Published on Oct, 2024
Best experience!! If you want to do the Rinjani hike, go definitely with Green Rinjani and ask for Rie in specific. (For sure the other guides are good as well, but I can only tell that my trip with Rie was amazing and I could not ask for a better guide or how they organized everything!) But let's start from the beginning…
For the readers they do not have much time: Brilliant organization from pick-ups and drop-offs, information in advance, great guest house, super food along the way, luxurious camping utilities, best guide (his name is Rie like I said) we could have asked for, highly recommend to book with them. But take into account that this is a demanding hike. Absolutely doable, but not a hike around the beach ;) But if it were like this, this would not be an adventure, right? So do it…
For those readers they have more time, here my review:
After we arrived from Gili Meno by boat at the harbor, a driver from Green Rinjani picked us up in a super nice bus and we were brought to the Green Rinjani Guest House, where we were staying the night before the hike. We got some drinks and fried bananas for the welcome and were then introduced to the schedule for the next few days. They took plenty of time to answer all our questions and we felt well informed about what is going to happen. If you do not have an own head lamp or you wanna walk with sticks, they have both for rent there also on short notice. We paid for our trip in cash (credit card would have been also possible) and were brought to our rooms. By the way, the Guest House is lovely situated in a small village with a stunning view to our target for tomorrow, Rinjani. The rooms were spotless clean, were equipped with an AC, were extremely spacious and had so many storage options so it was easy to pack the day packs and prepare everything. After taking a shower it was almost time for dinner, which was also included in the trip package and tasted really good! After dinner I left my laundry with the guides and they provided it at the end of my trip with my other personal items as my big backpack, which I was storing in the guest house. You do not have to worry about a thing there, just leave the backpack in the room and after you have finished the tour, they will deliver it to you (in the car which is picking you up or, in case you go back to the guest house, later in the guest house again).
After an early and absolutely silent night, we woke in the morning and headed to breakfast in the guest house, which was also included and very tasty! After that we went in a brand new and stylish SUV to the visitor center for a quick registration (you only need to show the picture of your passport on the phone and the guides will do the rest) and were then brought to starting point of Rinjani. As others were transported on the back of a truck, we enjoyed the smoothless ride in the van of Green Rinjani with AC, good working shock absorbers and no dust. The others on their trucks did not look so happy to be honest :)
Then the hike began… the company did very well in splitting up the day in several sections, so it was always a very good mix and doable.Rie, our guide, especially always had a look at us and was trying to find the best pace for us and providing water, snacks and cookies along the way and was an absolute delight to talk to. The porters meanwhile were before us on their way, as they were providing lunch for us on POS2. And what we got there was more than we could have even imagined… you find pictures attached of the great and delicious food, the fruit platter, coffee or tea, coke… it was so much we were afraid that we are not able to walk anymore :D
After this lunch break, we continued on via different breaks and stopping points to our camp for the night. We were lucky it was a cloudy day, so the hike to the camp was very nice and easy. The camp is next to a rim of the volcano and, if not cloudy, you can see the lake down. We were brought to our tents which were bigger than expected, had inflatable sleeping pads, sleeping bags and also a pillow already waiting for us. Outside of the tent we found a toilet tent and even a table and two chairs. How luxurious is this please? They provided again a fresh cooked extremely good dinner and they also carried for each a can of beer on the mountain!! Satisfied, tired we went for an early sleep. By the way I am very sporty I would say, but got there extreme mountain sickness. So probably be prepared to have some Ibu or other painkillers with you. Also be prepared it is going to be very cold… so take scarf, gloves, winter hat, warm jackets and so on…
Luckily nausea and headache lifted short before we got up at 1am to have a quick breakfast and then went on for the last climb to the peak. It turned out this is was indeed (like they told us) the hardest part of the tour. Dark, windy, extreme dusty (better bring a scarf or mask to prevent you a bit from the dust inhaling) cold, very steep and hard to climb, as the sand makes your progress of climbing very hard and sometimes you make one step up but three steps / slides down… Nevertheless we managed to be on time for the sunrise and what shall I say: It is worth it! Brilliant sunrise, the sun which is starting to warm you and the great feeling we did it! After some cookies (again from Rie, I think he will call me forever the cookie monster haha) and nice pictures we headed back to our camp. Descent is reeeeeally fun, if you just use your heels in the sand. It is like skiing down the mountain, I enjoyed it so much!!! At camp there was already breakfast waiting for us, freshly cooked and with fruits again. Delicious!! After that, we headed back to the starting point and had another stunning lunch at POS2. On our way up and down we saw plenty of other tour operators and guides and we were soooo happy, we got Green Rinjani and specific Rie. Why? He was funny, chatty, always in a good mood, picked up rubbish from other people to bring it down from the mountain and was continuously looking after us and was adjusting his pace to our needs. (and had coooookies :) ) We saw so many other tours where the guide was just running and the people were not able to follow his speed. Rie on the other hand was always asking and checking if we are alright. What a great guide, so thanks!
Back at the starting point, a car with our backpacks (and laundry) was already waiting for us which brought us on Lombok to our next hotel. So it was time to say goodbye to Rie, but it will be a see you soon and not a goodbye, as I want to come back and also do the tour to the lake. I am really looking forward to doing another tour with them all!!
Thanks to Rie, the porters, the guest house, the drivers and persons I may have forgotten!
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