The moment I was approaching the summit and the 2 hours I spent surfing black sand on my way down to the base camp were some of the most exhilarating moments of my life.
The view from the top trully is breathtaking (and I don't only mean the fact that you're tired and out of breath long before reaching the summit itself).
In order to catch that sight we had to leave the base camp at round 3-3:30am. However, our guide was not so good and he actually overslept! It's my French companions who woke him up at 3:30am, and asked if it wasn't time for us to move. So we set off a bit too late and that's why I caught the sunrise a bit below the summit.
The climb was pretty steep and very demanding, especially the last part of the trek, when you had to fight with the sand beneath your feet. It was still pitch dark, a bit rainy and really cold when we were setting off, so all I did was hold a torch in my frozen hand and follow the guide's footsteps. Kinda boring, was almost falling asleep and constantly asking myself why I was masochistic enough to be doing it.
I was actually faster than the guide at one point and so the group and I left him behind. On our way back we found him sitting somewhere half way and smoking, while the porter was sleeping nearby. Had anything happened to any of us, we would have been completely helpless. But the truth is, he walked with us as long as it was necessary - in the daylight we realised some parts of the trek were really narrow and dangerous, and that if we hadn't had the guide lead the way, we could have easily taken two steps to the side too many and end up falling and rolling down the volcano.
Have to admit I was proud of myself. It was a big test, both physically and psychologically. It was my first time trekking, and moreover the first such demanding thing after a knee trehabilitation process I had been going through for the last couple of months. It felt real good.
The way up takes more or less three hours, the way back down around two hours, depending on how fast of a runner you are.
