Adventure!

Am finally back from Lombok and what a trip it was. From the onset, drama and adventure!

First off, we waited for the whole group to arrive before checking in, but the airline closed the check-in facilities while we were checking in. So we missed our flight, no other flights till Monday! After an hour of arguing with the airline, they agreed to put us on the waiting list for Bali, but there were 5 people ahead of the 6 of us in the waiting list. In the end, there were 7 seats open with 2 people left to check in, so we were left waiting anxiously for the final few minutes. But they didn't show, so miraculously (and the duty manager indeed said it would take a miracle), we all made it on that flight!

Next day, we made our way to Lombok and opted to travel by "fast boat", which turned out to be a slow public ferry which effectively took 7 hours. When we finally arrived at Lombok, it was low tide so we couldn't disembark. We had climbed off the side of the ferry and got these small boats which came up to the ferry to bring us to shore, finally reaching Lombok 24 hours later than expected.

So our climb of Mt. Rinjani was cut short from 4D3N to 3D2N. Turned out to be one of the toughest physical and mental experiences I've ever gone through (voluntarily at least, army doesn't count and I was waaaay fitter then). I could barely feel my legs each day, especially my calves and quads. On the last day we climbed all the way down for more than 8 hours, by the end my knees were seriously in pain.

During the trip, I was wondering what in the world I was thinking, paying money to put myself through this. Once it was over though, I'm proud of what I achieved. And like our guide happily pointed out to us, as a group we did it laughing and smiling, even though we were completely exhausted. :)

I also realised that I now appreciate natural sights infinitely more than man-made sights, because it allows me to appreciate the beauty of God's creation. The amazing mountain sights, beautiful lake, sunrise/sunset above the clouds, the most number of stars I have ever seen on a single clear night (it had to be thousands!)... God of Wonders, Your creation is so beautiful, I could only stare and marvel.

I'll let the pictures tell the story, once I get the full set from JD, our team photographer.