Mount Rinjani, Part 2

Things that I couldn't squeeze in the last post:

1) How grateful I am to our guides and porters.

There were 8 porters who accompanied us. They carried our tents, sleeping mats, inflatable pillows, sleeping bags, our personal belongings, drinking water, cutlery, cooking utensils and ingredients to cook our meals. I think each porter carried around 15 kg and they navigated the arduous routes wearing only slippers!

I thought we would be eating simple meals like sandwiches and sardines but no - these men cooked for us fantastic meals. Some of the things we ate were: pisang goreng cheese, omelette, pancakes, maggi goreng, gado-gado and spaghetti. Not only were the meals delicious, they were also served in generous portions and artfully-presented! Their hard work made all of us try to finish everything on our plates. I even ate all my veggies for once!

A special shout-out to our extremely patient, kind and friendly guides: Pak Suni and Yannick (who speaks very good English and French). We wouldn't have made it without them. I am especially indebted to Pak Suni for helping me out on Day 1 when I was stricken with cramps. Meanwhile, Yannick was Nisha's saviour throughout the trip hehehe. Pak Suni can be reached at sunitrekker.com, while Yannick at yannicktrekker.com.

It's funny how us yuppies with our high-tech gear (from our watches that measure heart rate / calories burnt / distance and what-not, to our gaiters, hiking shoes, sunglasses, gloves, trekking poles, hydration bladders and Dri-FIT clothes) were of no match to these men who wear everyday clothes and slippers. If the weather's cold, they just use kain pelikat in lieu of a windbreaker. Even so, their strength and speed made us all trail in their dust.

2) Journeys are made by the people you travel with.

I've always loved that Malaysia Airlines slogan and in this trip I had the best travelling companions one could ask for. Thank you Nisha, Atiqah, Zulaikha, Sarah, Faizal, Umar & Hadi for making the trip so enjoyable by infusing it with your positivity, enthusiasm, sense of humour, generosity, kindness and adventurous spirit. Thank you for the laughter and for egging me to do things way beyond my comfort zone.

We've all been bitten by the adventure bug and now our next aim is to scale the Mulu Pinnacles. It's crazy what these trips do to your psyche. Hiking for 25 - 30 hours in the space of 4 days had resulted in some of us suffering from multiple blisters and blackened toes. All of us are now nursing sore muscles and everything aches from the waist down. Yet, our whatsapp group chat is now buzzing with plans for our next adventure. To borrow and edit Viper's slogan: Forget pain, worry about addiction. How true.

3) Ambil hanya foto, tinggalkan hanya jejak kaki

Sadly, some people do leave more than their footprints in Mount Rinjani National Park. It saddened me greatly to see the beautiful paths marred by candy wrappers, wet tissues and plastic bottles. Littering is already a despicable habit. But to do so at such a stunning location? It's almost criminal!

4) Some of life's lessons learnt.

To me, hiking offers some great lessons on life. First, you learn that its rewards are proportional to the effort you put in. As our guide said, "difficult routes lead to beautiful scenery". If we didn't hike for hours on end, we wouldn't have had the chance to see incredible views like this:

Second lesson: Life is not a race. You are not competing with anyone. Everyone wants to reach the final destination (i.e. the summit) and it doesn't matter how long one takes to get there. Don't compare yourself to others for your journey is unique. Further, though at times it can be exhausting, you have to be able to still smile and enjoy the journey.

Third lesson: لا حول ولاقوة إلا بالله
There is no might or power except from Allah. The strenuous hikes and getting lost in the woods have reaffirmed this lesson for me. I simply would not have made it if not for Allah's help.

Fourth lesson: We can have amazing conversations and make deeper connections in the absence of WiFi. Throughout the trip, we had a great time eating and socialising with one another but once we arrived at the hotel in Senggigi, we retreated into our own worlds, interacting more with our phones than the people around us. I was guilty of this too. I think we need to start putting away our phones when we have company because, in all likelihood,  whatever it is we are doing on our phones, it isn't more important than the person in front of us.

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Selamat Menyambut Ramadan dear readers! May Allah help us to make the most out of this blessed month!