Indonesia- day 15

Day 15 Mon 9/10
Our alarm luckily went off at 4:30 to wake us up for the 5:00 bus. In the bus, we met the first two members of our hiking group, Charlotte and Peter from Belgium. After our rough two hour drive, we were dropped off for breakfast, and yes, Maggie was sick. Interestingly, Charlotte and Peter taught us that in Belgium, they roll up their pancakes like burritos to eat them. Also at breakfast, I used a squat toilet for the first time, where there is a hole and some feet area, you squat, and its pretty much like you're peeing on the ground, but there is a hole there. We continued to the start of Mount Rinjani where we met the last four members of our groups, from Germany, two brothers and their wives, Erica, Nikko, Kati, and Josh. We really lucked out to get such a great group. On the hike, everyone brought backpacks, but Maggie and I, being unprepared, brought our Kavus stuffed to the brim. Everyone else in the group was doing three days/two nights. Every group had a guide and maybe 4 or 5 porters to carry all the camping gear across their back in a carrier that consisted of a large stick to balance across their back and two big baskets full of supplies. I know that the porter's were getting paid, but in some ways it almost felt like slavery to me. The hike was 8 hours straight up hill climbing. It was hard to say the least, but at the top, the view was well worth it. We got up there in time to see the sunset and the gorgeous view of the top of the volcano and a large peaceful lake with mountains surrounding it on all sides. During the hike, we stopped for lunch and at the top we had dinner, delicious soup and fried rice, served to us from our guide and porters. One of Maggie's favorite parts was the night spent in the tent.