It took 2 hours to get to Pondok Senaru from Selaparang Airport by car. We arrived by midnight. It was dark and rather chilly. The hotel staff showed us the way to our room. I could hear the sound of water rushing. I couldn't wait for daylight to come.
I walked out of my room at approximately 6:30 AM and looked for the source of light on the sky. Apparently the sun rises from behind my room. But the hilly landscape of Pondok Senaru helped me find a spot to capture the before-sunrise scene. I was a few minutes late actually. The sky of the foothill of Rinjani Mountain was absolutely gorgeous. Unfortunately, I have no pictures to show you for my memory card went wrong, as I mentioned before.
The scenery in Pondok Senaru was splendid indeed. You can admire the golden morning sun glowing on the padi fields afar, and on the opposite side you can adore the towering green blue Rinjani Mountain into the deep blue sky. Flowers of various color growing on Pondok Senaru's garden will enhance your photo frame. Chirping birds of yellow feathers hopping from one tree to another will greet you good morning and wish you a wonderful day in Senaru. While you enjoy your breakfast, you will be entertained by the music from Sindang Gile Waterfall running down the valley right in front of your eyes.
I booked a soft-trekking-tour from here for 250,000 IDR per person including guide, snack, water, and lunch. The guide, Lun, fetched us at Pondok Senaru at 9:30 AM. His boss brought us a big pineapple, a bunch of big bananas (pisang raja), 2 boxes of biscuits, and bottles of mineral water.
I asked whether a porter was available, because if not, I would leave my tripod at the hotel. "Why find a porter?" the guide's boss, Heri, replied. "He can carry it for you."
Lun immediately stretched out his hands, "Let me carry your back for you."
Hence, I went trekking only with my camera hanging around my neck. Lun carried my camera backpack with my tripod attached to it. My tripod bag turned out to be useful to stuff in the mineral water bottles.
The entrance to Sindang Gile Waterfall was just next to Pondok Senaru. It took only approximately 15 minutes to get to the waterfall. This picture, I actually took the next morning. My photos of Sindang Gile Waterfall in the morning was lost in that fateful memory card.
Honestly speaking, Sindang Gile Waterfall didn't look as gorgeous as I had imagined it would be. I thought Sindang Gile had been pronounced as the biggest waterfall in Lombok, so I expected to see something greater than all the waterfalls I had seen. Frankly speaking, Sindang Gile surpasses none of the waterfalls I had seen in Vietnam.
From Sindang Gile we turned to next waterfall: Tiu Kelep. The road to Tiu Kelep was more adventurous on account there were no steps and we had to cross a river more than once.
Unlike when I trekked in Sapa (Vietnam), this time my breath cooperated very well. However, passing slippery and narrow paths, I'm often not confident. So Lun had a plastic bag of our snack in one hand and my hand in the other. In Sapa I neer had to cross rivers. At one point the water level was up to my waist. I definitely wouldn't have done it alone.
Tiu Kelep to me was much more impressive than Sindang Gile. It made the whole trekking worth.
The rushing water was so hard that even standing meters away, you get wet by the water splashes. Taking out my EOS 50D from my backpack was out of question. Only my N86 (it's a cellphone!) did I dare to risk. As ever, Nokia never fails me. I have to double thank Nokia, because if I had taken Tiu Kelep's pictures with my SLR camera, I would have loose the pictures, too.
I looked sadly (and angrily) at the rubbish around. This photo is just an example of one spot. This is not the only spot around Tiu Kelep.
People use to say, "Drink the water of Tiu Kelep, you'll look half your age." I say, "Litter on Tiu Kelep, you'll look twice your age!!"
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