Volcano climbing in indonesia

i am currently looking at various trekking companies to make a trip up mount
rinjani ideally or if need be perhaps another volcano in indonesia. does
anyone here know of a way to sign up other ppl that might be making the trek
there during the same time im going (oct06)? the reason i ask is most
agencies are almost 2x the rate for a single person which is understandable
but if i can avoid it with a partner it would be helpful.

also can anyone recommended an agency that they have tried trekking? i went
climbing mt. kilimanjaro last year and only after i got there did i realise
it would have been cheaper and easier to just buy a package locally instead
of getting a higher rate by booking abroad.

thanks

wrote:

: also can anyone recommended an agency that they have tried trekking?
: i went climbing mt. kilimanjaro last year and only after i got there did i realise
: it would have been cheaper and easier to just buy a package locally instead
: of getting a higher rate by booking abroad.

No experience with Indonesia, but I have found this to be generally the
case. You get better deals locally over there . Makes sense too, as you
only add more middlemen by booking here.

Hi,

It's probably easiest to sort out once there. Check out the map on my website.
www.peteloud.co.uk/indonesia/lombok.html
Take a bus or minibus up to Ancak then a minibus to Senaru and arrange it there. There will be guys hanging around who want to be
your guide. I think that there is a time in the year when lots of the locals have a walk to the lake so it shouldn't be too
difficult to find a guide who is not too expensive. What might be best is to meet up with another couple of tourist guys and go up
without a guide.

What is it you want to do? Do you want to climb to the summit of Rinjani? A more interesting walk is to the lake in the caldera. Or
a walk just up to the crater rim is pretty good. I reckon the view from the crate rim is the best panorama I saw in Indonesia.

There may a route to the summit from the east but I haven't tried that.

I turned up in Senaru just after New Year, several years ago, I had a night in Senaru then after breakfast I decided to rent a
sleeping bag from the losmen then walked up to the crater rim alone. I didn't bother with a guide, I just followed the path. I found
a shelter a little below the rim so spent the night there then walked down the next day. The walk up wasn't so bad, the walk down
was hard on the knees. By the time I got back my legs felt as if they were made of rubber. I had very good weather, but I suspect
that I was lucky. In October there may be rain.

I made a mistake with water. I miscalculated how much drinking water I needed and didn't take enough. If I was doing it again I'd
take a pan and boil water from the couple of very small springs near the path.

I suspect that the walk to the lake is the best walk, although the path down is very steep and can be a bit dangerous.

Cheers,


Pete Loud
Maps of Indonesia etc. etc.
www.peteloud.co.uk/





"G" wrote in message ...
i am currently looking at various trekking companies to make a trip up mount
rinjani ideally or if need be perhaps another volcano in indonesia. does
anyone here know of a way to sign up other ppl that might be making the trek
there during the same time im going (oct06)? the reason i ask is most
agencies are almost 2x the rate for a single person which is understandable
but if i can avoid it with a partner it would be helpful.

also can anyone recommended an agency that they have tried trekking? i went
climbing mt. kilimanjaro last year and only after i got there did i realise
it would have been cheaper and easier to just buy a package locally instead
of getting a higher rate by booking abroad.

thanks

Pete Loud wrote:
[..]
Take a bus or minibus up to Ancak then a minibus to Senaru and
arrange it there. There will be guys hanging around who want to be
your guide. I think that there is a time in the year when lots of
the locals have a walk to the lake so it shouldn't be too difficult
to find a guide who is not too expensive. What might be best is to
meet up with another couple of tourist guys and go up without a
guide.

You could also start in Sembalun. You will find there a group of "Park
Rangers" who will also guide you or look out for a guide for you. Their
place is very easy to find (an as far as I remember also mentioned in
Lonely Planet). You could also ask only for a porter, those guys know
the way, but mostly no english ... they charge less ... it makes sens to
have a proter or guide since those guys know where to find water. They
will also help you in renting a tent and sleeping bag ...

What is it you want to do? Do you want to climb to the summit of
Rinjani? A more interesting walk is to the lake in the caldera.
Or a
walk just up to the crater rim is pretty good. I reckon the view from
the crate rim is the best panorama I saw in Indonesia.

You have not been to the summt, right? The view from the rim is good,
the one from the summit is much better! You need to be up there in early
morning, best for sunrise. The climb to the summit is rather tough,
because of the loose ground (two steps up, sliding 1,5 back) but
defenitely worth it! Bring a good torch!

There may a route to the summit from the east but I haven't tried
that.

You could also climb from Tetebatu, but I'm not sure if the trail to the
summit is usable now. If you're unlucky you end up at the rim without
any chance to go down to the lake nor to the summit. There is also a
trail through the jungle from "aik niet" (sesaot). The climb is very
long, I remember 3 days in the forest, one day up in the mountain until
we reached the rim .. very nice, but only few people know it, means you
need to get in contact to those people and since it takes rather long it
costs more (but is then real jungle trekking ;-))

I turned up in Senaru just after New Year, several years ago, I had a
night in Senaru then after breakfast I decided to rent a sleeping bag
from the losmen then walked up to the crater rim alone. I didn't
bother with a guide, I just followed the path.

The path is easy to find, the problem is water (as you mention later)

[..] I had very good weather, but I suspect that I was lucky. In
October there may be rain.

Raining season strts in mid october ... you can still be lucky but with
hard rain it can get very unpleasant up there

[..]

I suspect that the walk to the lake is the best walk, although the
path down is very steep and can be a bit dangerous.
The path down there is steep but without rain it is OK. If you're used
to standard mountain trekking it should be no problem. Staing overnight
at the lake is no bad. You can swim in the lake (fresh!) or enjoy
yourself in the hot pools from the nerby river with thermal water ...
Climinb the summit from the lake takes approx 6-8h ...

Manfred

Hi Manfred,

The climb to the summit is rather tough,
because of the loose ground (two steps up, sliding 1,5 back) but
defenitely worth it! Bring a good torch!
.. . . .
Climb the summit from the lake takes approx 6-8h ...

You are a better man than me ;-(

I'm better at sitting around Gili Air with a beer and grilled kakap and seeing the summit of Rinjani from there ;-)

Incidentally I have a photo taken from the rim of the crater looking into the caldera and Segara Anak, (the lake) on my Maps of
Indonesia website at, www.peteloud.co.uk/indonesia/

Here is my poor attempt at joining two photos to make a panorama :-(
http://www.peteloud.co.uk/indonesia/...rama_w1024.jpg - I need to go back and takes those photos again :-(
For those not familiar with the scene the summit is in those clouds on the left.


Cheers,


Pete




"Manfred Aigner" wrote in message t...
Pete Loud wrote:
[..]
Take a bus or minibus up to Ancak then a minibus to Senaru and
arrange it there. There will be guys hanging around who want to be
your guide. I think that there is a time in the year when lots of
the locals have a walk to the lake so it shouldn't be too difficult
to find a guide who is not too expensive. What might be best is to
meet up with another couple of tourist guys and go up without a
guide.

You could also start in Sembalun. You will find there a group of "Park
Rangers" who will also guide you or look out for a guide for you. Their
place is very easy to find (an as far as I remember also mentioned in
Lonely Planet). You could also ask only for a porter, those guys know
the way, but mostly no english ... they charge less ... it makes sens to
have a proter or guide since those guys know where to find water. They
will also help you in renting a tent and sleeping bag ...

What is it you want to do? Do you want to climb to the summit of
Rinjani? A more interesting walk is to the lake in the caldera.
Or a
walk just up to the crater rim is pretty good. I reckon the view from
the crate rim is the best panorama I saw in Indonesia.

You have not been to the summt, right? The view from the rim is good,
the one from the summit is much better! You need to be up there in early
morning, best for sunrise. The climb to the summit is rather tough,
because of the loose ground (two steps up, sliding 1,5 back) but
defenitely worth it! Bring a good torch!

There may a route to the summit from the east but I haven't tried
that.

You could also climb from Tetebatu, but I'm not sure if the trail to the
summit is usable now. If you're unlucky you end up at the rim without
any chance to go down to the lake nor to the summit. There is also a
trail through the jungle from "aik niet" (sesaot). The climb is very
long, I remember 3 days in the forest, one day up in the mountain until
we reached the rim .. very nice, but only few people know it, means you
need to get in contact to those people and since it takes rather long it
costs more (but is then real jungle trekking ;-))

I turned up in Senaru just after New Year, several years ago, I had a
night in Senaru then after breakfast I decided to rent a sleeping bag
from the losmen then walked up to the crater rim alone. I didn't
bother with a guide, I just followed the path.

The path is easy to find, the problem is water (as you mention later)

[..] I had very good weather, but I suspect that I was lucky. In
October there may be rain.

Raining season strts in mid october ... you can still be lucky but with
hard rain it can get very unpleasant up there

[..]

I suspect that the walk to the lake is the best walk, although the
path down is very steep and can be a bit dangerous.
The path down there is steep but without rain it is OK. If you're used
to standard mountain trekking it should be no problem. Staing overnight
at the lake is no bad. You can swim in the lake (fresh!) or enjoy
yourself in the hot pools from the nerby river with thermal water ...
Climinb the summit from the lake takes approx 6-8h ...

Manfred

Pete Loud wrote:
Hi Manfred,

The climb to the summit is rather tough,
because of the loose ground (two steps up, sliding 1,5 back) but
defenitely worth it! Bring a good torch!
. . . .
Climb the summit from the lake takes approx 6-8h ...

You are a better man than me ;-(

Some months of travelling through sulawesi and nusa tengara put me in a
good shape at that time - and I was younger then ;-)

I'm better at sitting around Gili Air with a beer and grilled kakap and seeing the summit of Rinjani from there ;-)

Well, I wouldn't say that I'm bad in that discipline neither ;-)
best after returning from the summit - but I can defenitely sit longer
with some beers than I can climb mountains ;-)

Incidentally I have a photo taken from the rim of the crater looking into the caldera and Segara Anak, (the lake) on my Maps of
Indonesia website at, www.peteloud.co.uk/indonesia/
I have only one photo of rinjan online
http://lombok-ecoturist.org/Pics/Rinjani.jpg
I need to look for the ones from the summit and scan them ...

selamat jalan,

Manfred

just wanna say that you have an excellent website and beautiful
pictures!
Keep rocking Indonesia dude

cheers
mila

Hi Manfred,

I presume that on your trip around Nusa Tenggara you went up Kelimutu?

I went up one morning, I took the bus at about 4:00am then sat at the summit freezing in the clouds and rain and didn't see a thing
so walked down at 9am. The next day I walked up starting at sunrise. This time the clouds hovered around the top of the volcano. I
walked around and hung around for a few hours and eventually managed to get a holiday snapshot of the place.
http://www.peteloud.co.uk/indonesia/...lores_w750.jpg

I didn't get a chance to go up Kelimutu again and get some better some photos when the weather was good because later that day I
became ill with either typhoid or para-typhoid, - the joys of travelling ;-(

Cheers,


Pete
Maps of Indonesia & lots of other places plus a few photos etc. etc.
www.peteloud.co.uk/





"Manfred Aigner" wrote in message t...
Pete Loud wrote:
Hi Manfred,

The climb to the summit is rather tough,
because of the loose ground (two steps up, sliding 1,5 back) but
defenitely worth it! Bring a good torch!
. . . .
Climb the summit from the lake takes approx 6-8h ...

You are a better man than me ;-(

Some months of travelling through sulawesi and nusa tengara put me in a
good shape at that time - and I was younger then ;-)

I'm better at sitting around Gili Air with a beer and grilled kakap and seeing the summit of Rinjani from there ;-)

Well, I wouldn't say that I'm bad in that discipline neither ;-)
best after returning from the summit - but I can defenitely sit longer
with some beers than I can climb mountains ;-)

Incidentally I have a photo taken from the rim of the crater looking into the caldera and Segara Anak, (the lake) on my Maps of
Indonesia website at, www.peteloud.co.uk/indonesia/
I have only one photo of rinjan online
http://lombok-ecoturist.org/Pics/Rinjani.jpg
I need to look for the ones from the summit and scan them ...

selamat jalan,

Manfred