Gunung Rinjani

Lombok gets described as Bali's quieter neighbor so often it's become a cliché. It's also just true. We were staying at the Rinjani Lighthouse, a guesthouse a short drive from the trailhead, which is either convenient or mildly threatening depending on how close you are to your hike date.

The day before the climb, I couldn't keep anything down. The plan was two nights on Rinjani. We scaled it back to one and went anyway.

After breakfast, an open jeep picked us up around 7am. Two porters and a guide were already on it. By the time we reached the trailhead they had already sorted the gear, strapped everything together, and were ready to go. They were wearing flip flops. Not sandals, not trail shoes. Flip flops. They would pass us several times during the day, smiling.

The climb breaks into three sections. The first goes through forest, cool and shaded, easier than you expect. The second opens up into full sun with no cover, and the trail just keeps going. The third is loose volcanic scree, steep enough that you slide back with every other step. By then I'd been running on electrolytes and very little food for two days, and the mountain was making that very clear.

When we finally reached the rim, the porters had already set up camp and were cooking. From a bag of ingredients carried up a volcano in flip flops, they made a proper meal, rice, vegetables, something warm. It was one of the best things I've eaten. I don't think that's just the altitude talking.

The crater itself stopped me. Segara Anak sits far below the rim, a lake so still and so green it looks unreal from above. The walls drop sharply on all sides. You stand there and the scale of it takes a moment to settle.

We watched the sunset from the rim. It came slowly, then all at once, the sky going warm over the crater and the lake catching the last of the light below. When the sun finally went the temperature dropped fast. Neither of us had packed well for that.

The descent the next morning was hard on the knees and long enough that you stop counting. By the time we were back at the trailhead I was properly finished.

The porters carried everything back down too. In the same flip flops.

The first thing we did after was shower, have a beer, and book massages.

I didn't feel my feet for two days. Not in a concerning way. They were just somewhere else, taking time to think things over.

Later that day we were sitting at a café facing Rinjani. The whole thing, crater rim and all, sitting there in full daylight. We looked at it for a while without saying anything. Then one of us said what we were both thinking.

We just did that?