After we climbed Mount Kinabalu last year, Topo said it was the hardest thing she’d ever done physically.
I don’t know about her, but I can now safely say that climbing Mount Rinjani is the toughest thing I have ever attempted.
It looks so benign and simple but I can only say this because my mind easily forgets pain and hardship.
Day one was tough because it was so long and my muscles weren’t used to the endless hours of walking uphill continuously. Along the way, I also fell after slipping off a particularly sandy slope. Yes, cuts on my face and arm, covered in sand from shoulder to knee. That officially signaled the start of a super unglamorous four days ahead.
Anyhow when we finally neared the first night’s base camp, all my weariness melted away when I saw the view. This was after about seven hours of walking, during which I questioned why I signed up for this gig and what I was getting out of it.
The second day started badly. I probably had one hour of sleep before getting up at 1.30am because i was just not used to the hard ground or the new bedtime — 8.30pm was the new normal. Our guide had said that judging by our speed and dexterity, we needed extra time to get to the summit. So while ‘normal’ people set out at 3am, he suggested we leave at 2am. How’s that for encouragement?
Shree Ann and Topo raring to go.
I on the other hand, felt a headache coming on and wanted to go back to sleep. I so was not feeling the fun. And it was noooo fun at all. From the get go, it was a scramble up rocks and sandy paths in the dark. My legs felt like deadweight not just from having to climb upwards but from having to tense the muscles and prevent myself from slipping back down. Every so often we stopped to rest but the relief would only be momentary.
I have never had a guy put his palm up my butt but I didn’t even bother protesting when our guide just pushed me up to nudge me along. I was so tired and the estimated remaining time never seemed to get shorter. “Maybe another one half hours,” he would say. Whatever, even 20 minutes seemed like an eternity.
After a while, can’t remember how long, I lost track, we got to the really really hard part. Yes this was like watching a horror film which gets progressively worse by the hour, or with each successive sequel.
The last 200 meters up to the summit, famed for being “two steps forward, one step back”. This was at quite a steep incline, with gravel and sand. I’d dig my foot in and feel myself just slipping backwards. Halfway through I really just wanted to give up and not move any more. I unashamedly clung on to our guide to pull me along as all guilt about leaving Topo and Shree to get up on their own kind of disappeared. At one point I turned back and saw Shree on all fours. I think we did it in over an hour. 200 meters.
This is a blur shot because I was too tired to steady my hands, but on the left, one can just make out how steep the slope is.
And yes, we reached the summit a couple of minutes after the sun had risen.
As I was reviewing my photos, I wondered why my summit shots didn’t look that great. And I realized it was because I was sitting for a really long time, too exhausted to stand up to even take pictures. Everything was shot from the ground. Like so.
And
Honestly my first thought upon reaching the top was, thank god it’s over, I never have to do it again. And then my next thought was, how are we ever going to get down? More in the next post.
