If I believed in heaven

15/7/11

Its 2am, cold dark and we are in a tent. What’s more there is someone shaking it encouraging us to get up for breakfast. Surely this is some form of bad dream. We stumble out of the tent feeling somewhat disorientated as this is NOT NORMAL in the words of James . Anyway a breakfast and coffee wakes us up sufficiently for us to set off up the volcano. The two Swiss guys set off at a lighting pace accompanied by a fit young porter. James, Kevin, Peerman and I opt for a slightly more genital pace. To set the scène its dark, cold and windy. There is a full moon and hundreds of stars. The darkness is interspersed with the occasional head touch of another party but apart from that the only sound is your laboured panting and the sound of gravel slipping under your feet as you walk perilously close to the edge of the crater rim. We have three hours to ascend over 1000 meters and it is at this point we realise this is less rambling and more mountaineering. After 30 minutes of calf sapping walking on gravel James asked Peerman how much further it is to the top. The response of two and a half hours is too much for James and he decides to call it a day. After some discussion it is agreed that James will sit on the mountain until sunrise and then head down the path. We leave him wrapped up warm with a supply of biscuits, some water and a head torch whilst the rest of us continued upwards.

Within a matter of minutes the path levels out and I begin to wonder if James has given up too early. For the next hour the walk is strenuous but manageable then the final assent begins… Until now the ground has been course large gravel and a 45 degree angle. The final assent sees the gravel turn to a sand like texture, the wind pick up and the gradient change to what feels like 80 degrees. Two minutes in and I am panting and beginning to wonder if I would get to the top. The only thing that sustained me was the view. If I believed in heaven I would say this is where it is. I was above the cloud line and felt like I could almost touch the moon. The sky went from black, though blue, then to blue with stars, orange and white where it met the clouds. Every 10 paces (two of which were backwards) I stopped, panted and looked at the sky. After 60 gruelling minutes the end was in sight and we reached the summit ten minutes before sunrise.

Sunrise was truly amazing. In this spot a long way above the clouds we could see for miles. The light was so intense and clear and the views stunning. The volcano crater was slowly illuminated showering it with a whole spectrum of colour. This I felt was a once in a life time sight. Firstly because the weather was so clear and secondly because the was not a cat in hells chance that I would ever walk up that hill again!

After enjoying the sunrise it was time to begin the decent. Only in the day light did we realise just how shear the drops were either side of the crater rim path. Somewhat perturbed we set off and for the first section of the descent we literally skied down the sand. With two sticks (fashioned by the porters the day before) I avoided shooting off the edge and only once fell causing the guide to try and stop me which in turn saw him enable with me on the floor. Only minor damage of two cut knees and a spliced finger and no nurse on hand to help. That said he probably would have told me that it was just a graze and to stop complaining.

On the nurse front James had been left 30 minutes away from the came some hours ago. The plan had been to wait until sunrise before setting off back to the camp. James did wait until the 30 or so walkers had passed him buy over a period of an hour. At the point at which the moon had set and the sun had not come up and all the walkers and therefore the way makers in the form of head torches had passed he decided to begin his decent. Within a matter of seconds he had lost the path and after some time he did return to base camp but not before encountering a snake and nearly falling off the edge!

Upon returning to basecamp I found James curled up in the tent sound asleep a little traumatised but safe never the less. Shortly breakfast was served which was wolfed down with a number of cups of coffee. Realising that it was only 9am it dawned on us that this was not going to be a normal day as having 6 hours of walking under your belt by 9am was quite an achievement. You could say an achievement worthy of a rest but alas the guide had different ideas so by 10 am we found ourselves embarking on a three hour descent into down to the volcano lake.

Having already exerted myself the decent was slow and somewhat painful. Each step required carful probing with the sticks to ensure the ground was solid and then putting most of the weight though my arms I gingerly stepped down. In essence Kevin and I resembled old men. The pain was manageable though a combination of narcotics and will power but what was disconcerting was my muscles refusal to extend or do what they were supposed to do. Is this what old age has in store for me. Is this what mum means by your legs not working properly???

Anyway we successfully arrived at the lake and headed off to the hot springs. If there was a god then he surly designed this place well. Knacker yourself on the walk but be rewarded with soothing natural hot water. God had however not counted on humans turning a beauty spot into something akin to a refugee camp. The area was littered with mounds of rubbish, tents, human excrement and general detritus. The hot springs were served by fast flowing water ensuing they were clean but that was the only saving grace. Having walked so far with the prospect of hot water we decided that so long as we did not drink the water we would be ok. We gamely striped off to our boxer shorts and plunged in. Poor James was wearing a rather skimpy pair of underpants which whilst was pleasing to my eye was somewhat disconcerting for him and ran the risk of offending. That said he was not passing up the prospect of hot water!

After lunch I was so grateful for James’ meticulous planning. Most tourists embark on a two night three day adventure but James had opted for the less common and more expensive 3 night four day package. This meant that we spent the afternoon reclining by the lake looking at the fabulous views whilst the others in our party had a three hour walk up to the volcano rim… a prospect that was somewhat overwhelming!

After a quick nap it was feeding time again and we were served more scrumptious food. As the evening drew in and it became dark we got talking to the guide and swooped life stories albeit glossing over James and my relationship. We found that peerman was a farmer’s child and learned English whilst selling stuff on the beach. He now speaks almost fluent English and passable Italian, manager the trek efficiently and is a fab guide. That said he feels he is getting too old for trekking at 43 and needs to find a different career. We encouraged him to see his language skills and people management experience as a career option and consider working in hospitality. We also discussed the seasonal nature of his work and introduced the concept of saving when there was plenty of money and using this during the winter. Now this sounds condescending but it was a revelation to peerman and in our experience of Asia not the norm. Of the local people we have met it appears that they live for the day and spend whatever they have. This may in part be due to the fact they don’t have very much but also it feels like a cultural approach to life.