I got on a AirAsia flight here from Phuket since the diving in Similan was cancelled. First I went to a really quiet place called Padangbai, but now I'm in Kerobokan which is just north of famous Kuta.

The nice beach in Padangbai

Rice terraces in the small alleys in Kerobokan

Small local streets in Kerobokan

Barawa Beach north of Kuta and Kerobokan

A small local petrol station, with petrol written exactly as in Norwegian, "Bensin"

The sunset at Tanah Lot, a hindu temple on the beach north of Kuta

The Beach at Nusa Dua

Amazing volcanic rock formations at Nusa Dua, right here was a giant blow hole spraying water all over the place

The view from the Mt. Agung view point at Nusa Dua

Very soon I'll be going to the Gili Islands of the coast of Lombok.