The main objective of this trip is to climb five peaks out of the world’s top 100 by prominence. At least eleven peaks on this list are located in the Malay Archipelago. We arrive in Jakarta, fly to Bali the next morning, take a short relaxing break in the hotel, and after midnight start climbing…
Trip: Malay Archipelago II 2022
Sumatera Barat
West Sumatra is the place where you can find the highest mountain on the island, tigers, the best coffee (locals confirm this), active and dormant volcanoes, lakes, jungles, peaked houses, cinnamon, chili peppers, rendang, and many more interesting things. We only had a few days and took a good quality but extremely slow road from…
Gunung Kerinci
We are staying at Kerinci View homestay. It’s a great name, and one can watch the smoke rising from the pillar of Kerinci crater from the balcony. It started to smoke actively the day before we arrived. Pani, the owner of the house and our guide for tomorrow, calls the park rangers and reassures us…
Gunung Slamet
We arrive early in the morning at the registration point at the end of the village. We check in, get on our motorbikes, and ride a couple of hundred vertical meters very quickly. Just before the end, we have to get off the bikes because they are apparently not designed for western weights. We climb…
Gunung Lawu
The mountain is very popular with locals. Many trails wind their way to the top; we chose the one that should be a bit freer. It is foggy all the way, so we can’t see much. Pretty quick, we reach the upper camp, where a lot of people are resting. We move on, the wind…
Lombok
On the island of Lombok, nearly 4 million people live. However, there is no big crowd of people when driving around the island. On the contrary, the deserted, wild beaches are impressive. First, we visit the Sukarara weavers’ village. Very interesting, especially the machines where the women sit and weave. Every woman in the village…
Bukit Bongo
Moto GP race track that leads to the well-hidden Tenggara beach. Sandy, wide, and empty, like many others. At the end of the beach, after crossing a small square, we find the trail to the Tanjung Bong peninsula. The hills and precipices, covered with low grass, are more reminiscent of England than of an island…
Gunung Rinjani
The man is like a doctor, fingering the pulse and declaring that our blood pressure is perfect. He prepares a certificate, signs, and stamps it. Great, we are ready to climb Mount Rinjan!i. I am surprised that the trail goes through open grassland instead of jungle, which was unexpected.. Within half an hour, we reach…
Bali
Bali residents joke that there are more temples on the island than houses. This may be true. After Gunung Agung, we are driving towards the ferry, which would bring us to Lombok.
Gunung Agung
We get up at 1am, drive to the trailhead, where a local guide is waiting for us. The trail starts at a temple. We climb 330 steps. The local guide is praying and burning incense. After ten minutes, we pass the temple building on the left and start climbing an easy, well-maintained path. We pass…