What do clouds taste like? Maybe you have never wondered, maybe you never thought you would get close enough to find out, maybe you think it’s a preposterous question. Whatever you think about the question, I now know the answer. How did I find out? It was not an easy journey but it was one I’ll never forget.
I believe that you can’t say that you have lived until you have done something really difficult. Something that you never thought you could do; and because of that you ended up seeing something so breath-taking that you can’t believe you have been so lucky. A trek to the top of Gungung Rinjani on the island of Lombok in Indonesia did both of these things and opened my eyes to what life has to offer, the smell of clarity and the taste of clouds.
After travelling in Asia for nearly 4 months, and for a not-so-fit and not-so-outdoorsy kind of girl, I had done a lot of trekking and hiking and outdoorsy kind of things, but none of them compared to what lay in store when I decided to climb Mount Rinjani on the island of Lombok. Truth be told I never wanted to go in the first place, it sounded like a hike for very experienced and very fit people and I am neither one of those, but sometimes fate and persuasive friends bring you spectacular things you never wished for, but are blessed to have experienced.
We set off on a three day trek up to the top of the famous Gunung Rinjani (Rinjani mountain) with its peak at 3726 meters to see the Gunung Baru volcano surrounded by the beautiful blue volcanic lake Danau Segara Anak. Standing at the bottom you feel like Mount Rinjani rises out of the heart of Lombok, where it covers the central part of the island with its impressive peaks. It is not an easy hike but once you have clambered through dense forest and across grassy savannah you come to the crater rim, 2642 meters above sea level, from where you look down on the most spectacular of views. On the hike up, after you have come out of the forest and across the hot savannah area you suddenly climb so high that you are literally inside the clouds. You can no longer see the path behind you as you are engulfed by soft white fog. You feel the condensation on your face, the strong freshness of the air in your lungs and if you open your mouth you can literally taste the clouds.
Even with all the positives this is not a hike for the faint hearted or unfit, and although I am not faint of heart I could definitely be fitter. After 8 hours of walking straight up my legs felt like they were about to cave in, and it was only day one. After a hot and gruelling day, the view from the top somehow made us all forget how tired we were because it truly was a heart stopping view. From the crater rim you look down on the milky turquoise lake below, with Gunung Baru volcano in the middle, with an ominous spiral of smoke coming out of the top, reminding you that it is alive and well. On day two we hiked down to the lake and got to wallow in the healing waters of the natural hot springs and then it was another three hours up to the other side of the crater rim for once again spectacular views.
Day three would prove to be the toughest as we were going to battle the summit. We had to be up at 3am to start the treacherous trek up the summit. Equipped with only a head torch, warm clothes and sheer determination, we began the upward climb. The wind was bitterly cold and ripped through your clothes and the terrain was the toughest we had yet encountered. You are hiking up volcanic rock which is like very very light gravel and so as you climb two steps up, you slide three steps back again, in the pitch dark. There were times I wanted to quit but I knew I would never forgive myself if I did so as the sun finally rose I made it to the top to view the new morning. With a 360 degree view you could see the entire island of Lombok, and as it was clear I could see Bali and the Gili Islands to the west and all the way to Komodo Island in the east. Priceless. Unfortunately this magnificent view was not the end, we now had to go down on shaky legs, back to camp and then down to the bottom of the mountain. A total of 10 hours of walking the last day, my knees were shaking so much by the time we got to the bottom I could hardly stand straight, but the experience was one I would never forget.
After climbing Mount Rinjani I suddenly understand that some of the hardest things in life are the most worth doing, and the sweat and pain makes the view even better. We spent the next two days in the picturesque little town of Kuta, Lombok, where we rested our aching bodies and I reminisced about the beauty we had seen, and the memory of what clouds really taste like.
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