12 April 2023, Wednesday

[Exchange rate: 10,000 Indonesian Rupiah (IDR) = S$0.90]

I woke up at 4am this morning, had my usual breakfast of bread and coffee, then left home at 5am. As always, mum and dad accompanied me to the airport. We arrived at Changi Airport Terminal 1 at 5:30am and met up with my travel companion, JC. I had already checked in for the flight online and printed our boarding passes beforehand so I just needed to drop off my luggage using the self-service kiosk, and we were good to go. JC is a light traveller so he didn’t even purchase any check-in baggage. I paid S$326.78 for my Scoot flight, including two-way checked-in baggage for S$60.

After bidding farewell to mum and dad, there was still plenty of time before our flight so I had a second round of breakfast, comprising a Tip Top curry puff and a cup of hot tea. Our Scoot flight TR258 departed Singapore at 7:30am for the 2 hour 50 min flight to Lombok, arriving at 10:27am. There is no time difference between Singapore and Lombok.

The airport looked pretty new, even though it opened 11 years ago in October 2011. There was only one other airplane on the tarmac. As a reminder that the COVID-19 pandemic was not really over yet, we still had to present proof of our vaccination. Only three immigration counters were open and two of them were for International visitors, so it took a while before we cleared immigration at around 11:20am. About two months prior, I had booked a private Mount Rinjani tour with Hajar Trekking and transport from the airport to our homestay in Senaru was included in the package. We met our driver outside the airport building and departed five minutes later.

The area around the airport was surrounded by rice fields on both sides of the road. As we drove in a northwest direction, we could see mountains looming in the distance. While passing through the local community areas, we saw people on motorbikes ferrying their children. Public transportation like buses were non-existent. GrabCar was available but I didn’t see many taxis plying the road. However, we saw a few cidomos (horse-drawn carriages), which can also be found on the neighbouring Gili islands. It was a refreshing change of scenery from our highly-urbanised Singapore.

As the drive to Senaru would take over two hours, I told our driver that we’d like to have lunch somewhere along the way. It was a bit challenging to find food because it was the middle of Ramadan, the holy fasting month for the Muslims. Unlike its more famous cousin next door, Bali, which has a predominantly Hindu population, Islam is the main religion here on Lombok. Hence, many of the eateries were closed during lunch time.

At 12:05pm, our driver stopped at a restaurant called Lesehan Taliwang Nada, located in Mataram, the provincial capital of Lombok. We would be spending our last night here in Mataram before flying back to Singapore on Sunday. Lesehan refers to the practice of sitting and dining on a straw mat or low table, and it is common on the islands of Java and in Bali. Thankfully, Taliwang Nada was open for business. There were no other diners when we visited so we chose one of the pondoks to have our meal. Pondok refers to a small hut or shelter.

Ayam Taliwang is the most famous dish in Lombok because it originated here. Hence, it is essential to try Ayam Taliwang during your stay in Lombok. Ayam is the Bahasa Indonesian word for “chicken”. Ayam Taliwang is made with small free range (aka kampong chickens) or spring chickens, and it can be either grilled (“bakar”) or fried (“goreng”). The thing that makes Ayam Taliwang stand out is its spiciness. Apparently, the name Lombok is a lesser-used word for “chilli” in Bahasa Indonesian, so the island is believed to be named for its spicy cuisine, and you can expect to eat lots of spicy food in Lombok.

Being the foodie that he is, I left all the food decisions to JC. He ordered a set meal for two persons comprising rice, one Ayam Bakar Taliwang, one Ikan Mila Bakar (grilled Tilapia fish), one portion of Pelecing Kangkung (kangkong vegetables with a sauce made of chilli, garlic, onion, tomatoes and a little shrimp paste), one portion of Beberok Terong (eggplant and long beans salad) and mineral water. We also ordered watermelon and coconut juice and a packet of keropok (crackers). The bill came up to Rp 182,600 (S$16.44), including 10% tax.

The Ayam Bakar Taliwang was very spicy indeed, even for us Singaporeans, who are used to spicy food. As it was a spring chicken, there wasn’t much meat on it at all. The fish was lathered with a spicy sauce so it was hot as well. The kangkong vegetables were blanched and the Pelecing sauce on vegetables wasn’t really to my liking. I prefer our Singapore version of stir-fried sambal kangkong with spicy belachan sauce. I also didn’t really fancy the eggplant and long beans salad, which had a funny coconutty taste. I do like coconut, but it didn’t seem to go well with the dish.

At 1:07pm, we left Taliwang Nada and continued the drive towards Senaru. Like most Southeast Asian countries, motorbikes were a common mode of transport here. It was not unusual to see three or four family members squeezed onto one motorbike. After leaving Mataram, we took a winding road up a mountain. Most of the roads in Lombok are single-lane so our driver had to overtake the slower vehicles frequently. It takes good skill and judgment to overtake safely, especially on the mountain pass with many bends.

There is only one major road to Senaru and it hugs the coast. The entire northern part of Lombok island is dominated by Mount Rinjani and the area surrounding the volcano comprises of forest on the highlands and farms on the lowlands. Rice is the most common crop grown here, alongside coffee, soybeans, tobacco, cotton, cinnamon, cacao, cloves, cassava, corn, coconut, banana and vanilla. Slash and burn is still widely practised so we often encountered the acrid smell of smoke in the air as we drove through the agricultural areas.

After driving for two hours, we arrived at Hajar’s house in Senaru. Hajar hopped on our car and we drove a short distance to our homestay at Rudy Trekker, arriving at 3:08pm. I came across Hajar Trekking (click here to visit their website) after reading a blog. The company was founded by Hajar Karyawadi, a local who used to be a guide.

Hajar Trekking offers several packages to Mount Rinjani. The price depends on the number of days of trekking and the number of participants. There are two main ascent routes – via Senaru or Sembalun. The prices for the 2023 climbing season is shown below:

The most popular option is the 3D2N Rinjani Summit – Lake package. It includes everything – summit, crater lake, two crater rims and hot springs. This requires participants to have good fitness levels as you’ll be covering quite long distances each day. However, having gone through the experience, I actually recommend the 4D3N package instead, which covers all the same areas but spread out over an extra day, so it is much easier on the body. I will share my experience in more detail in a later post.

All the packages require a minimum of two persons. The price per person will be lower if there are more participants. However, I wasn’t able to find more people to join in so it was just the two of us, JC and I. We chose to ascend via Sembalun on the 3D2N Rinjani Summit Package, and the price per person is US$265 (about S$355). The list of inclusions and exclusions are shown below:

Upon arrival at Rudy Trekker, Hajar gave us a briefing about what to expect for the next three days. Using a scale model of Mount Rinjani, he showed us the route that we would take, explained about the elevation gains for each day, and pointed out areas that we should take extra caution due to the terrain. After the short briefing, we checked into our room.

We were surprised that the guest house at Rudy Trekker was so big because the entrance was quite narrow and it belied how deep its premises were. There were about 20 rooms spread out across two storeys. Right in front of our room on the ground floor was a small swimming pool. The water didn’t appear too clean so we didn’t take a dip.

Our room was large, had twin beds and it was air-conditioned. There was also hot water for the shower. Wi-fi was only available at the reception/restaurant area and it didn’t extend to the rooms, so that was a bit of a downer. After dropping our luggage and a quick change of clothes, we headed out again at 3:35pm.

We met our guide for our visit to the two waterfalls – Sendang Gile and Tiu Kelep. I thought the waterfalls were located quite far away and we would need to drive there, but to my surprise, the entrance to the waterfalls was just a short stroll away from Rudy Trekker. I think there is usually an admission fee for the waterfalls but it was included in our tour package, so we didn’t have to fork out any additional money to enter.

After passing the entrance gates, we walked for about 10 minutes before we first caught glimpse of Sendang Gile waterfall from a viewing point. From there, it was another three minutes’ walk down a flight of stairs to the base of the waterfall. Along the way, our guide showed us coffee plants and its beans. Lombok is also famous for its coffee.

The entire area around the waterfall was filled with lush greenery and it was very beautiful. There were a few small huts, tables and stools where visitors could rest and relax while enjoying the view of the waterfall. However, it was not crowded when we were there, and it didn’t feel very touristy so it was nice.

Sendang Gile is a two-stepped waterfall, with a combined height of around 25m. After taking some photos from a distance, we decided to go even closer and get wet. The thunderous roar of the falling water got louder the closer we approached it. Standing at the base, I could feel the full impact of the falling water, which was like a powerful body massage. It reminded me of my trip to Sri Lanka 11 years ago, when I also stood at the bottom of the Diyaluma Falls (click here to read about it). This is not something we get to experience in Singapore at all. So fun!

At 4:10pm, we left Sendang Gile and made our way towards Tiu Kelep. After crossing an overhead bridge that also acted as a channel to carry water from Tiu Kelep, we descended deeper into the jungle where the path ran alongside the water and was less well-defined. For the most part, there were meshed metal nets to keep the rocks together so it was quite easy to walk on the path. However, we had to get off the path occasionally and climb over a few fallen tree trunks and boulders.

We also had to cross a couple of streams to get to the other side. The water wasn’t very deep, only slightly above ankle-height, but the water flowed quite fast. On the first river crossing, I lost one of my flip flops as I loosened my grip and the gushing water carried it away. Thankfully, our guide reacted fast enough and managed to retrieve my flip flop for me.

I had actually brought my Keen sandals along for the trip specially for this visit to the waterfalls, but I ended up wearing flip flops after Hajar advised us to do so. I think he meant, wear something that you don’t mind getting wet. I should have stuck to my Keen sandals instead! So yes, for those of you who are thinking of visiting the waterfalls, please wear sandals instead of flip flops as they are more comfortable and safer for you.

After walking for about 28 minutes, we finally reached Tiu Kelep waterfall. While Sendang Gile appeared more impressive because of its towering height flanked by lush tropical trees, Tiu Kelep was shorter but was more voluminous because it had a curtain of water accompanying its main waterfall. Tiu Kelep was also more isolated with none of the accompanying facilities, therefore it felt more natural and raw. And after trekking through the forest to get here, the payoff felt even more well-deserved.

Due to the high volume of water, it was hard to get good pictures because of the spray. It was also not safe to go directly under the water so we kept our distance, but we still ended up getting wet. After taking the requisite pictures, we left Tiu Kelep less than 15 minutes later at around 4:50pm and went back the same way. En route, the strap on one of JC’s slippers broke. Miraculously, our guide found an old, abandoned pair of flip flops by the trees and it was still in working condition. The brand of the flip flops was Skyway, same as the ones that our trekking guides and porters would be wearing over the next few days while climbing Mount Rinjani. Meaning: Skyway brand of flip flops is top notch!

For the return trip, we opted to be more adventurous and take the tunnel that carried water from Tiu Kelep. After crossing the bridge, we entered an opening in the tunnel. The water was deeper here, about knee-height, and it flowed pretty fast. There were no lights in the tunnel so we had to switch on the flashlights on our mobile phones to illuminate the way. Every ten metres or so, there would be a window where light would shine through, but other than that, it was mostly dark.

After walking in the water for a few minutes, yup, you guessed it, one of my flip flops got washed away again! This time, there would be no reprieve as the water was too fast-flowing and there was no time for our guide to react. I had to walk through the rest of the tunnel barefoot. Thankfully, there were no sharp objects so I emerged unscathed. The walk through the tunnel took around 10 minutes in all.

After emerging from the tunnel, we told our guide what happened. He asked us to stay put and said he would help me find my missing flip flop. Just when we thought all hope was lost, he came back smiling, holding my flip flop! He said it was quite common for people to lose their slippers while walking through the tunnel. There must be some kind of barrier further down the tunnel to trap such runaway objects. Kudos to our guide, who saved the day thrice (twice for me, once for JC)! We ended our visit to the waterfalls at around 5:30pm, and gave our guide a big tip for his efforts.

We walked back to Rudy Trekker and took our showers before heading out again at 6:10pm for dinner. We initially wanted to eat at Café Rifka but there were no other diners there and it looked a bit sad, so we settled for Waroeng Senaru, which looked more welcoming. As we were famished, we ordered quite a lot of food – chicken satay (8 sticks), Ote-Ote (vegetable fritters) and a banana pancake to share. I also got myself a plate of nasi goreng (fried rice) and ginger tea while JC ordered a sambal chicken rice and watermelon juice. The bill came up to Rp 192,000 (S$17.30).

The chicken satay wasn’t as tender as the ones back home but the winner was the peanut gravy, which was smooth and very tasty. The Ote-Ote was also delicious. It comprised of shredded cabbage, carrot and bean sprouts, battered and deep fried for a crispy finish. I also liked that my ginger tea came with a chunk of real ginger, unlike our ginger tea back home, which is usually made from instant sachets in powder form. Overall, it was a good dinner.

After we were done with dinner at 7:35pm, we retreated to our guest house to call it a night. JC was so exhausted he fell asleep at 8:30pm while I continued to pack my stuff for the climb. For our 3D2N climb to Mount Rinjani, I would use a smaller bag with only the things I needed, and leave the non-essential stuff behind at Rudy Trekker, to be retrieved after the climb. I was also tired because we started the day very early. I fell asleep at 10pm, dreaming of Mount Rinjani…