Mount Batur Trek in Bali, Indonesia

During the year I spent researching our impending honeymoon in Bali, I frequently came across high recommendations for a trek atop an active volcano. It is called Mount Batur and is closest to the small touristy town of Ubud.

Many adventure companies offer this trek and we could have booked ourselves online; but Indians that we are, we decided to do a bit of market research when we got to Ubud. Our hotel was more of a quaint cottage with a cute infinity pool that overlooked a lush green valley.

Told you so.

We were promptly handed two large umbrellas as we boarded a shuttle that would take us away from our rustic stay to the centre of the town.

A light drizzle began as we made our way to one of these many tour company stalls. The man behind the counter was extremely helpful and sold us this trek package for half the amount we had budgeted. Why? Mostly because January is part of the rainy season in Bali and not many people think of climbing a volcano at such a time. Especially not Indians on their honeymoon; even he seemed amused.  

A little history on us and trekking:

My husband and I have trekked before, during our respective trips to Himachal. I struggled with power yoga for a whole year before our trip to Bali. I may not be as flexible as my instructor would have wanted, but I can definitely do 100 surya namaskars like my life depends on it.  Both of us *believe* we are fit in the average sense of the word.

Back to climbing up Mount Batur

We were signing up for a sunrise trek, so we knew we’d have an early pick up. The booking guy told us to be ready at two the next morning. I have to mention here, the Balinese people are sticklers for time. Then again, so are the two of us.

Our driver and us were ready to roll up the mountains at 2 05 am. We made our way up the winding ghats from our hotel for a good one hour before we stopped at another hotel to pick up two of our other companions. It began to pour as we waited in the car for the couple to make an appearance.

Inhibition began to creep in as sheets of rain hit the windshield ahead of us. After a good half an hour later, at about 3 30 am, the couple ran towards our car huddled under a windcheater. The two apologised profusely and admitted to have forgotten altogether about their booking. The five of us tucked in with our windows rolled up and were on our way again.

Another half an hour of climbing later, we were met with a huge sign board that said Welcome to Mount Batur, or some such. We halted at what smelled like a coffee farm and saw various groups of trekkers chit-chatting and stuffing down some breakfast. Not a brown person in sight, we noted.

As many of the others began to leave, our party of four was served banana pancakes and black coffee. We ate and drank in big gulps. We were then asked to board the car once again.

The rain had turned into a lazy drizzle by now and a soft wind began to blow. We drove a bit under the huge sign and stopped at a large ground. It had a tin-roof office of the association of guides at Mount Batur at one end of it and toilets at the other. Our driver introduced us to our guide for the trek, a broad-smile, local, 15-year-old girl, who’d take us to our sunrise.

She handed us bright flashlights before we were on our way. Our group was a bit behind the 100-odd trekkers making the ascend that morning, so we walked briskly from the word go.

It was hardly a climb in the beginning. The path was broad and covered with loose black volcano soil. I remarked to my husband that this it was going to be easy-peasy if the roads are so broad and only slightly tilting. But somehow, he asked me to wait and watch.

Eventually, our Australian friends kept pace with our nimble guide but we started to lag behind. About 45 minutes into the climb, the real trek began. We took more water and gasping-for-air breaks as the path began to narrow and get steeper.

We passed silhouettes of various crops dancing in the wind and dodged quite a few stray rocks on the way. We were leaving the vast landscape behind quite steadily. Soon enough, we had caught up with the other groups that had left ahead of us and our guide met more and more of her friends.

An hour into the trek, my lungs threatened to collapse. The husband had a six-kilo backpack with his camera and equipment and was really sweating it out too. The night sky was still above us and the many stars twinkled at intervals.

Somewhere towards what seemed the end, there was a sudden incline in the terrain and only one person would climb at a time. Many other guides, who were easily half our ages, chatted with us on the way to the top. They wanted to know where we were from and what we doing in their land. They were most friendly. But with the barely there level of oxygen, I mostly stuck to sign language to respond.

At about 6 am, we were all asked to rush up. It was only 20 minutes till the sunrise and we could miss it at no cost. Our guide requested one of her friends, a boy of 14, to help us get to the summit while she went ahead with the other couple. Yup, Indians don’t climb mountains! How ironic. What with the Himalayas across our border and all.

Sun's on the way.

After a lot of slipping, and skidding, and skinning my palms, and what seemed like a life time, we were atop the mountain at 6 15am. After all that rain and scary weather in the past few days, the horizon seemed quite clear.

It is the worst to have cold wind dry your sweat but we were too distracted by the slow and steady sunrise behind Mount Agung ahead of us. As the first morning light broke, we had a clear view of Lake Batur by the feet of the mountain, edged with fields in various shades of green.

Nature brings you - Sun!

And then, just like that, the sun was up even as an ominous sheet of dark clouds glided towards it. The climb was well worth it. A few minutes of frantic photo-clicking ensued and we settled in to enjoy the view. Just for the drama, a mass of clouds decided to engulf everything in our line of vision and it seemed like we were floating in the sky for a while.

This can happen too.

All in all, this trek is highly recommended, honeymoon or not. Make sure you have trekking shoes on, or ones with a great grip, because the soil is fine and loose. You may sweat climbing up but you’re going to need a jacket at the top. Water and sunscreen are important too as it’s going to get hot during the two-hour-long descend. 

On our way down. Such a beauty.