🇮🇩 Climbing Mount Rinjani in Lombok

29 Apr – 04 May 2026

Tags: #travel #indonesia #mountain #sotravel

This trip which I had booked on impulse in order to make use of the labour day long weekend turned out to be one of the nicest trips I've had.

Rinjani has always had its place in my bucket list as one of the mountains I'd like to conquer. Ask anyone who knows it, they'll call it the "one step up, two steps down" mountain. I'd also been recommended to visit Lombok for its nature, which rivals Bali, its next-door neighbour, but without the same amount of publicity.

Without thinking too much about the details, I decided to just go for it. What I got in return were beautiful sights, lots of ups and downs in the literal and metaphorical sense, and a beautiful group of people with whom to experience all that.

This hike also happened to coincide with the Rinjani 100 mile ultramarathon. It's crazy how they didn't close down the trails for the race, but thankfully most of the racers ran past us while we were asleep in our tents.

It being another Sotravel trip, I was the trip leader which gave me responsibilities in exchange for a handsome discount.

Day 0: Senaru Villa

The day we arrived in Lombok, we took a long ride from the airport to Villa Bambu at Senaru, where we'd stay for the first night and leave some of our items when we're on the hike.

I don't go to these places often, and living on a tiny island like Singapore, I tend to underestimate the sheer size of other islands.

In any case, Lombok's roads are nice, I believe they're newly paved, and certainly not as congested as Bali's.

We had a lot of time to chat and get to know each other in the van during the drive.

Aside from the roads though, Lombok itself isn't as tourist-friendly as Bali, for better or for worse. It's much quieter, and they don't sell alcohol just anywhere; I only found them in villas/hotels and certain restaurants.

Before dinner, they brought us on a short walk to a nearby waterfall (was meh), perhaps a good taster for what's to come.

I wasn't a big fan of the villa; there weren't enough power sockets so we couldn't plug in our fan without not charging our devices, and the showers leave much to be desired. Naturally, there was no air conditioning too, but we managed to sleep in the still, humid, mountainous air.

But... it's one of the few spots with beer so I had my last sips before going dry for the next few days. Dinner itself was bomb. I'm always a sucker for Indonesian cuisine.

The night ended with a briefing by the guides about our plan for the next three days. They've been up and down the mountain several times, which is no small feat.

Day 1: Up from Sembalun to Crater Rim

Up and early the next day, we had breakfast (don't drink the coffee, it's more grounds than liquid), and unloaded our non-essential cargo to the villa staff for safe storage.

If you know me, you know I try not to make use of such services. This trip was an opportunity for me to limit test my ability to onebag the entire trip. I didn't intend on using porter services either (they were priced in to the trip's cost already), though I'll concede that it's necessary they carry the tents and camping supplies.

We then headed to Sembalun from our villa to register and begin the hike. This was a short ride on the back of a lorry.

They did stop by some place for a stack of medical declarations but I have no recollection of them ever performing a check-up on us. Hmm...

After registration, we started the hike at 10am from the Sembalun gate, which is a little late. The guide asked if we'd like to take a "Gojek"^[1] up to Pos 2 (our lunch checkpoint), but we were sure we'd be able to make it up despite the delay.

Nothing much to say about the trail at this point. Lots of cow dung land mines. We gained about 1.5km elevation during this fairly simple ascent. It got slightly steeper near the rim, but the ascent to the rim (and later, descent) are the easier parts.

The weather was alright, we were on the tail end of the monsoon season so some moisture was expected.

We stopped at Pos 2 for lunch. It was pretty good, though others complained that the meat was too tough, so they gave it to me. Yay!

There was another huge group of Singaporeans whom we spoke to, but I never did get their names or contacts. It was nice seeing them along the trail, anyway.

It started raining for a short while during lunch and it continued as we resumed the trail.

There were a few other Pos stops. The crowd wasn't too bad on the trail.

The final ascent was much steeper but nothing unnegotiable. You'll never get lost with my shirt!

Crater Rim

We finally reached the crater around 5pm on the dot. There are a lot of camping spots on the rim, so we had to walk a little further in to find our tents.

The crater rim would be our rest area for the first night, until 1am where we'd set off for the summit. The porters reached before us, naturally, and had already set everything up.

Temperatures were freezing the first night, especially with the wind and cloud cover. We had a delicious dinner in the dark and rested early for the hike to come.

There are people who only opt to climb to the crater rim without summitting. I don't know how they are okay with themselves for half-assing it...

To some, the "toilets" may take a little getting used to, especially if you can't do a squat. For me, I had to be sure I was aiming correctly. Some decided to just hold their shit in for the entire duration of the hike.

We didn't really do much aside from pack, but I managed to take some long exposures of the beautiful starlit sky. It's just a shame that it was so cloudy and it was a full moon! GAH!

Day 2: Summit and Down to Lake

This was the longest day, and considering how most people follow the same itinerary, I wonder how the others manage this at all.

Basically, in a single day starting from 1am, we had to summit, go back to camp, and then head down to the lake, which in itself was no simple task.

In the spirit of labour day, we had an immensely laborious day. At the end, there was even a river crossing, which was basically the straw that broke the camel's back.

The group morale was pretty low at the end of ONLY the 2nd day, and we wanted to get out ASAP, but that's something I'll get to later!

Summit PUSH

We woke up around 1am for the summit push. After a delayed breakfast, we set off for the summit, going past the rest of the tents and following along the crater rim towards the summit. I believe this would be clockwise along the eastern end of the crater rim.

There was a line of people heading up. The ascent isn't easy, but I wouldn't say the bottlenecks were too bad. About a third of the way in, the terrain starts to get quite slippery, due to gravel and volcanic ash.

The path is also quite narrow, so there were few chances to overtake people. At least it wasn't too crowded. Be very careful! The sides slop off very rapidly so it's almost certain death if you fall off the sides.

It was still before dawn, so I only got a good reckoning of the path on my descent. It's a wholly different experience seeing only the city lights in the far distance and barely anything on either side. We were lit by the full moon (couldn't stargaze because of this also). It's only after the sun comes up that you get the sense of scale of the entire crater and the layout of the land.

The summit is a small plateu that can still fit quite a number of people, who were all taking photographs, of course. that It's an amazing view into the crater.

Of our group, only about 5 of us summitted before sunrise, but the rest followed soon enough. We started heading down around the time the sun came up and passed by them.

I got pretty hot due to the amount of physical activity. I ended up spending most of the summit ascent in just my thermals and a t-shirt.

I don't think I'm all that much of an adrenaline junkie, but I sat quite close to the edge of the summit for my photos. I got a few warnings by concerned hikers before they took from my example and started taking more photos my way.

Back to Camp

With the sun up, I got a good view of the entire crater in its full glory! It's really remarkably huge. In fact, you should be able to see the north coast, right? Enjoy the photos!

On the way up, due to the darkness, you don't really get to see just how narrow the trail is, and how much it drops off on either side of you.

Descent into the Lake

We had breakfast upon returning to the camp, then a short nap, then lunch, all in the span of a few hours. This was a little sub-optimal, but we didn't have a choice considering we had to get moving for the next item on the itinerary: heading down to the next campsite at the lake.

The way down to the lake was rather steep, mostly composed of rocks. It was made all the more dangerous due to the moisture and some drizzle, which made the rocks slippery.

It's trails like these that give you the impression that the porters are wizards. They zoomed past us and found the best spots to set up camp while we struggled to get down the slippery rocks one-by-one.

At this point, we were quite tired, or to use a memorable quote by one of them, "I am mi-se-ra-ble. Miserable." The way he said it still sticks in my mind.

Once we reached the lake, our campsite was across a river. The fact that we had to go across a river (not exactly shallow, so we had to take our shoes off) was not well-received.

Some of us went to the hot spring by the waterfalls near the lake. I wish I took photos... All we have is footage from a fellow hiker's Insta360, which looks great!

The hot spring water comes piped out in a corner of the base of the waterfall. The view was incredible, by the way. I'm glad we arrived before the crowd and before the sun went down and covered the entire area in darkness.

Mutiny

Okay, I'm being dramatic. But at this point, this was day 2 of a 4 day itinerary. We were kind of sick of being on the mountain, and having cleared the important parts, we wanted to wrap things up.

At dinner, we unanimously decided to combine the last 2 days' worth of hike into one, and the responsibility fell onto me as the trip leader to convey our wishes.

I had my reservations, not wanting to offend our guides, but, what do I really know! They were happy to accommodate, and it did mean one less day of work for the porters, no refunds, of course.

Anyway, the last day was more of a buffer day. The planned camp site would have been somewhere along the trail down, but it's not entirely necesasry if you're willing to just push on for another hour or two.

Day 3: The Great Descent!

I slept decently well, until the trail runners started running past our campsite. It turns out we were practically adjacent to the trail, with some runners going by right behind out tent. I initially thought they were wild animals. I think some might have tripped on our rope.

The ultramarathon began that morning, just after midnight, from the Senaru end. We woke up and watched the runners go by. They had to cross the river as well, which was a bottleneck. We could see the crowd of headalamps from afar. I seriously hate river crossing. It's not like it's any easier if you're an ultramarathoner.

Up the Rim

For the first part of the descent, we had to actually climb back up to the crater rim from the crater lake. The sky was clear and the views were spectacular going up, which made the physical effort worth it, I suppose...

At this point, the Rinjani 100 ultramarathon had already begun, and the runners came from Senaru, so we'd run into runners going the other direction. The trail was quite narrow at times, so this was slightly inconvenient for them. I'm surprised they didn't close the trail off for runners only.

It took about 3-4 hours to get to the rim. We reached at noon, which made it a good time for lunch at one of the campsites along the way down.

Our final lunch was a delicious pasta dish. It's incredible how the porters bring so much stuff up and still make such varied dishes.

We tipped the shit out of them, definitely way above the standard rate. I know we did want to shorten the time spent on the mountain, but the porters did an amazing job making sure the camps were set up before we reached, on top of all the stuff they had to carry. We all put our cash into one envelope and left them with one last task of divvying up the tips among all of them before we parted ways (the porters, having finished their duties, made their way down ahead of us).

A little fun fact: I heard from them that the porters work their way up to being guides, who earn more. That's because if a porter is out of commission, the guide should be ready to take on portering services. Looks like there's alpha in knowing English as well.

Now, because we decided to cut the hike short, we didn't have any accommodations for the night. With what sporadic reception we had, one of us managed to book a villa for all of us at lunch.

Descent from Rim to Senaru

Finally, once the elevation got lower and we crossed the tree line again, the terrain became mostly mud and dirt. The guide at the front decided to lead the faster ones by running, which I believe is the right way to descend terrain like that.

I slipped a few times on muddy roots (these are the killers), but eventually got the hang of it and stayed near the front of the pack as well.

Descent didn't take long, perhaps about 3-4 hours of trail running down, all with minimal strain on the knees. We chilled at the base waiting for the others. I finally got reception at this point... Hip hip hurray!

Afterwards, we went back to the Senaru villa (day 0) to pick up our belongings that we had left for their safekeeping, courtesy of the villa. I was onebagging, so I didn't have anything to get... Except an ice cold beer from the bar!

To the Villa

The next ride was a rather long one to the villa we booked, Villa Salama which was chosen for its vicinity to Bangsal Port (some of us had planned to visit the Gili islands the next few days, me included. I eventually cancelled my stay in favour of staying inland, though... More on this later).

I highly recommend, if you're going to Lombok, to book a villa especially after a hike, as a reward. It's so beautiful and relaxing. I think this was the first time I'd ever let myself let loose like that, and it was in good company that I did so.

This villa in particular was staffed on-site. I'm not sure if that's the usual arrangement, but they were there to assist in things like laundry. They also cooked breakfast in the morning.

Day 4: The Villa and bailing on Gili Air

In the morning where we were supposed to check out of the villa to go our separate ways, the staff cooked breakfast for us in the villa's kitchen. We got to see the view in its full glory, looking out at the Gili islands as well.

We also got to enjoy the morning sun, in full force, with no hurry to go anywhere whatsoever. This was a cause for a dip in the pool and some beers.

If there are two things to go to Lombok for, it's Rinjani and the Villas. It's only natural that we go to a villa after such a hike. It's just such a shame we only spent one night here. There was even a rooftop facility we barely even touched.

According to the original itinerary, we were supposed to descend on this day, and I had a stay on Gili Air booked. I decided to forfeit the stay (about SGD 30) to just stay somewhere near the airport with the rest. I wasn't the only one who cancelled his existing booking to spend more time with each other. Did I mention the company was great?

In any case, the time it'd take to take the speedboat to/fro the Gili islands, and the cost of the transportation, as well as the distance from the airport, just didn't seem worth it to me at the end.

Lombok is huge, just like Bali. What it has going for itself is newly paved roads and FAR FAR less traffic. We took a 2 hour drive to the next hotel, Swiss-belcourt, which was pretty nice.

I spent the night in my room, while the others went to the nearby Kuta beach. I wasn't about to endure another 1-2 hour drive. I ordered some delivery and went to town on the food. I love Ayam Geprek!!!

Day 5: Going Home

The final day, we just headed to the airport after a quick breakfast. There's nothing much to report here. We saw some other familiar faces at the airport, who were also part of other groups on the trail the past few days.

I had a great time during this trip. I'm glad I chose to stay at the hotel near the airport too. If I had stuck with my original plans of staying at Gili Air, I'd have had to leave early (probably the first speedboat of the day), and then another maybe few hours of driving to get to the airport for my afternoon flight.

That's just way too many variables, I'm just glad I made the choice. Either way, Lombok's traffic is relatively smooth compared to Bali, and I hope it stays that way.

Itinerary

There are some itineraries that the operators offer, and they're largely the same.

We got the 4D3N one which, as you have found by now, we negotiated into a 3D2N one with no issue.

There are some that only bring you to the crater rim, and others where you summit in 2D1N and get down the same way you came.

I'd say going down to the lake and coming out of a different exit (of which there are 3) are well worth the extra days. 4 days seems a little excessive, in any case.

Packing Notes

Boy! We came in at the tail end of the monsoon season, which meant the first few days were slightly wet with rain (each time didn't last too long).

As usual, waterproof your gear. Rinjani especially can get misty if not rainy. It's high up so get some thermal layers as well.

Much of the hike is exposed to the HOT sun so PLEASE make sure to COVER UP and apply sunblock as a secondary measure.

Bring shoes that can negotiate muddy, rocky, and loose terrain. The gravel near the summit and the muddy trails are sure to make you slip and lose your footing.

You might want some face covering in case there's ash in the air.

Costs

• Sotravel booking: SGD 600 ($300 after Sotravel leader reimbursement)
  • Includes day 0's villa, transport, registration, equipment rental, and guides.
• Flights: SGD 600 (pricier than usual)
• Food, purchases, tips: Frankly.. I don't remember, but probably not more than SGD 100.
• Villa: SGD 115/pax

Total: $1100, give or take.

It may be cheaper if you settle the itinerary yourself, probably saving up to $100. I did ask the other hikers that we met on the trail.

I also feel like I could've gotten a better deal with the flights. For some reason, the flights to Lombok kept going up during that period.

Nonetheless, it was well worth it for all the people I got to meet, which (not sponsored btw) is the value proposition of Sotravel.