Sai Teja Peddineni has conquered what most people only dream of. Having just scaled the active and complex volcano Dukono in Indonesia, the 25 year-old finds himself craving more adrenalin in his quest to immerse himself in nature’s extraordinary beauty.
Realist that he is, Sai explains that with his innate fascination for death, he was a born adrenaline junkie. “I worked with the police force as a hacker at the age of 15, which I got into for the kick you get when you know about things you aren’t really supposed to know about. After about four years, when I was 19, I stopped enjoying it and then pursued entrepreneurship, which wasn’t as exciting. In December of 2015, I was facing a mental crisis of ‘what am I doing with my life?’ I wasn't in my chosen careers for money — it wasn’t important or exciting.”
Then Sai took the initiative and started travelling, while partaking in endurance sports such as biking. And yet, he still didn’t feel the rush for which he was ardently searching. He found himself disenchanted with travelling, which he decided to extend to extreme adventures to see his depth. He considered bungee jumping but that felt overly done by people around him, so he looked to parachuting— both of which he refers to as “suicide jumps.”
Peaks of prerequisites
Sai shares that he saw a void in the local realm of extreme adventuring, “There aren’t any people from India doing it, but many from other places. And I wanted to do something where I’d really feel that extreme for hours or even days. So after an Internet browse, I found out about volcanic exploration and the various volcanic explorers out there, and it’s a rare thing. There are more people who’ve been to the moon than people who’ve dived into volcano.” This coupled with the contrary fear of lava gave Sai the final push.
Sai was met with a lot of mixed responses when first showing his plans to people. He praises his mother and sister for their unrelenting support of his dream, and adds, “When I was pitching this plan to some professionals, they said, ‘No one in India has done such before, does that mean we’re lame?’ One British guy said, ‘I thought Indians were wimps!’” He adds that while some friends supported his endeavours, others asked him what he was doing with his life.
At the core of this discussion, he shares his awareness of Indians being assumed to be docile desk-bound IT crowds, which also pushed him to prove otherwise.
The challenge involved in the trek motivated Sai to test his environmental and mental fitness. After perusing the Internet for volcanoes, he came across Mount Nyiragongo in the Congo and Sinabung in Indonesia, but decided against them, “I wanted the challenge to also be in getting there.” Finally he came across Dukono. Standing at over 4380ft above sea level, it is located on a remote part of the island of Halmahera. The behemoth has been consistently active since 1993 with spontaneously explosive Strombolian lava flows and bombs. “There’s no solid ground to stand upon and the volcanic ashes fill up the craters. Thermal cameras have to be referred to constantly before proceeding anywhere.”
Prior to his departure, Sai did what research he could do in terms of logistics, but found very little. “I saw what equipment one may need, but it was vague. For example, I didn’t know which specific equipment I had to take to cross the forest, but I found out what equipment is regularly used by volcanologists, such as thermal cameras.” Such thermal cameras are instrumental in gauging lava’s heat measurements from above ground where it’s not normally visible. The sensors can also detect heat signatures quite easily, and safely from a distance.
At long last
Finally, Sai began his expedition, “I wanted to get there without any permission,” he shares. Upon arriving in Indonesia, he borrowed a friend’s bike to go to Tobelo, and then reached Mamuya, the entry point to the forest. “Language is a huge barrier there but we communicated through body language. One of the locals was helping as a guide as well as some porters who carried my equipment. The first night, we camped in the forest due to volcanic activity and they didn’t want to come with me. So we went back to Mamuya and had to start again! I was carrying some too, and this was about 27 kg on my back while crossing four hills, but all the endurance activities I’ve done really helped with that. A lot of it is mental fitness— you could die at any point of time, and preparing for that is necessary. Since I was a kid, I always worked in life or death scenarios so I became accustomed to that.”
Upon arriving at the site, Sai was immediately overwhelmed by the majestic beauty of the cluster of craters giving off blinding smoke and a profusion of gases. “The view was so mesmerising and enjoying that was the main thing. In fact, at that point it already made me look for my next kick! It’s not about satisfying my ego, but I did feel emotional when I was hoisting the flag!”
In the near future, Sai plans on scaling Ambrym, a volcano in the island nation of Vanuatu, which has been a hotspot — quite literally — for daredevil expeditions. He’s also put Antarctica’s Mount Erebus on his list. Sai shares, “When I revisit photos of these travels, I feel the intense need to go back, to keep searching for myself.”