Mountain Rinjani Trekking – Day 1

May 2012:  Me and few friends went to Rinjani mountain for few days trekking… It will take four days three nights to cover the total trekking route. very excited.. :). Here is where the mountain located…

Rinjani Mountain is located in Lombok island, Next to bali Island, Indonesia (click for bigger picture)

Preparation: Few times warming up trekking to Gunung Gede, and buying outdoor gears (trekking pole, shoes, jakcet etc). Rinjani is one of the highest mountain in Indonesia probably third highest with 3700 meter height (Jaya Widjaya is the highest and Kerinci is the second, it will be very cold up there… no snow though… The route is as follows: (see the 3D map for reference)

  • Day 1: From registration office to Camp 1 (2.639 m) stay over night,
  • Day 2: Camp 1 to summit (3.726 m) (start at 2.00 AM) Back to Camp 1 (2.639 m )and continue to Camp 2 (2.010m) (stay overnight at camp 2),
  • Day 3. Trekking from camp 2 to Camp 3 (2.641)  is at Caldera plawangan senaru stay Overnight
  • Day 4 : From Camp 3 to Senaru (500 m) end…

Our trekking operator is John adventure which is very recommended, let the picture speak for them self. Note: this picture will be only for Day 1. Camera : Fuji X100

Loading logistic for four days trekking, Rice, banana, 40 eggs, pineapple, lots of mineral water, tent, folding chair etc
The – not so fit – trekkers start the day.. :). According to my camera, it was May 15th 09.58 AM
The local produce… Shallot (small red onion)
Shallot field and mountain Rinjani
One tree hill…
Savanna and the standing tall above the cloud, Rinjani Mountain. Can you see a house in the mid left…
Big scar on this land… not sure what has happened thousand years ago…  After Savanna, the woods is a head of us
Post II… where we had rest and lunch, we stayed for about one hour… Do not ask where the post I is… no time for taking pictures, I was busy catching breath :)
Rest and chatting… A chair is very luxurious thing in here… 12.00 – 1.00 PM
Cheers mate, you’ve made it to post II… :)
Again no time taking picture, this slope is killing me… can you see a little blue dot down there… it is the post III… 4.30 PM
Still way up a head but I feel my lungs will explode anytime soon … :) 4.49 PM
This is the slope that I am talking about… around 45 degree and above the cloud, oxygen is probably thinner.  That slope is the old trekking route
Yeay.. I can see the mountain tops… but I have to reach the caldera first…
Reached the caldera and this spectacular view is greeting you… fiuh.. 5.58 PM

Normal average fit trekker will take about 8-9 hours to reach caldera… I took about 11 hours… the team leave me behind with one porter, because they have to set up the camp and cook for the dinner…

Now its time to have dinner and a good rest. Tomorrow, we have to start at 2.00 AM..! If only I can find the camp… :(  See you in Day 2 post

My short visit to the island of Gods

This is probably my shortest visit to Bali, I was there only for few hours to catch the plane to Lombok. Fortunately I had a chance to stop and took some pictures of  Ngaben preparation… not the actual cremation ceremony though due to the limited time I have… here are the picts

Weekend Project: Developing B/W film

Ada satu hal yang ingin saya kerjakan sejak dulu, yaitu memproses dan mencetak film sendiri dan berasa seperti Ansel adams :). Hal tersebut tidak pernah tersampaikan karena selain ribet, ada yang jauh lebih mudah dan murah, yaitu memprosesnya di lab film.

Tetapi dengan berkembangnya camera digital, lab film tersebut mulai membatasi operasinya hanya memproses warna dan melakukan pencetakan saja, sedangkan film slide dan hitam putih sudah tidak lagi di support. Akhirnya saya memutuskan untuk mencobanya weekend ini sebelum film analog ini hilang dari peredaran :).

First try Gagal total bisa dibaca disini untuk detailnya, tak apa, masih bisa di coba lagi… dan hari ini second try…. berhasil..!, setidaknya terlihat hasilnya, nanti akan saya scan dan postkan di blog tentang fotografi.

It seems pointless.. why doing it now in the Digital age. Using digital camera is easier, cheaper, faster and more practical etc.

To be honest I do not have any explanation other than “I just want to do it” :). it’s probably like writing a letter in a paper and send it trough snail mail, it just give a different feeling and connection compare to just send it trough e-mail. We do a lot of pointless things in our life anyway… like hiking, biking, computer game etc… We do it because we enjoy it, no explanation needed. I think this following quote from Bertrand Russell beautifully sum it up

The time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time

Developing B/W film at home… Check…!

Antara Padang-Palembang

Get bored…? why not doing something a bit crazy… how about long distance overland with 45 years old Landrover, ya why not…  its gonna be fun…. :)

The plan is simple, Plan A: buy car in  Padang, and drive it 1.367 km all the way to Jakarta… Plan B… If the car broken beyond repair somewhere in nowhere, just abandon it.. :).  Here is the Plan route, Jakarta – Padang (by plane) – Palembang (visiting sister) – Cilegon- Jakarta

More