Weekend in Bali Part Two - Volcano Trek

Our big (and only) excursion for our weekend was to do the sunrise trek up Mount Batur.  There are many companies who do this trek but after a bit of research, Bali TrekkingTours.com has the best reviews and so we decided to book with them.  They were extremely accommodating with our last minute booking.  Disclaimer: all these thoughts are my own and I did not receive any compensation for this post or my experience.   

We were picked up at our resort at 1:40AM.  Our driver, Ardi, informed us that it would take 2 hours to get to the starting point of our trek so I figured it’d be a great opportunity to get some more rest.  Well with my unsteady stomach and headache from all the fruity cocktails mixed with winding, bumpy roads of Bali, I didn’t get much sleep and instead wasn’t feeling too excited for this trek.  Luckily the 3 of us made it through the entire trek without getting sick (though I thoroughly suggest not drinking alcohol the night before and getting more sleep than we did).  With not much street lights it was very dark and I couldn’t see much on the drive which was probably a good thing because had I seen the size of what we were climbing I probably would have crawled into a ball and cried hah!

Our driver dropped us off at the starting point where we were introduced to our trail guide, Suka (forgive me if I wrote it wrong).  He handed us each a flashlight and we headed into the dark.  This is the part where Mom and Dad say LAURA WHAT WERE YOU THINKING!!  And don’t worry, I had a moment of wow I’m headed into the forest of Indonesia and have no clue where I’m going or how to get out of here.  Thankfully the trip advisor reviews comforted me and I just kept on trekking!  Plus I ended up using my handy dandy self-defense flashlight thanks to my wonderful Indy coworkers; it’s a strong flashlight with beveled edges that could be used if you were attacked, mine also has a strobe setting, also good to note is that it can be carried onto planes and is small enough to fit in your purse, I keep mine on me at all times US and abroad.  

We hiked for maybe an hour through the forest (thank goodness I didn’t know about the snakes that live there until later).  We made a few stops along the way to get water and have a breather.  The 2nd half of the trek was above the tree line which made for much cooler temperatures, perfect for hiking.  Bali was surprisingly colder than Singapore, who would have thought!  This part of the trek was much steeper and had us navigating over lava rocks and ash.  Suka does this climb nearly every day which made me feel much more confident in his ability to navigate us and he even lent me his hand to help pull me up a good ways.  We started to see the first paint stroke of sunrise behind us and it was enough motivation to push us to get to the top.

Finally, we reached the top edge of the volcano and could see down the steep climb we just completed on one side and the other showed the deep crater of the inside of the volcano with bits of steam pouring out in a couple places.  Suka showed us to our seats for the show (a wooden bench).  Here's the part I've been dreading about this post.  Words cannot describe the beauty of this sunrise.  There was a deep red/orange/yellow line across the sky and we could see in the near distance the tallest mountain in Bali, Mount Agung, and in the far distance we could see just the tops of mountains from the next island over Lombok.  The view was absolutely breath taking.  Each minute that passed seemed to have its own piece of the sunrise story to tell.  Every moment was just as amazing as the last.

Niles taking in the view

Ethan and Laura enjoying our 4th rotation.

Me and my special guy

Tired but so worth every bit of effort

We made it!!

While we were enjoying the amazing site, Suka was cooking us breakfast!  On the menu - banana and eggs cooked in volcanic steam with snakeskin fruit on the side, YUM.  Suka showed us where in the volcano he dug out a whole and put in the banana and whole eggs to cook.  The steam was incredibly hot and took probably 10-15 minutes to cook our banana and eggs.  My oh my those warm banana sandwiches and egg sandwiches were FANTASTIC!  Along side breakfast we had nice hot cups of Bali coffee, perfect to keep us warm.

Our guide in the distance cooking breakfast - Photo Credit to Niles B

 

End result, warm banana sandwiches, egg sandwiches, and hard steamed eggs!

Crackers, snakeskin fruit, and bananas

Once the sun rose, Suka informed us that it was time to start our trek back to the starting point.  We first hiked over to the other viewing point at the top of the volcano before making our descent down a much less lava rocky path.  A pair of skis would have come in handy to slide down on the smooth volcanic ash.  Needless to say our shoes were coated and filled with the soft ash.  Suka had us stop at another view point which let us see some mountain dogs and puppies!!  Ethan was beside himself and it took him every bit of willpower not to put the puppies in his pockets.  Then we met up with a gang of monkeys!  Niles was brave enough to hand one of them a piece of leftover sandwich but the rest of us tried to keep our distance so they didn't come bothering us for more food.

Mount Batur - 1,717 meters

Mountain Puppies!! - Photo Credit to Niles B

Mr. Monkey enjoying Niles gift

Can you see the monkey?

The trek down seemed to fly by and provided us a much better grasp at the area we had been hiking in.  By the time we reached the starting point we were all exhausted but thoroughly impressed with ourselves for completing the trek.

Hands down this was the BEST part of our weekend and we are so thankful for safe conditions, a kind tour guide, yummy breakfast, and of course for the beautiful nature.

Photo Credit to Ethan

BUT the fun didn't stop here!  Stay tuned for my next post for the 2nd part of our morning adventure!