Day 0
Early morning flight plus long layover before we finally arrived and met up with our driver, who stopped over to treat us local kuehs! Though he was surprised by our boldness to take on the 3D2N itinerary which is, usually, taken only by the fitter Caucasians (while Asians usually do the 4D3N one)
Arrived at the office of Senaru Trekking and was briefed by the boss, Jul, whom I had been liaising with via email. He once again reiterated the need to be fit and, more crucially, to be mentally fit, for the climb. At this point I must admit that I was slightly worried, and we decided to engage another porter for an additional US$60 - we got more than we bargained for and got a semi-guide in Rico (plus our original guide, Onde), who also speaks English and follows us through the journey - and it was the best decision of the trip ever (at least for me, who would be the one tanking the load otherwise...).
Checked into our lodge and was left on our own to find dinner; found a nice lodge with a two-week old restaurant and was served with some delicious local delicacies; that was secondary, the view was sick too! Albeit it turned dark very quickly after. We were the first in the restaurant but were soon joined by a few other groups - all Singaporeans (who would join us along the same trek at least for the first day). Turned in for the night after consolidating all our heavy item into one backpack for Rico to carry the next day. Enjoyed my quiet (and slightly scary) night alone in the room...
Day 1
First morning started off later by the standards of the trek and we met up with our guides before breakfast. One hour later and we arrive at the National Park office for the admin, and we’re all set for the adventure!
Easy trek to the first two pos, then lunch in the tent cooked up by our awesome porters - Siti, Ali, and Nissam.
Crazy load they’re all carrying but the move up and down way faster than us - all decked in their trusty footwear, the flip flops! Pos 1, pos 2, pos 3, pos 4 and finally the base camp!
Dinner with a view around sunset and turned in early for a grilling night ahead...
Day 2
Super early morning but not as early as the early risers (pretty much everyone else - base camp was already quiet by the time we readied ourselves), set off around 2:30. Girls struggled with the black sand at the start and we were going at a very slow pace. Determined to catch the sunrise, I had to pangseh the two and Chiong up on my own.
Made it in 2 and a half hour with much encouragement along the way to reach the top at 5:34am!
Had some time to do some selfie and congratulate the other trekkers before setting up for the sunrise shots. A group of trekkers were already all snuggled up at one corner of the summit by the time I reach!
View was incredible and the majestic sea of clouds early at dawn made it all the more worth it for the rapid ascent
After some lingering I decided to head back down to check out on the girls. Passed Bird my hiking pole and helped Jo up... Bird eventually reached at 8 and Jo at around 8:30! After a long 6 hours climb, we all got up! 
Don’t let the happy faces and shades fool you of the shagness - the black volcanic ashes were punishing to say the least
Bumped into this group of Singaporeans and encouraged them for the last stretch, only to realise they were from Bird and Jo’s JC!
We were just there!
Trek back wasn’t as easy as thought but we imagine it would be worse if we went ahead with the rest of the programme. Bump into lots of Singaporeans (and some of Jo’s friends) along the way trying to get up. It was already nightfall by the time we reach Pos 2. And the same group of singaporean we met at the summit were here too! Final dinner in the wilderness and some chit chat later, we turned in early for the cold cold night...
Day 3
Woke up early to a nice sunrise, had a pancake for breakfast, packed up and off we go! Trek back was also longer than we imagined but still relatively manageable. Bumped into Zixiong at the foot of the mountain as well!
And this was the team that slogged through with us - the journey back to office from the foot of the mountain, at the back of the pick up was also quite a memorable segment, though we were probably all too shagged out by then haha
Onwards to Kuta, where we reached around 2pm to our amazingly luxurious (but cheap!) villa. Took a dip in the pool and did some workout before showering - first shower after an “outfield” is always the best!
Really kinda brings out the army outfield experience to the fullest. Anyway, we did some basic housekeeping for our equipment and then spent a bit of money and hired a driver to drive us around (cos I can’t scoot the two of them around on one bike and they don’t wanna scoot on their own, oh wells). First stop, lunch atop a hill! View was nice (albeit slightly too windy on the day) and the food was good! Most impressed with the drinks but we were famished - any and everything is welcomed
Our next plan was to visit another hill near the beach for sunset, but the sky got a little too cloudy for any sunset to be seen (we were also secretly happy cos the receptionist told us we’ll need to climb abit and we were like “errrr...”, and we weren’t really ready for the windy chill especially after nightfall). Anyway, we still manage to hit the beach for a while and did some grocery shopping before we head back towards our villa to find a place for a much-needed massage (and let our driver return to break his fast). But the massage parlour we intended to go was fully booked!
That’s when our driver told us that the villa actually has an in-house massage service! Haha, should have asked about this earlier. So we all headed back and got ready for our massage~ Super shiok, convenient, and comfortable massage!
Dinner then Chilled and watched Girl with a Dragon Tattoo in our villa, then turned in for the night!
Day 4
And all good things come to an end. Nothing much happened for the last day, just transfer, flight, transfer, and another flight. Till next time!
And as with usual custom - an ABSolutely random photo hahahahaha kthxbye end of narcissism cos start of flabs life again
