I’ve always wanted to go to Mount Rinjani with its Segara Anak Lake since several years ago. But, it’s a real mountain with the height of 2,736 above the sea level that you can only reach by hiking (some people can go there by helicopter, but it’ll be very expensive). I never hike a mountain with that kind of track. Fortunately, some of my friends were going to hike Mount Rinjani: Berti, Ahau, Yadhi, Lucky, Yana, Ferry and Herry with Mo, Ang, and Fifi from www.rinjanimagazine.com as our guide during the trip.
Day 1
Indi picked us up at Selaparang Airport to have a breakfast in a restaurant and a lunch at her house in Praya before going to the beach. Yes, it’s a hiking trip to Mount Rinjani with the beaches as the side trip. We went to Seger Beach and Tanjung An. I’ve been to this area before, but only visited Kuta Beach. Unlike the beach in Gili Trawangan, the beaches on the south part of Lombok seem deserted. Not many people here as it is quite secluded. Still, there are still some aggressive hawkers in the area. The hawkers in Kuta beach are worst compared to Seger Beach and Tanjung An. Luckily, there were only a child trying to sell a coconut to me at Seger Beach and there was none approaching me at Tanjung An.
Pantai Seger (Seger Beach)
Pantai Seger (Seger Beach)
It’s a perfect beach to do sunbath, as a place to read all of your unread books, to watch the clear blue sky and ocean, and to be photographed. For us, it is a great beach to be photographed especially with the fishermen took advantage of the low tide on the beach. Rudy, Yana and me explored the reef abandoned by the sea water that noon at Seger Beach. We found what it seems as crabs, sea urchins, and some parts of small octopus. It’s all still alive and moving, hence we also busy avoiding them. While we were exploring the reef, the others are on the hill taking funny pictures of them and taking shelter.
Pantai Seger (Seger Beach)
Pantai Seger (Seger Beach)
Tanjung An
Tanjung An
Tanjung An
As the night approached, we went back to Indi’s house in Praya. We used two cars to go to Sembalun village at the foot of Mount Rinjani. It’s almost midnight when we arrived in the village. But before we arrived there, the driver pulled over the car on a hill. At day time, the village can be seen from the hill. At night, we can see the sky filled with stars. It’s beautiful, but the driver forgot telling us to wear our jacket. It’s very cold. I rushed back to get inside the car.
We stayed the night at one of the locals’ house in Sembalun village. Everything is cold here: the water, the floor, the wall…except inside my red sleeping bag. Our host provided us with a glass of hot tea and a bowl of noodle before we went to bed.
