Adventure Guide to the Unreal Mount Rinjani trek

The Mount Rinjani trek is an adventure that has been on my wishlist for a very long time. Last year just a few days after I landed into Indonesia, a devastating series of earthquakes hit Lombok so badly, not only leaving casualties and demolished homes and schools but also destroying the trails to Rinjani’s crater rim and the summit. Nearly a year after the earthquakes, a lot of the destruction is still noticeable in a huge part of North Lombok. Houses levelled with the ground were never rebuilt, people still sleep in tents whilst waiting for government funding to rebuild their houses with, kids go to temporary schools, the Rinjani summit remains closed but thankfully for the adventure hikers like me and for the local community which desperately needs tourism to pick up again, the hike to Rinjani’s crater rim has since reopened.

Where is Mount Rinjani?

Mount Rinjani is located in North Lombok and generally can be accessed either from Senaru or Sembalun village. However, following last year’s earthquakes, Rinjani is currently only accessible from Senaru.

Depending on where you are coming from, Senaru can be a bit challenging to get to simply because transport in Lombok isn’t as easily available as in more developed islands such as Bali for example.

If you are coming from Bali, you can either take a ferry (either to Bangsal ferry terminal or Teluk Kode) or you can fly to Lombok and either rent a scooter and drive to Senaru or get a taxi driver who would do the 3-hour drive for you.

I personally booked my tour with Jou Trekking who surprised me with a super hassle-free journey to Senaru by coming to pick me and my friend up from the ferry port at Teluk Kode. As soon as I hopped down from the ferry, the friendly driver of Jou (the owner of Jou Trekking) was already waiting for us with a little piece of paper that had my name written on it. He kindly picked up our bags and loaded them into his car and off we went on a 1 hour and 30 min drive from the port to Senaru.

Where to Eat & Sleep in Senaru?

Senaru might be a popular destination in North Lombok since it’s the base village for the Rinjani trek but unlike my original expectation, the place is extremely tiny. In fact, most of its houses, homestays, and places to have a bite are all sort of scattered along the main road so it’s actually pretty quick to realize that there aren’t many places at all to both eat and sleep. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, I found it refreshing! Less choice, easier decision.

We ended up staying in Senaru for 2 nights so we tried the local food at Blue Mountain Cottage, Warung Bukit View and Warung Senaru. The curries at Warung Bukit View were super delicious but if you fancy a freshly grilled fish Warung Senaru is definitely the place to head to. For the remote experience that this was, the food was surprisingly very delicious, fresh and cheap.

As part of booking my tour with Jou Trekking, we had the first night’s accommodation included in the package so as soon as we arrived in Senaru and said Hi to Jou in his house/ office, our driver took us to our place for the night. I’m gonna be honest and say that when Jou said that accommodation is included in the package, I was expecting a basic homestay with a bed, cold water and a cup of tea with toast and jam for breakfast. Instead, we were checked into the most beautiful place I stayed at whilst in Lombok – the gorgeous Rinjani Lighthouse. I honestly couldn’t believe that this was where we were staying for the night. The place was stunning and so tranquil.

We were checked into a fully bamboo made double room with a little porch overlooking the lush flower gardens where later we would be served a welcome Lombok coffee with yummy creamy biscuits to settle us in after the long trip to the island. I was honestly so impressed and touched by the service and friendliness of the staff and the owner of the place who we a really nice conversation with! The place truly was the perfect start of our Rinjani adventure! I strongly recommend you book your tour with Jou Trekking for many reasons that I’ll talk about later in the post but getting to stay in Rinjani Lighthouse even just for a night definitely eases the decision even further. Also, if you happen to stay in Senaru for one more day after the hike, in case your budget allows it, definitely prebook your stay at Rinjani Lighthouse. The place probably is the best in Senaru!

Sadly as beautiful as Rinjani Lighthouse was, it was a bit over budget for me and my friend so for day 2 we decided to stay at Dragonfly Senaru Lodge which was slightly cheaper and had gorgeous views over the valley and Sindang Gila Waterfall so we were actually easily sold on the slight downgrade 😀 ! Breakfast was included and the guys who ran the place did their best to be accommodating, even giving my friend a massage and sorting us out with a scooter and fresh laundry (both of which we ended up having to haggle quite hard for but still 😀 ).

The Mount Rinjani Hike Explained

Before the earthquakes, the Mount Rinjani trek could have been started either from Senaru or Sembulan by starting in one of the villages and finishing in the other, going either to the crater rim on a 2D1N trek or to the summit on a 3D2N hike. However, since the trail from and to Sembulan is now closed and the path to the summit isn’t accessible yet, the only option for the hike is via Senaru to Rinjani’s crater rim at 2,760m going back down on the same trail, with a total of 4 designated positions where you could stop for a break.

My Experience Hiking to Rinjani’s Crater Rim

Day 1

Our alarm went off at 6 am, giving us just about enough time to get ready and have breakfast before Jou and our guide were going to come to pick us up at 7 am.

As we were still sipping on our coffee and chewing on the most delicious scrambled eggs on toast I had had in a while, just after 6:30 am we could already see Jou bouncing towards us eager to get us all ready and settled for the trip with any last minute updates and questions.

We finished our breakfast, sorted out our luggage, leaving everything we didn’t need for the hike with Jou to keep safe in his office, and we were ready to meet with Roni, our guide for the next 2 days. As soon as I saw Roni and his wide happy smile I knew we were in for a cool sociable adventure haha. It always helps when I can actually have a conversation with the people I’m gonna spend hours and hours sweating up and down the mountain with 😀 So I was even more hyped!

We said our goodbyes with Jou, packed an extra bottle of water into our backpacks and off we headed to the base for the hike. Rinjani Lighthouse is actually just a few minutes away from the coffee plantations which is where you could say that the hike officially starts. As we started crossing the coffee plantations on an asphalt covered path, for the most part, it was already starting to get steep and roasty 😀 And we hadn’t even reached the entrance of the national park which was about 30-40 min after the start of the coffee plantations. Sweating already, questioning what we had just thrown ourselves into, we started the small talk to distract ourselves from the 7 hours of hiking that were to follow.

As we reached the entrance of the national park I knew it was thankfully about to get somewhat better though because we were going into the jungle where we’d be sheltered from the sun that had just spent the last 30-40 min roasting our backs and faces. And this time at least, I was right 😀 ! The hike was uphill and it was challenging but it was breezy and the sun was finding it so hard to penetrate through the dense jungle that all the sweat popping on our faces was from pure physical exhaustion.

A couple of hours into the hike, we made a brief stop at position 1 for a sip of water and some snacks which Roni was constantly offering to help pump up the energy through a sudden sugar rush every once in a while 😀

The trail before and after position 1 was very similar. Jungly, with deep vegetation on both sides, huge tree roots to serve as props to hold onto or use as support as we were making our way up some pretty steep sections of the trail. It was manageable, even though hard on the thighs and the heart which was quickly starting to beat faster and shallower as the physical strain was getting greater and the stops for rest quicker as we were trying to get further ahead before it was time for lunch.

At position 2, 3.5 hours into the trek, we put down the backpacks, took off the boots and it was time for lunch and a longer 1-hour break. I must admit that I wasn’t particularly hungry at that point as it was a short while after the pretty filling breakfast we had had but as I was looking at our porters, John and Zul, and Roni prepare our lunch from scratch, I was starting to crave the yummy food these guys were pulling off with just a few ingredients halfway on the mountain.

As we got to our lunch spot, John and Zul had already unloaded their heavy baskets that contained all the food, utensils, mats and sleeping gear and set out a comfy mat for us to sit on whilst having out freshly made lunch. The food was looking incredible – stir-fried vegetables in a sweet yummy sauce, egg, crackers, fried tempeh and the compulsory side of rice. It was an actual proper meal which massively exceeded all my expectation! I was expecting rice and an egg but definitely not much else. And what’s a meal without a drink 😀 The guys promptly made us tea and coffee to go with the lunch and even handed us cans of coke to spike up the caffeine even more haha

Stuffed by all the rich food and proper relaxed after an hour of doing nothing but rest, we knew the next few hours would be even harder! The next part of the trail from position 2 to position 3 was no different from what we had been through already – just more jungle trekking and the occasional monkey making a quick appearance. However as soon as we reached position 3, it all started to go downhill 😀 At this point the trail was already in the open, out of the jungle and even though it had gone very misty and kinda cool, i.e. the sun wasn’t a problem, the trail was now covered in sand and little rocks which made the terrain super slippery and even harder to walk up as it was getting steeper and steeper.

We were starting to stop more frequently, partially because the views were already so beautiful that we wanted to snap a photo or a few but also we were needing the rest as the hiking clock was already at around 6 hours. After a few slides, a number of stops to just admire the views which were getting mistier and even more dramatic, we were finally nearing our camping spot, just a short 20 min hike up from position 4. John and Zul had already pitched the tents and set up the camping toilet 😀 (Yes, you read that right!). Even though John and Zul, and every other local walking up and down the trail, were wearing flip flops the entire time, they somehow managed to race up the mountain to have everything set up for us before we got there. They had left the lunch spot way after us since they had to clean up and load up the baskets again, had hiked up overtaking us shortly after and had arrived at the camping spot early enough to set up everything for us before we arrived.

Honestly, they had organised and sorted out everything so so well that it almost made me feel uncomfortable that it was all sorted so perfectly for us without anything whatsoever that we had to do. We even asked to help prep dinner but the guys immediately and politely turned down the offer 😀 Clearly, all that we had to do was carry ourselves and the little that we had in our backpacks.

As soon as we reached the camping spot, John, Roni, and Zul were preparing a little surprise and reward for all our efforts – freshly fried banana served with coffee and snacks to keep us going until dinner. The service was honestly so excellent to the point where Roni had run to one of his friends from the other companies to ask for milk because I had told him during lunch that I can’t drink the strong Lombok coffee without milk. I mean, how sweet and thoughtful is this! And may I point out that I’m not the person who would even think of asking for something like that especially under camping conditions so of course, I didn’t ask for this. Yet, the guys found a way and I was utterly and completely impressed and touched. I must admit that after 7 hours of hiking, I was happy and smiling ear to ear when Roni handed me the cup with freshly made milky coffee!

Whilst the guys were starting to chop the veggies and season the tempeh for dinner, I and my friend couldn’t have been any happier having finished the hike with plenty of time to spare before sunset and were simply enjoying the views which were absolutely unreal from the camping spot the guys had chosen for us.

Having finished with the dinner prep, all of a sudden we spotted Zul and John hopping into the nearby bushes and picking out tons of trash hidden just a few meters from their tent. We had to ask the question. “Where’s all this trash from?”. This is when I knew that I had made the best decision to do the Mount Rinjani trek with Jou Trekking. The guys explained that unfortunately a lot of other trekking companies leave their rubbish behind and don’t bring it down from the mountain after they finish their cooking so Jou has decided to try and change that by making all of his guides and porters not only carry their own rubbish down the mountain but also collect other companies’ waste as well in an effort to keep the mountain clean from trash.

I honestly couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I felt deep and genuine appreciation and satisfaction that I had managed to find the most eco-conscious trekking company in Senaru to do my Mount Rinjani trek with. I was impressed by the effort the guys were putting into digging out all the water and gas bottles, plastic bags and packaging from the bushes and stuffing everything into huge reusable bags that they were later gonna carry down the mountain on top of everything else they had carried up. If that’s not a complete commitment to keeping the mountain clean, I don’t know what is.

After a healthy dose of a few dozens of photos both of the landscape but also of the guys collecting trash because we had to try and spread that message wider, we headed towards the crater rim for sunset which was another 5 min up the hill.

Even though we didn’t get the most beautiful sunset, we just couldn’t get it over our heads how the crater rim could possibly be so incredibly beautiful. I was standing right above the handrail overlooking for the crater and the lake and I couldn’t stop admiring and feeling grateful for what I was able to witness with my very own eyes. I had been longing for the moment I could peek inside the crater and now I was standing right there taking in the views, memorizing the colors of the crater lake, the shapes of the actual crater standing there with a healthy dose of intimidation by the thought that as an active volcano it could technically put on a show any minute 😀 (luckily it didn’t).

After putting the cameras to work for half an hour or so, we rushed back to our camping spot because we thought the sunset views would be better from there (which they were) and luckily we did go back earlier because the wind was getting so strong that it was going through my clothes so harshly that in just a few minutes I had gone from super hot to freezing. That just comes to prove how well prepared with windproof clothes you gotta be when you do your Mount Rinjani trek.

As soon as we put away the cameras as if the guys read our minds and delivered to our tent 2 massive bowls of freshly prepared vegetable tempeh curry which honestly was the best curry I have had during my whole time in Indonesia. You might think I’m messing with you because how the hell do you prepare the best curry on top of a mountain 😀 but these guys did it! And it was a huge portion! But wait for it … after all the fried stuff we had already eaten throughout the day and me being the healthy eating geek that I am, I had politely asked if it’s possible not to fry the tempeh and by now you’d probably guess that the guys would do anything they could to please us so not only was the curry the yummiest I have ever had but it was also the healthiest with no frying whatsoever going on during the prep.

Stuffed, happy, super impressed and grateful for everything the guys had done for us during the day, we cuddled inside our comfy sleeping bags, set the alarm clock for 5 am and happily went to sleep. Or so we thought 😀 The wind was so unbelievably strong that even though the guys had intentionally pitched the tents in a slightly more sheltered part of the hills, it was still blasting the tent leaving us absolutely certain in more times I could count that the roof of the tent would completely fly off. Luckily it didn’t as the guys clearly did an incredible job pitching the tent super well but the creepy noises, the anticipation that the tent might any second lose its roof leaving us to freeze 😀 kept waking us up during the whole night.

Day 2

You should have seen my eye bags in the morning when the alarm went off and we had to get up for sunrise 😀 With about 2 hours of sleep, all in all, you could guess that the second I opened my eyes I couldn’t be bothered to get up and wait for sunrise 😀

Buuuuut, we’re adventurers! We do stuff even when we’re exhausted and begging subconsciously to go back to bed 😀 Luckily, this time was no different and we got the will out of the sleeping bags, got the cameras ready and headed to the crater rim to watch the sunrise. And as expected, it was spectacular!

So much color, so much beauty, and only a handful of people … if a perfect sunrise existed, this would have come close to it! Being able to watch the sun as it rises on the horizon from such an epic location was both humbling and inspirational! I ran up and down the hills trying to catch the views from different angles because I just could not get enough. My hands were freezing because the wind was still going strong penetrating through my few layers of clothing and trying to calm down my excitement but I wasn’t giving up 😀 ! A few dozens of photos and numerous wow’s and signs of appreciation later we headed back to our tent to have breakfast before starting to go down.

I’ll say this again because honestly, these guys need all the praise they can get. They totally stole the show preparing the most delicious club sandwich I’ve ever had. Honesty, 3 layers of yummy goodness with a fried egg, veggies, sweet sauce, tomato and pickles with a side of french fries (of all things), oh and coffee!!! Even though I didn’t have most of my fries, I indulged in my sandwich as if it was the last thing I’ll ever have. Haha sounds way over the top but it was SO DELICIOUS 😀 !

Having picked up the last crumbles from the sandwich, we packed up quickly, armed ourselves with a bag each to collect as much trash as possible on our way down and started to hike down with Roni, leaving John and Zul to sort out the tents and all the stuff they had to carry back down, including all bags of trash they had collected the night before.

Going down was naturally slightly easier on the cardio but gosh, it was slippery. The first stretch of the trail from the camping spot to position 3 was pretty terrible actually because as mentioned earlier, it was all covered in sand and little rocks that were making it super difficult to keep our balance. Even though I had my hiking boots on which come with some serious grip, occasionally I would slip whilst trying to keep up with the pace or collect a piece of trash as we were trying to pick up all the plastic we could see along the way.

After position 3 we were back in the jungle and the trek immediately got easier. With a welcomed relief we started to widen our steps, quicken our pace and enjoy the breeze that was making the hike down pretty pleasant. Having said that, a few people struggled with the strain they had to put on their knees as the trek was still rather steep which is why a lot the guides, including Roni, offer trekking poles before starting the hike. Do take them if you have problems with your knees or would love a bit of extra support during the hike.

At position 2 we took a longer pause than we expected because just behind the area where people were cooking, there was a massive trash dump which we tried to clear out. It was so evident that as soon as people (from other trekking companies) were finished with their cooking, they were literally dumping everything behind them. I was genuinely outraged! I had not seen anything quite like this at some 1,500 m up in the mountain.

We picked up bottles, whole bags filled with trash, packaging of all sorts … anything you could think of was dumped there and I just couldn’t believe the sight. My friend, myself and Roni quickly filled up our bags with rubbish, attracting the attention of everyone who was currently preparing or having lunch nearby. Nobody else apart from one other guy (a friend of Roni) was picking up trash so we were definitely standing out hence all the eyeballs turning right at us as we were passing by with our bags full of trash.

I could see Roni trying to explain to a few of the locals why we were collecting all this trash and I could guess his frustration when people didn’t seem to care much but it just came to prove that Jou and all the guys from Jou Trekking really had the mindset to change things around even though, by the looks of it, it might take them some time to change other locals’ perception of waste. Atat the end of the day though, it’s the example that these guys set that will slowly start to make an impact.

After about 4 hours of going down, now heavier with some 3-4 kg each of rubbish, we were nearing position 1 which is where Zul and John had already prepared spaghetti with tomato sauce for lunch and chopped up fresh fruit for dessert! Pretty hungry at that point, it took us just a few minutes to devour our lunch and we were ready to get back on the trail, now particularly looking forward to a shower and a place to lie down and rest out feet properly 😀 We took stock of how much trash we had collectively gathered, took a photo to memorize it all and impressed by how productive the hike down had turned out to be, we said our goodbyes with John and Zul and headed back on our way.

After another 1 hour of trekking we were back in Jou’s office where with a wide friendly smile on his face, he welcomed us back and rushed to his house to bring two bottles of Bintang (the Indonesian beer) as a reward for all the efforts. I mean, who does that!! It honestly is all about the little gestures and touches of attention and care and Jou sure knew how to make people love him for the genuine care he was running his business with – unconditional care for his trekkers, porters and guides and of course the environment. I couldn’t handle a beer after all the trekking but my friend and the guys sure seemed to enjoy the well-deserved unexpected beer!

Happy, grateful, humbled and impressed by the whole experience, Jou’s driver loaded our luggage onto the car and gave us a ride to Dragonfly Senaru Lodge.

Hiking with an Impact – Choosing a Truly Eco-Conscious Company for the Rinjani Trek

As you can guess from everything I already said above, I genuinely recommend that you book your Rinjani trek with Jou Trekking. Jou is a super nice guy, so honest, friendly and caring and the guys that he has chosen to work with, i.e. all the guides and porters, are equally nice and professional!

Unlike a lot of other companies that I came across and from seeing that literally no one but a single other day was doing anything to clean the rubbish all over the mountain, I can wholeheartedly say that Jou Trekking is if not the only then for sure one of the very few companies that are truly eco-conscious and unquestionably respect and clean the mountain.

In fact, we learned that in order to incentivize the guys to collect trash with every single hike, Jou pays both the guides and the porters $10 each more if they come down from the mountain and bring him bags of rubbish which he then arranges to be brought to the recycling centre in South Lombok. I genuinely doubt that many other companies, if any, can say they do the same.

Aside from the great experience with our pick up, the stay at Rinjani Lighthouse, the service we received during the hike, Jou went massively over and beyond even after the hike was over by offering his driver to take us wherever in Lombok we were heading to next, all included in the package. We genuinely could not have possibly asked for more flexibility and help from Jou.

After our night at Dragonfly Senaru Lodge Jou’s driver took my friend to the Bangsal ferry port to catch the public boat to the Gilis and he drove me extra 40 min down south (or a total of 2 hours from Senaru) to Senggigi where he dropped me off at a local place to rent a scooter from so I could then head to Kuta, Lombok.

What to Bring with You?

If you decide to do the Mount Rinjani trek with Jou Trekking and I genuinely hope that you do because I feel a personal sense of responsibility to do anything I can to support eco-conscious ethical businesses like Jou’s but that aside, if you do hike with them you really wouldn’t need to bring much with you. Here is what I brought and found perfectly sufficient.

Bottle of water

The guides had roughly 3 liters of water for us each per day so technically you may not even need to bring your own bottle but since they gave us the water is 1.5l bottles it was helpful to have a smaller bottle to refill and have easier access to during the trek.

Windproof Clothes

This is probably the most essential thing you need to pack up because trust me, it will blow like crazy. I had personally never experienced such strong winds and if you head to the crater rim for sunset and sunrise you will need all the windproofing you can get to fight back.

I gotta admit that I didn’t personally have good windproof clothes which is why I probably struggled with the wind way more than my friend who was properly prepared did but instead I had brought extra layers which helped. So if you can’t get good windproof clothes before the hike, just bring layers to put on.

Camera

And if you happen to forget your camera, you might as well just go back 😀 But seriously, don’t forget your camera because there will be so many incredible views you’d want to remember.

Little Towel

Bringing a little towel with me made a huge difference because I was sweating like crazy, just like you will too 😀 , and being able to wipe some of that sweat off my face was making me feel sort of refreshed.

Earplugs

I wish I had brought earplugs! Being able to block some of that wind noise would have helped me massively get some more sleep so put some in your pocket before you hit the hills.

Good hiking boots

No hiking packing list can ever be complete without a mention of some pretty sturdy hiking boots with a solid grip. You’ll see all locals going up and down in flip flops or worse yet barefoot, but trust me when I say that you need good hiking boots for this trek. It isn’t easy and there is a good 2-hour stretch which is seriously slippery, not to mention that pretty much the whole trek is steep so unless you have good ankle support you can seriously injure yourself, especially on the way down.

The guys at Jou Trekking had taken care of so so much for us that honestly aside from the few things above, I genuinely don’t think you need anything else. They had brought so much food and snacks that I personally only brought a leftover toast with jam from breakfast only because it was super yummy and I didn’t want to see it go to waste 😀 But honestly, we were so stuffed all the time that at no point did I regret not bringing anything else.

Aside from the super filling lunches, Roni was periodically taking out from his backpack a huge box of waffles, followed by crisps, cans of coke, sprite, and coke.

Of course, when it comes to actual camping gear, Jou provided us with everything – the tent, sleeping bags, pillow as well as a pretty thick and comfy mattress which came as a good surprise. If it wasn’t for the wind which kept us awake pretty much throughout the whole night, we would have slept very comfortably.

Talking about personal hygiene, the guys carried tissues and toilet paper enough to last us days 😀 so even that we didn’t have to pack ourselves. I’m telling you, it was a 5* hiking service haha! So aside from anything else you consider essential for you personally, the above few things should serve as solid essentials for you to pack up for the hike.

And remember, whatever you think you need, don’t overpack. You will be carrying it up and down the mountain for hours so ask yourself if you REALLY need whatever it is you’re just about to pack up.

Booking your Rinjani Hike with Jou Trekking

I really hope you’ll decide to support a truly ethical conscious business by booking your Mount Rinjani trek with Jou Trekking. For up to date prices and details of everything that the tour includes, head over to Jou’s website or reach out to him directly on Instagram or WhatsApp.

Website: www.joutrekking.com

Instagram: jou_trekking

WhatsApp: +62 853-3862-7708

When is a Good Time to Trek Rinjani

If possible, do the Mount Rinjani trek as soon as you can. On the day that we trekked, it was only about 20 of us, if not less. Before the earthquake, there were on average above 1,000 people trekking each day so you might think that with the summit being closed and Lombok still recovering from the earthquakes that it’s not a good time to visit now but honestly do the trek to Rinjani’s crater rim sooner rather than later. The local community really needs the tourism to pick up again and if you want to avoid the crowds, there’s never been a better time to book your Rinjani hike.

And please please please, bring a bag of trash on your way down from Rinjani. Every little helps clean the mountain and set the right example for everyone who’ll stare at you as you pass by with your bag of trash.

Disclosure: I’m part of the Booking.com affiliate program which means that if you book your stay through the links above, I will receive a small commission at absolutely no extra cost to you. 20% of this commission I have pledged to donate to charitable projects on sustainability and children education. To read more about my pledge and the story behind it, please head over to my About page.

Also, a few of the trash images in the post and those I feature in were taken by my new dear friend and awesome photographer Manuel Gussmann whose work you can see and follow on Instagram.

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