Boeing 717 got me from Cairns to Darwin. A new camera, shirt and bikini pants later Airbus Industrie A320-100/200 got me to Singapore. Then passed through the airport customs with the chewing gum in my purse and boarded on Airbus A320 which took me to Bali.
First thing I did in Bali was to get ripped off by a taxi driver. This is not so cool after all my experience in Asia, but it was past midnight, I was tired and my backpack was heavy (mysteriously my bag keeps expanding, perhaps in attempt to keep up with me). So I got a double price taxi to bring me around various guesthouses until we found one with a vacancy. I unloaded my stuff in the only guesthouse with an Estonian name - "Mustika" ("Blueberry") and I was home again. My very own bed and cold shower.
Next day Astrid and Ed arrived from Belgium and our holiday could begin. None of us had done much of planning, but each one had certain "Must Dos" in mind. Mine was climbing Rinjani vulcano on Lombok island. Astrid and Ed were not keen on the idea, which came as a surprise to my adventure soaked, altitude loving mind . "Who wouldn't want to climb an amazing vulcano??" Answer in fact is quite obvious, isn't it. Most people.
Nevertheless, first off, went to Gili Islands. Gilis are non-motorised little paradise islands with turquoise waters and no police. Prices where pretty shocking. First place we checked - 50 EUR. Second place 36 EUR. Jesus, its triple what the guidebook, published last year, says. But the place is packed with tourists. It's hyperpopular with at least 7 big fast boats arriving each day with the new load.
On the opposite side of the island we were able to find a nice bungalow with an affordable price. Leisurely days could begin. However, considering that each day was filled with constant threat of sunburn, sandburn, sun blinding your eyes not only directly, but also reflecting from the perfectly blue sea, Astrid and I thought the time on Gili Island was something of a survival camp.
Meanwhile I had not given up on the idea of standing on top of Rinjani. Guy who sold us the snorkelling trip (I saw turtles!!!), also had contacts for the Rinjani trekking so there was an opportunity. On the other hand Ed and Astrid were contemplating doing their open waters diving course. I was not interested in the latter, so I separated from them for 5 days.
In the afternoon 5 days later when we met again in Ubud, I could hardly walk. I mean, I could walk uphill, even horizontally, but going downhill or stepping down the gutter was a pain. Staircases needed to be tackled one step at the time. I could never imagine a town and its surroundings so full of staircases!
This happens when after no training, but with the attitude "I'm a natural born trekker", you join the 3 days/2 nights Rinjani trek. First day was fine actually. Steady uphill from 800m to 2641m. And the view was so worth it.
Second day had a moment of "I can not take another step right now!". It was cured by two Frenchies, who were equipped with Indonesian power-powder. It comes in small sachets. You pour a little bit of the powder to your moth and then drink water. This makes the powder explode in your mouth and also out of your mouth for the joy of onlookers if the quantity was too big. Pretty cool stuff!
Then came the third day. No, let me correct. Night. Wake-up call at 2AM. Tea and biscuits and off we are 2.30AM under the light of stars and head-torches. The first hour all the poor souls are tackling the soft soil/sand steep uphill in each others steps. Dust covered my glasses and filled my lungs.
Then comes one hour of rather easy walk. Most of it I did together with Swiss and Austrian girls from my group, but as the inclination rose, their Alps accustomed legs carried them away from me.
The last hour and half it was me and the mountain. And what a mountain it was. Loose gravel on 45 degrees angle. Each step was halved by sliding down. There were moments when I thought it's humanly not possible to climb up any slower than this. Sometimes its so steep you don't even need to bend down much to quite pathetically climb on all fours. I had to put on the willpower mode as it started to get light in the horizon and there was no way I would give up. 10 minutes before the sunrise I made it to the freezing top, 3726m. Truly wonderful feeling. Natural beauty mixed with sense of achievement is just something that I love.
The way down was cool. Because all the loose gravel, you just kinda glided down. One step becomes three. Me and Charlotte gravel-skated down together and shared the memories of uphill challenge.
Now, the reason why I was partially immobilised for the next days still laid ahead. It was the 5 hours of downhill after the basecamp. By 4PM I was so done. You know, like sometimes after heavy training your muscles are sore the next day? Not this time. Next day was already there! At least we were all in this together. Seriously, there was no one (excluding porters/guides, but they are half human), who did the summit, that wasn't in pain. 1km up and 3 km down does that.
After a bumpy ride back to the starting point village it was time to say goodbye to the others. Each couple went in different direction and I stayed one more there in Senaru, in the guesthouse where our trekking guide was living. It was really basic accommodation, but omg how good it was to have the (cold) shower! I was so dirty, literally dirty, that I had to wash myself twice. But clean I got. It's funny how quite an elementary thing like this can feel amazing if you have been deprived of it for 3 days.
In the evening I enjoyed scaring the freshmen and -women starting the trek the next day. My words were magnified by the the manner of my limping about the guesthouse. Gotta love little joys like that. And it got even better when my trek guide pulled out a bottle of locally brewed rice wine and we were working on it until the early hours of the next day talking about the life on Lombok vs in Europe.
Next morning when I opened my eyes, I had to think "How on earth can I get out of this bed?" No, I was not hangover. The rice wine acid had absolutely no power compared to the lactic acid that was soaking my quadriceps. After some contemplation I rolled myself out of the bed, slowly got on my feet and made it to the bathroom. It dawned on me that challenges of the day were only beginning. I was horrified by the sight of the looming squat toilet! How? How can I squat down? Will my muscles not just tear apart??
I can tell you, it was very long day of commuting to Ubud, Bali, but I made it.
First thing I did in Bali was to get ripped off by a taxi driver. This is not so cool after all my experience in Asia, but it was past midnight, I was tired and my backpack was heavy (mysteriously my bag keeps expanding, perhaps in attempt to keep up with me). So I got a double price taxi to bring me around various guesthouses until we found one with a vacancy. I unloaded my stuff in the only guesthouse with an Estonian name - "Mustika" ("Blueberry") and I was home again. My very own bed and cold shower.
Next day Astrid and Ed arrived from Belgium and our holiday could begin. None of us had done much of planning, but each one had certain "Must Dos" in mind. Mine was climbing Rinjani vulcano on Lombok island. Astrid and Ed were not keen on the idea, which came as a surprise to my adventure soaked, altitude loving mind . "Who wouldn't want to climb an amazing vulcano??" Answer in fact is quite obvious, isn't it. Most people.
Nevertheless, first off, went to Gili Islands. Gilis are non-motorised little paradise islands with turquoise waters and no police. Prices where pretty shocking. First place we checked - 50 EUR. Second place 36 EUR. Jesus, its triple what the guidebook, published last year, says. But the place is packed with tourists. It's hyperpopular with at least 7 big fast boats arriving each day with the new load.
On the opposite side of the island we were able to find a nice bungalow with an affordable price. Leisurely days could begin. However, considering that each day was filled with constant threat of sunburn, sandburn, sun blinding your eyes not only directly, but also reflecting from the perfectly blue sea, Astrid and I thought the time on Gili Island was something of a survival camp.
Meanwhile I had not given up on the idea of standing on top of Rinjani. Guy who sold us the snorkelling trip (I saw turtles!!!), also had contacts for the Rinjani trekking so there was an opportunity. On the other hand Ed and Astrid were contemplating doing their open waters diving course. I was not interested in the latter, so I separated from them for 5 days.
In the afternoon 5 days later when we met again in Ubud, I could hardly walk. I mean, I could walk uphill, even horizontally, but going downhill or stepping down the gutter was a pain. Staircases needed to be tackled one step at the time. I could never imagine a town and its surroundings so full of staircases!
This happens when after no training, but with the attitude "I'm a natural born trekker", you join the 3 days/2 nights Rinjani trek. First day was fine actually. Steady uphill from 800m to 2641m. And the view was so worth it.
Second day had a moment of "I can not take another step right now!". It was cured by two Frenchies, who were equipped with Indonesian power-powder. It comes in small sachets. You pour a little bit of the powder to your moth and then drink water. This makes the powder explode in your mouth and also out of your mouth for the joy of onlookers if the quantity was too big. Pretty cool stuff!
Then came the third day. No, let me correct. Night. Wake-up call at 2AM. Tea and biscuits and off we are 2.30AM under the light of stars and head-torches. The first hour all the poor souls are tackling the soft soil/sand steep uphill in each others steps. Dust covered my glasses and filled my lungs.
Then comes one hour of rather easy walk. Most of it I did together with Swiss and Austrian girls from my group, but as the inclination rose, their Alps accustomed legs carried them away from me.
The last hour and half it was me and the mountain. And what a mountain it was. Loose gravel on 45 degrees angle. Each step was halved by sliding down. There were moments when I thought it's humanly not possible to climb up any slower than this. Sometimes its so steep you don't even need to bend down much to quite pathetically climb on all fours. I had to put on the willpower mode as it started to get light in the horizon and there was no way I would give up. 10 minutes before the sunrise I made it to the freezing top, 3726m. Truly wonderful feeling. Natural beauty mixed with sense of achievement is just something that I love.
The way down was cool. Because all the loose gravel, you just kinda glided down. One step becomes three. Me and Charlotte gravel-skated down together and shared the memories of uphill challenge.
Now, the reason why I was partially immobilised for the next days still laid ahead. It was the 5 hours of downhill after the basecamp. By 4PM I was so done. You know, like sometimes after heavy training your muscles are sore the next day? Not this time. Next day was already there! At least we were all in this together. Seriously, there was no one (excluding porters/guides, but they are half human), who did the summit, that wasn't in pain. 1km up and 3 km down does that.
After a bumpy ride back to the starting point village it was time to say goodbye to the others. Each couple went in different direction and I stayed one more there in Senaru, in the guesthouse where our trekking guide was living. It was really basic accommodation, but omg how good it was to have the (cold) shower! I was so dirty, literally dirty, that I had to wash myself twice. But clean I got. It's funny how quite an elementary thing like this can feel amazing if you have been deprived of it for 3 days.
In the evening I enjoyed scaring the freshmen and -women starting the trek the next day. My words were magnified by the the manner of my limping about the guesthouse. Gotta love little joys like that. And it got even better when my trek guide pulled out a bottle of locally brewed rice wine and we were working on it until the early hours of the next day talking about the life on Lombok vs in Europe.
Next morning when I opened my eyes, I had to think "How on earth can I get out of this bed?" No, I was not hangover. The rice wine acid had absolutely no power compared to the lactic acid that was soaking my quadriceps. After some contemplation I rolled myself out of the bed, slowly got on my feet and made it to the bathroom. It dawned on me that challenges of the day were only beginning. I was horrified by the sight of the looming squat toilet! How? How can I squat down? Will my muscles not just tear apart??
I can tell you, it was very long day of commuting to Ubud, Bali, but I made it.
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