Hiking the Gunung Rinjani

The Rinjani volcano is on the island of Lombok. Lombok is easy to reach by plane or boat. Once you are on the island, almost every accommodation will be able to give you tours to the volcano. We booked it through an accommodation in Tetebatu, which is more inland, and closer to the volcano.

The price of your tour will be different based on your operator, and the duration of your tour. But expect to pay around 150 euros or more for the whole experience. It is not allowed to climb the Rinjani without a tour. When you book a tour, they will make sure that you have the needed equipment, and they will also bring you to the starting point of your hike.

This is a challenging, but amazing hike. I did the 3-day hike from Sembalun. The first day you start with a hike to the base camp, which is around 2600 meters elevation. This first day you will be walking for about 8.5 kilometers, with 1550 meters elevation. You will go through 4 camps where you can rest, and where you will get lunch from your tour.

Once you arrive at the base camp, the porters from your tour will be busy with setting up the tents (please help them if you can). This is where you will spend the night, at around 2600 meters elevation. Once the sun is gone, it will become very cold. From this basecamp you have an amazing view of the crater lake, and the top of the mountain, if the weather allows it. When I was here, in December, it was the rainy season, so we had a lot of mist and clouds.

After dinner you will have to try and sleep, because you will have to wake up around 01:30, to start your hike to the summit. This is the hardest part, with the most elevation gain. The final part of the summit is with a lot of ash and gravel, so each step you take, you will slide down. For this part they say: 1 step up, 10 steps down.

At the summit you will watch the sunrise, and you have to walk down to the basecamp. There you will have some breakfast. If you booked a 2 day tour, you will walk down the same way, and return to the starting point of day 1. If you booked the 3 day tour, you will starting walking down to the crater, and to the crater lake. There you will have lunch, and also have the option to swim in a hot spring. Then you have to walk up to the crater ridge again, for the camp of the second night.

The third day you start early, and start walking down to the ending of your hike. This is a lot of walking down, on gravel/sand, so it will be tough to keep your footing. Once you arrive at the end, there will be a car waiting, and you can tell them where you want to go next.

The most important thing is to have good hiking shoes. You will be walking hours per day, with a lot of elevation, and most of the time on sand and gravel, so grip is important. You also need a headlamp, for hiking during the night, but it might be that your tour gives these to you as well.

During the day, it will be extremely hot, you will be walking directly in the sun. At night, it will be extremely cold (sometimes around 0 degrees celsius), because you are at an elevation of around 3000 meters. You have to make sure to have clothing for both situations.

Even though this is Indonesia, and it’s always very hot, the moment the sun goes down at the base camp, you will be wearing thick and warm clothing. They even give you gloves for your trek to the summit. When you wake up in the middle of the night, and start your trek to the summit of the volcano, it will be windy and cold, but the moment the sun rises, it will be hot again. Keep this in mind while packing for your hike.

If you are doing the 3-day hike, you will also have to bring swimming gear, because you will stop at a hot spring on the second day.

During this hike you will have the help of your guide, and porters. The porters carry all the food, water, equipment, and everything else you need. They are inhumanly strong.

This is an extremely tough hike. You will need to be prepared both physically and mentally. The hike is very challenging, long, and with a lot of elevation both up and down. You will also have to wake up in the middle of the night, and hike to the summit of the volcano, and once you are back in the base camp, you will have to hike another full day, to either the end point, or for the second day. If you can sleep, it will not be enough, so expect to start the trek to the summit while you are already very tired.

I did the 3-day hike, and this is what I walked each day:

• Day 1: 8.5 kilometers, 1550 meters uphill.

• Day 2: 16 kilometers, 1650 meters uphill, 1650 meters downhill.

• Day 3: 10 kilometers, 1850 meters downhill.