A series of miscommunications.
First off Taxi man was supposed to pick us up at six so we set our alarms for 5:15, hoping for plenty of prep time. Five minutes before alarms ring the front desk calls to inform of taxi's arrival. WTF? Again we must scramble to depart only to find the driver has to pick up another couple down the road, a couple who were misinformed about departure time as well. So we were delayed. Taxi ride to Senaru was haphazard, driver had a death wish. We were dropped off at a guest house and made to wait while the Muslims prayed. Last night was the conclusion of Ramadan so many were out late partying. Hours pass. In light of all this we're wondering, why the early pick up?
People of many nationalities shamble in. Whereas I thought we purchased a private trek we were being lumped into a larger group. Nobody seemed to know what was going on. Finally we were fed breakfast, packed into a truck and hauled off to the park entrance. From there our multinational trek team set off. Up at five to start hiking at eleven. Seems absurdly unorganized to me.
Three posts to conquer before crater rim. We tackle the first one with ease, up a slight grade into thick jungle foliage. Dense root structures serve as steps up ever steepening slopes.
There's a communication error. Our porters have not been organized. They are carrying all our sleeping gear, food, and extra water. If they don't show we can't spend the night. Our guide asks us to wait. His phone is dead so he can't contact his boss. He asks a guide headed in the other direction to find out if porters are coming and, get this, to call him. *facepalm* His Phone Isn't Working! We all know this, but somehow he has forgotten. This is not a communication gap. This is an intelligence failure. Somehow one of our crew gets reception on his iPhone. Call the boss. Porters on their way. When will they be here? Didn't ask. Fuckin' idiot.
I marshall for a movement. Guide is trying to get us to wait for porters arrival so they can prepare our lunch. Why do we have to have lunch? We haven't done shit! We convince guide to release us and I make tracks. Frustrated, I pound out the trail, just can't stand the stasis. I'm failing to pace myself which will burn me later but I just can't sit still. Hothead obscures foresight.
Porters catch up to us at second post. They set about making lunch. It takes forever. They feed us buckets of rice, which just seems dumb. Don't these people know how to hike? We need light-weight, high impact food such as nuts and berries. Granola bars would be good. And juice.
Whatever. Onward. I reach Post 3 with ease. If we had started at seven (realistic for waking up at five) we'd have certainly made this point by lunch. By now it's 4:30. Again there's some confusion. I ask around, some say this is post three, others say it's farther up. I'm still impatient, frustrated with poor organization, so I carry on to investigate. About an hour later I'm out of the trees and the slope is getting really steep. And dusty. We're above the clouds and the setting sun is lighting everything up in this most sublime scarlet hue. Picture perfect. Above the rim looms but we're being asked to go back. Apparently the rest of the group is setting up camp at Post 3, which is indeed where it was originally said to be. Backtrack to camp, dinner in the dark, stars are brilliant. To bed.
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