To Mordor and back

So we decided to go to Rinjani , a local volcanoe which is about 3000 metres or so. Currently one cannot reach the summit due to the volcanic activity which begs the question why can we climb it at all? Anyhow we agreed a price of 55000 ruppiah each about 35 quid and hired porters and a guide for the trip.
We spent the night again in Hotel Ellen in Singigi! As Jarrod says if we were to write in the lonley planet about this place we would write, "do not go"! Actually it is ok!
Hotel Ellen is fine, it is right beside the mosque which I really have grown acustom too. There is a decent left and right surf break but when we checked it was at low tide and too shallow to surf. Some local checked it out before us and ended up tearing out a fin. James and I chilled at the beach talking to him and some local girls who were cool. I now have serious Bali belly so ran back to the hotel. While away James met and iraqi refuge and his family who were trying to get to Oz but to no avail.
That evening we ate food at the same restaurant as before, i had king prawns again which were awsome. We went to bed promptly as we had an early start.
From the outset I knew it was going to be a disaster, in a good way though! 4.30AM wake up was my least favourite! We even missed the morning prayers at the mosque. They really are fascinating! These people pray like 6 times a day and begin at 5AM. One person sings the Koran through a microphone I guess and listening to it in the warmth of the dark night is nothing less than enchanting. I think I could take a leaf out of these guys dedictation!
Anyways we drove 2 and a half hours to the starting point. Enroute I felt illish but i managed to sleep a little. We began trekking and as we set out we saw a large milipeed on the road which was cool. To cut a long story short the trek was hellish! In the jungle it was super humid so i was sweating like a mad man then through the clouds we couldnt see anything and as we passed over the clouds the sun burned us and the terrain became pretty tricky. I am really not fit and i struggled. Parts of it were very like Kilimanjaro notably the cloudforest and passing into scrubland.
When we finally reached the rim we heard what only can be described as the noised jumbo jet engines make prior to take of. In the centre of the volcano there was a new dome which had formed and out which lava and smoke were spewing. It was literally incredible although nothing compared to when the sun went down. The sunset was as good as any but as the light faded the lava grew more intense and as we sat watching the volcano errupt in the crater below us i really could have saw Gollum and not been suprised. We watched the volcano for about and hour then got into our tents.
Sleeping was nigh impossible for me it was cold, some guy from the UN was snorring and the volcanoe sounded like thunder. After a few hours of not sleeping I left the tent to go to the toilet which acording to our guide was everywhere...Finding a good spot to pee i noticed further up the mountain was our guide and porters. No tent just sleeping bag. He was playing some sort of stringed instrument overlooking the crater. No lie that was one of the most memorable pee's ever. I cant find words to describe it really but standing on the crater watching lava spew while a local indonesian man plays his guitar or whatever it was is a moment that will stay with me forever! Im glad I drank so much water!
That night i did not sleep and in the morning we had a frugal breakfast before descending the mountain. The descent was tricky and just like kili as the sun rose and the air warmed i felt alive once more. It is notable that now i have the runs, so the descent was not nice! At least kili had toilets!
After hours of trekking Sophia (Morrocan) Anabel , Mathew (french) and I all made it back to the starting point. We were haggered and celebrated with cheese and tomatoe toast and chips! Glorius! We took our bus/van back to Singigi. En route the guy from the UN shared some storied with us about his time in Iraq and other dissaster stricked parts of the world. His stories were humbling and at times frightening. As we discussed the dangers of driving in Iraq etc some american chick chirped up to inform us that driving in Indo is safe and that it is organised chaos. Literally just as she said this a scooter coming round the corner hit sand and literally missed our truck/death by inches. I smiled inside and resisted calling her a jackass.
Anyways we are back in Singigi! Hotel Ellen is full so we are in some dodgyu hotel in a back alley. It has barbed wire and metal bars on the window so i hope it is safe.
Its no lie i actually stink right now! I havent showered since the trek and hours of jungle sweat have caught up with me, time to shower and sleep!
The last 2 days have been crazy, i can barley remember half of the goings on. Tommorow we leave at 9. We have organised a boat to take us to the komodo islands 4 days away to see the dragons. After which we will explore more eastern and untouched parts of Indonesia.