Hello Hivians
In the last few days my Instagram are full of Rinjani viral news. A Brazilian hikers fell off and she died. Many Brazilians are outraged with that incident and blamed Indonesian Government for lack of support in rescuing her.
So before I go, this is not for discussing or debating about that accident. I do not wish to take side with either, an accident occurs, fatality was the result, whatever happened between and during all events were debatable. All parties have their own rights to express their opinion and all have rights to accuse and defend themselves.
But I want to talk more about Rinjani Mountain here
Mount Rinjani is one of the tallest mountain in Indonesia, it is the second highest active volcano here, with 3.726 meters height above the sea level. You can say it is one of the most favorite destination in Lombok Island, Indonesia.
When I worked in a petrochemical project, about a decade ago, some of my colleagues were active hikers. They loved to climb up mountain, and Rinjani was one of their favorite destination. They said it was something that must have to visit if you were a true Hiker or Trekker.
However they did not recommend the mountain to me, because they knew I was not a hiker. Mount Rinjani was not a destination where a noob or maybe some beginner could try hiking there. They even suggested me to try Mount Kerinci, which was the tallest volcano in Indonesia, with the height of 3,805 meters above sea level. The mountain is located in Sumatera, the same island I was working on.
Even it is the tallest, higher than Mount Rinjani, mount Kerinci is actually easier to hike. The challenge of mount Kerinci is on the location, which is in remote area, which we have to walk for days through some jungle. If you are unlucky, you might meet big cats such as tigers and leopards, or king cobras, or maybe some dangerous insects such as killer bees. So it is not favorite mountain to hike such as Mount Rinjani and Mount Bromo due to those reasons.
So were my friends bad at me by suggesting a less famous mount to hike? Well they were not. They knew I was a mid distance runner, I used to participate in some 10k or half marathon events, so they knew well I was not that suck in stamina and endurance. But I was not proven as a hiker or trekker and I had not taken any mountain yet.
HIKING NEEDS TRAINING
I do not want to specify this content to that accident, but I want to address this to other audience that might think that hiking is some heavy recreational activities. Hiking and Trekking are not some activities like some marathon event that you just come and enter with some appointment... It is not like a beach that you can play at while some lifeguard watching for your safety.
In hiking, you come to some place, mountains, and you explore those beatufil nature which is actually a wilderness. Everyone has a risk of getting an accident or injury, and there is no pit stop where you can rest a while, or some time out zone when you take a break for hours or days, then continue again your journey.
With that being said, you must have well prepared in physically and mentally. Taking some exercise and workout not to build your body so they look in shape, not because it is cool people see you in gym, but to prepare yourself in those rough terrains and wild climate.
Mentally? yes mentally. In the past, when I was a kid, my seniors always told us that if we wanted to join them, we had to take some training first because most of the time when accident happened, Everyone must be able to save their own life first. So we could not expect people came in time rescuing us.
But what happens today? Well some people who had hiked or trekked once or twice, they became expert and told their friends not to worry because they could look after their friends. Do they have mastered the terrain? How great and expert are they in the trekking field?
Well what do I know? I have never taken any mountain yet, I canceled my reservation with my friend's hiking team years ago. However I still remember the trainings I had taken, how harsh they were... And seeing nowadays kids... I wonder do most of them really cling their lifeline on some gears only?
Maybe this post is just a rant from me... What I can say that you can enjoy your journey, but respect the risks.
Thank you for coming and reading my post. I live in Jakarta, Ex-Capital City of Indonesia. I used to live by making money online, that's why I like being here, on HIVE, and in #PIMP - (Paper In My Pocket) community.
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