After catching the ferry over to Lombok from Nusa Lembongan we arrived at a tiny port - no taxis or anything to get us to our next destination - Senaru. The transport guys were trying to charge us 400,000 for a 40mile drive - ridiculous. Luckily some nice men offered to take us on the back of their motorbikes to the next town called Bangsal where we could catch a public bus for only 80,000.

We jumped on their bikes and they were very careful drivers with us on the back taking us just around the corner. Unfortunately the bus had already left but they knew people that had transport up to Senaru so dropped us off with them - we were very grateful for their kindness and it was not dodgy either. Where they dropped us was a tour company that are based in Senaru and do hikes up Mount Rinjani. Something we have been considering to do. They gave us information about their tour and the prices which included transport to Senaru and back to Sengiggi as well as accommodation for this evening, all meals during the hike, camping equipment and porters to carry our camping gear all for 1.8m each - approx £88. Considering it was going to cost us 400,000 to just get to Senaru and goodness how much to get back it wasn't such a bad deal. So we signed up - not realising what we were getting ourselves in for.

We arrived at the Homestay in Senaru, grabbed some food and was introduced to our guide. Another couple were joining us for the hike but they weren't getting here until tomorrow. So we went to bed to get an early night ready for our hiking days ahead.

Feeling refreshed after a good long sleep and ready for the day ahead - trekking up Mount Rinjani (the second largest volcano in Indonesia), it is also an active volcano, the last eruption was in May 2010.

We begin our hike at 7.50 at 600m above sea level, leaving our home stay with our guide Anga. In high spirits hiking up. Even from the start it was a steep climb. Luckily we only have to carry our small bags with clothes and cameras in as we have a porter who carries all the food and sleeping equipment!! Hands up to them!

We reached the arch entering into the National Park of Agung Rinjani - took the momentary pictures had a quick drink before continuing on. Arriving at Pos 1 (916m), after an hour of trekking - this was quite tough. Curts knee having a little tingle, but I'm sure it will hold out - we did bring the Deep Heat as I imagine our muscles will be aching by the end of the day! We had a 10min rest and quenching our thirst. At this point we had caught up with a big group of Chinese people who left for their hike 15mins before us. We were slowly gaining on them :). But they soon left us.

Continuing on, we kept climbing higher and higher, you could feel the temperature dropping. Despite sweating like crazy!! Anga also chopped a small tree down to make me a walking stick :). It took another hr to reach Pos Extra (1.3km). Where we also saw the group of Chinese people!! Again stopping for a rest and a drink. This time we left before the Chinese :).

Another hr later (starting to count my steps as some motivation), we reached Pos 2 - where we were grabbing lunch and waiting for the couple who will be joining us. At this point my legs were slowly giving up (Curt finding it abit easier but he does have longer legs), with the stick helping my little legs lift my body up the steep incline, at points it felt like climbing stairs. The Chinese people soon caught up with us (about 10mins after).

We were awarded with a Banana and some choc biscuits - definitely needed! While the porters made us some lunch - noodle soup, chicken rice, veg, boiled egg and pineapple for afters! Once you cool down from sweating you begin to realise how cold it is us up here. The clouds literally creeping through the trees around us.

We left from lunch at 12.26 - the couple that were meeting us we're going to be another 1hr 40mins so we decided to carry on without them. While Anga waited for them we we went on with Amzan, one of our porters. He is a machine!! The Chinese left just before us but our aim was to overtake them. At first we were leap frogging with Anzum, as we had a few breaks to take pictures and go pro footage! And we slowly overtook the Chinese group a few at a time. It felt so good :).

By the time we reached Pos 3 at 1.50 Amzan was ahead (embarrassing really as he was carrying approx 30kg and wearing flip flops). We had a bit of a rest, having some well deserved biscuits and water. There were also quite a few others from different tour groups that were there too.

We soon left again at 2.20 with Anzum, however even though we were ahead for a while he soon gained on us and even overtook! By the end of the trek we could see the summit of this part of Volcano where we will be camping, it felt good to know we were nearly there but the steep incline was crazy. I was literally on all fours rock climbing up the mountain - also health and safety doesn't apply here so there are no railings and literally just a drop off the side.

FINALLY we reached camp at 4.20. 2600km above sea level. Where Anzam had already erected our tents - however the view wasn't as great as we imagined. We hiked a further 10mins up to the crater rim, where a massive fresh water lake (Segara Anak Lake) sat and a small volcano situated the middle, the view was magnificent and definitely worth the hike up (even if we were regretting it half way!). The water was a beautiful turquoise, and the volcano was so cute!!

By the time we ventured back to camp (with my knee starting to play up now!), Anga was there!! And the couple were just up at the crater rim taking pictures. After speaking to Anga about the position of camp he was kind enough to move our camp to a much better view over the other side (still not on the crater rim) but we had a view over the West of Lombok. With a layer of fluffy clouds below us. At this point the couple also arrived at camp - Dom and Steph from the UK.

We watched the sunset over the mountain and by the time it was dark you could even see the Gili Islands all lit up. It was a pretty good view! The porters and Anga cooked us our dinner and we sat inside their tent to eat it - fried vegetable, rice and prawn crackers with a chicken drumstick which was pretty yummy. Before heading to bed at about 8 as there wasn't much else to do and we had to be up for 6 to carry on our hike. I also noticed that I had two massive blisters on my feet from not wearing adequate walking socks :(. Something I definitely began to regret!

The tents were quite spacious, however the ground wasn't quite 'comfty'. Despite Anga chopping up lots of long grass to put on the ground to cushion us a bit more. We did manage to grab a couple of hrs sleep though, probably due to the amount of walking we had done!

Before long we were up, eating our banana pancakes and ready for the next day of hiking. With no clouds you could see everything so clearly from up here - even spotting the Gili Islands. A beautiful view!! We left at 7.20 to go to the Segara Anak Lake and the Hot Springs. This was a decent climb of 600m in total. And again health and safety rules do not apply so we were pretty much rock climbing down the cliff. At points it was pretty sketch and if a rock decided to give way there was a massive death drop! We both found the decent a lot more challenging for our knees (and my blisters) than the upward hikes. With my shoes beginning to give me a lot of grief, and my toes being pushed forward and feeling like my toe nails were getting ripped off! Something that I did moan about quite a bit but had to just get on with.

We arrived at the Lake at about 10.30 and headed towards the Hot Springs - natural pools that were as hot as a bath. We put on our swimwear and ventured in and it was luxurious. Despite not having any shampoo it felt like we were having a good clean, washing all the mud and dust off us and from our hair :). It was like a bath. Also very good for relaxing our muscles and soothing our painful feet and knees! Some people were even cliff jumping into the water 18feet up. Curtis really wanted to do this however I told him it wasn't worth risking his knee messing up and slipping on the rocks injuring himself even more, much to his disappointment.

When we got out the water we soon felt the cold again remembering were still 2000m above sea level. Grabbing some lunch the porters had kindly cook us - this time we had a vegetable curry with rice. Everytime they served us food we were surprised at the variety and how tasty it was despite the limited facilities. After chilling for an hr or so we had to continue our trekking for the day. Making our way closer to the Summit ready for our sunrise climb tomorrow.

This was another hard trek, going back up to around 2600m. Another rock climbing journey although it got harder as both our knees were playing up. I did check my toes at the Hot Springs and although they were still there they were bruising :(. Anga had told us it would take us 4 hours and we were determined to beat the time! And we did!!! Wooo we got to camp at 3.40pm. Doing it in 3hrs 40. When we got to the top there were some locals selling beer and food. Curtis was so tempted to buy a Bintang but they were charging 90,000 for a large!! When typically we pay 35,000 so we whacked that on the head and stuck with water.

The porters and Anga again set up our tents while we sat and enjoyed the view. Again the clouds creating a blanket beneath us. We could see across to where we had camped on the first night and the sunset was beautiful over the mountains. It definitely was worth all the walking to see these incredible views even though at the time we did question why we were paying to climb and put ourselves through torture!

This evening was much similar to the evening before. Grabbing our lovely dinner - this time eating it while looking over the mountains. We were wine able to see where we had camped the previous night. And then heading to bed at 7 ready for our very early start at 2am to climb to the summit!! Steph and Dom where questioning whether they were going to do the climb - it is the hardest part of the whole 3 days as you are practically walking on a very steep rocky path, with you feet essentially slipping with every step. Anga said it can take up to 4 hours to climb as its like doing two steps forward and one step back. Also the path itself can be as little as 1m wide in parts, with death drops either side! Pretty sketchy.

I didn't sleep that well again :(, letting Curt have the less rocky side of the tent. It felt like I was waking up every 20mins as I couldn't get comfty and my knees and feet were killing. Before I knew it our alarms were going off and Anga came and bought us some tea and crackers as a snack for our climb.

We got out the tent and it was freezing!! However we still wore shorts and a tshirt as we knew the climb would make us hot and sweaty. We packed the sleeping bag and extra clothes to keep us warm at the summit as apparently it is as low as 4 degrees!

Steph and Dom decided not to do the trek as the sheer thought of the death drops either side of the path were stressing them out. This didn't bother us too much, and wanted to at least try and see how we got on.

In the first 10mins it became apparent how hard this actually was! You could only see what is directly in front of you that the torch lights up. You are completely unaware how high you are and just focus on putting one foot in front of the other. Our knees were giving way and we were practically dragging ourselves up (well I was anyway!). It was this hike when I did the majority of my falling over, within the first five minutes I had face planted the rocks after slipping and losing my footing. At this point I envied Steph and Dom who were probably fast asleep in the tent. But we carried on getting to the peak of the first mountain. After that it wasn't too bad, a fairly small incline and the ground was not slippery so we managed to make some good progress. However despite the walking making us sweat we were beginning to lose the sensation in our fingers because it was actually so cold. If we stopped for more than 20seconds we had goosebumps and was shivering, we really had to keep moving. Then we got to the last part - the steepest part of the whole trek, with impossible ground.

Anga told us this could take up to 2 hrs just because of the ground - a combination of small and large rocks, your feet practically got buried with each step as well as slipping back about a foot each time. It was tough, and no words can actually describe how intense the climb was unless you actually do it. When we turned around you could see a line of torch lights from the people behind knowing that they were going through the same pain as us. Because the path was so thin you couldn't even move out the way to let people overtake so there was no choice than to keep going. Curtis seemed to be coping quite well with me struggling more, Anga even dragged me up some of the way but this only made me more tired and aching because I had to keep up. He kept saying we were not far but you never know if he was telling the truth and because it was so dark you couldn't even tell how far was left. It was really a race against the clock so we could be there for sunrise.

FINALLY we reached the summit - one of the biggest achievements of my life! 3726m above sea level, meaning we had climbed over 1100m. It was 5.55am, doing it in 3 hrs and a half! Hurray!! 20mins to spare for sun rise.

At the top there was already quite a few people up there, and there wasn't a vast amount of space. We managed to find a good spot to sit down, immediately feeling the cold as we began to cool down. It was FREEZING. We could barely feel our fingers, and wrapped ourselves up in the sleeping bag and Angas blanket while we sat and watched the sky lighten up. The view was stunning, you could see the Lake and the mini volcano on one side and then West you could even make out Flores. Once the sun starting to appear it was beautiful and we instantly knew that it was worth every minute and pain of that trek! Definitely feeling a sense of achievement.

Although after all the pictures etc at the top we knew that we had to get back down. This was way more fun you could say, however now it was light you could see the edges of the mountain and the sheer drops that followed. It was crazy to think that we actually trekked up there.

At first it was quite hard to get down, literally sliding down the rocks and sometimes finding it hard to stop. Again me falling over and getting quite grazed in the process. Anga than kindly helped me walk down, well let's say run. He let me put pretty much all my weight on him as we ran down the volcano - my knee was killing but it was the only way to do it quickly and the amount of dust and grit that went in my shoes was horrendous. With Curt running behind. We made it down the first part in 20mins - pretty crazy as it took about 2hrs to climb up!! The middle bit was not a problem as it wasn't half as slippery and the final part again was quite hard - with me slipping everywhere. But we got back to camp about 8.15 with Pancakes and Tea waiting for us. Just what we needed to warm ourselves up!

Unfortunately as it was our last day it meant that we had to make a long hike back :(. This was also challenging in its own right. After an hr of resting, packing our things and emptying all the dirt out of our shoes we had to head off back to base. My blisters were red raw, covered in dirt so I quickly cleaned them and then got back into my shoes (my feet definitely hating me right now). Also our knees were still playing up, probably more than usual after practically running down the volcano!! It was going to be a LONG day!

To summarise, me and Curt looked like a pair of old people with walking sticks hobbling down the cliffs. Luckily one of the porters took my small back pack so I didn't have to carry it down - I did feel a bit guilty though but glad I didn't have to carry it. The first stretch was pretty hard due to the steepness, and again pretty much rock climbing. With all four of us going as slow as eachother. We stopped for lunch 3 hrs in before continuing on. This half wasn't so steep but still difficult for our knees to cope, with my other knee deciding to buckle :(. Steph and Dom continued on as we trudged slowly behind them, catching them up at the end. At this point we were really hating life - just willing to be back so I could take my shoes off and put on some flip flops! This took another 2 and a half hrs - getting back to Sembalun. At 3.20 (3oclock was our scheduled time). But we made it in the end!! Even if we were slow and a little late. With a black pick up truck waiting for us to drive back to Sanaru to collect our backpacks.

As we sat in the back making our way back we were felt a huge sense of relief and even began laughing about our journey! All so happy for it to be over but also so pleased how far we had come!! I know for me it was one of the most physically challenging things I have ever done in my life and I think it's safe to say we all agree. A much needed drink and some good western food was well deserved tonight.

We arrived back at Sanaru and I immediately changed into flip flops. It was heaven - my feet completed bruised, swollen and blistered :(. We said our thanks to Anga and the Porters by giving them a nice tip before getting into another car to take us to Senggigi.

Definitely one of the best things we have done on this trip and the views were definitely worth the three day long hike and endless hours of walking - even though at the time we were hating life. I think we can say we are now Mountaineers ;)!

C & E x