Don't Hike Rinjani!

Don't Hike Rinjani! You wanted an adventure. You got one. Now yake responsibility.

Let’s stop pretending. You saw Mount Rinjani on TikTok or some travel blog. You thought it was “Bali with altitude”. You wanted the summit photo, the sunrise, the bragging rights. You didn’t want the danger. The cold. The cliffs. The reality.

And when it all went wrong, what did you do? You didn’t look inward. You looked for someone to blame. The guides. The system. The entire country. How convenient.

Indonesia didn’t beg you to come. We didn’t send a golden invitation saying “Please hike our deadliest volcano, and if anything goes wrong, we’ll carry you down on a velvet throne.”

You booked the flight. You packed your cute hiking jacket. You ignored the warnings. You overestimated your strength.

And now—suddenly it’s everyone else’s fault?

This isn’t Rio, Paris, or a jungle swing in Ubud. Rinjani is real. It’s remote, steep, cold, and dangerous. 

You fall? You bleed.

You slip? There’s no ambulance waiting 10 minutes below.

Rescue takes hours. Sometimes days. And guess what—sometimes it’s impossible. Because no one can fly a helicopter through thick volcanic fog. No one can teleport to a 300-meter cliff to save your ass instantly.

Maybe what we need is this:

Before climbing, every hiker should be required to sign a death waiver.

No sugarcoating. No fantasy. Just: "I understand that I might die here, and no one will be able to help me in time."

While people tweet outrage from across the ocean, our porters and guides are climbing barefoot with 20kg of rescue gear. They don’t get insurance. They don’t get media praise. They get blamed—by people who don’t know the first thing about the terrain they risk their lives in.

Wanna help? Fund better training. Push for certified operators. Donate to mountain safety programs. But don’t throw tantrums at people who’ve saved more lives than you’ve ever hiked kilometers.

Yes, tragedies are heartbreaking. But tragedies happen when people walk into dangerous places thinking nothing can go wrong.

No preparation. No altitude experience. No respect for local terrain. And then:

"Why didn’t they save her faster?"

"Why wasn’t there a helicopter?"

"Why wasn’t there a drone with a magical ladder?"

Because this is real life. Not a Marvel movie.

You weren’t forced to hike. You didn’t do your homework. You treated a volcano like a vacation.

And when nature reminded you that it doesn’t care about your plans, you demanded someone be punished.

But here’s the truth:

You played a risky game. You have to prepare your self, your own life. Own it.

You want to hike? Great! Get yourself trained. Read. Listen. Prepare. Understand that if something goes wrong up there, you might die.

No lawsuits. No headlines. No blame game.

Just risk. And choice. Yours.

If that sounds unfair to you, if you think adventure should come with guarantees, if you believe your passport entitles you to perfect service in a remote volcano. 

Then take it seriously: Don't hike Rinjani!