A troubling picture of Mount Rinjani is being painted after the tragic passing of Juliana Marins, who tumbled down hundreds of feet while hiking on the active volcano in Indonesia.
The Brazilian woman was trapped for four days, with her final screams echoing into the fog as rescuers failed to reach her in time.
Now, disturbing claims are surfacing, raising serious questions about whether tourists are being misled about the dangers of this popular trekking destination.
Brazilian hiker Juliana Marins lost her life after falling over 1,600 feet down a cliff on Mount Rinjani
Juliana, 26, was climbing Mount Rinjani with a group of five friends and a guide when she slipped and fell off a cliff on Saturday morning, June 21.
She tumbled down the side of the 3,726-meter (12,224 feet) mountain but not into the volcano crater, located on the Indonesian island of Lombok.
The tourist initially fell about 490 feet (nearly 150 meters) down the cliff and later slipped to more than 1,600 feet (more than 487 meters) down.
After a days-long frantic search, officials confirmed on Tuesday, June 24, that the Brazilian publicist had lost her life.
The Brazilian government said in a Tuesday statement, “after four days of work, hindered by adverse weather, terrain and visibility conditions in the region, teams from Indonesia’s Search and Rescue Agency found the body of the Brazilian tourist.”
“No signs of life were found,” noted Mohammad Syafii, head of Indonesia’s National Search and Rescue Agency.
The tourist was trapped for four days as fog and the steep terrain delayed rescue efforts
Some reports claimed that Juliana was abandoned by her guide when she showed signs of fatigue during the trek.
However, her 20-year-old guide Ali Musthofa opposed the claims and said, “I did not abandon Juliana.”
The guide said he walked on for “three minutes” before realizing that Juliana wasn’t with him.
“I went ahead to wait, just a few minutes,” he told O Globo. “When she didn’t arrive, I looked back and then I saw her light down in the darkness.”
Juliana’s guide reportedly denied abandoning her but admits he only realized she was missing minutes after walking ahead
As tributes poured in for the young traveler, a deeper feeling of uneasiness has been spreading online.
One viral tweet, which was viewed nearly 30K times, accused tour operators in the area of sending tourists to the summit without warning them about its challenges.
“I went on a deep dive & discovered they cover up de*ths at Mt Rinjani, have no way to rescue people, & many guides don’t accompany people to the summit because they don’t have life insurance,” an X user Laura Miers tweeted online.
“Evidently the extreme dangers aren’t appropriately communicated. So sad,” she added.
Juliana’s family announced her passing in a statement after her motionless body was found
Laura suggested hopeful trekkers are misled by travel websites and tour operators about the difficulty level of the hike, often sold as a beginner-friendly journey.
“It really is. It sounds like many of the operators are profit-driven, at tourists’ expense,” she wrote in her thread.
A viral tweet claimed that tragic passings on Rinjani are allegedly covered up
“They apparently hire locals to work as porters who carry tourists’ tents/food, etc, & apparently a lot of them die too. Hopefully this tragedy will inspire change,” she added.
She claimed pictures shared online did not reflect the apparent “brutality and danger” of the trek.
“On socials all you see is the end result: glowing people atop the summit with their little ‘Mount Rinjani summit’ signs, set to assorted Rüfüs Du Sol tracks,” she wrote. “It looks so magical, but the brutality & danger isn’t shown.”
“I went on a deep dive & discovered they cover up de*ths at Mt Rinjani, have no way to rescue people,” Laura Miers claimed online
Laura further suggested that the “suitable for beginners” tag gives tourists a false sense of safety.
“A lot of folks on TripAdvisor were SHOCKED by how difficult the Mt. Rinjani climb was,” she wrote. “It takes 2+ days. To summit, you leave at 2am to climb on loose, volcanic gravel with no safety features, *for hours.* Apparently travel sites listed it as ‘suitable for beginners.’”
Though there is no official confirmation about Laura’s claims, the thread reflects how shaken the public is after Juliana’s tragic end.
Other tourists have left similar reviews on TripAdvisor, warning others about the challenges of climbing Mount Rinjani.
One complained about the “incredible lack of communication in terms of order of proceedings” and claimed the guides “jetted off ahead of us and we just had to assume where we were going.”
Multiple TripAdvisor reviews shared concerns about lack of safety protocols and misleading marketing
A second reviewer said the hike was “dangerously difficult” and also stated, “The guide told us that there was no emergency plan for if someone gets hurt up there and that many porters have d*ed up there. Like it was no big deal.”
A third reviewer said they knew the trek would be “difficult” but did not expect it to be “dangerous.”
“One person d*ed two days before our trek, we were not informed that 3/4 of the guides do not climb to the top because they do not have life insurance […] so you are left to do the last part to the top,” they claimed. “The winds were so strong that people were afraid to tip over, and the guides said they had never seen it in years,” another said.
“Disgusting and unforgivable,” one said about the Juliana’s “mistreatment,” while another said, “she was failed by her guide”
