I think we can all agree, Monday
mornings are the worst... especially when you have to wake up at 3:30am to go
climb a volcano!
It all began Sunday in Amed... Roy sprung
out of bed and said, "Let's go to Ubud today!" We originally planned
to stay in Amed a little while longer to explore the sunken USS Liberty wreck, spearfish,
and get a better feel of the area but Roy had come down with a terrible cold
that would prevent any diving, ultimately putting our plans at a standstill for
the next few days. So we made an executive decision to pack a bag of the
essential items, leave the dive gear in storage for when we return, rent a
motor bike for a week, and head out of town down unknown roads through the
countryside with a single map and a friendly smile asking many, MANY locals
which direction to go.
We got lost only a few times...
Before heading to Ubud, Siobhan
insisted that we first stop and climb Gunung Batur, Bali's second largest
volcano at 5,600ft not only famous for its incredible sunrise at the summit for
trekkers to marvel at, but even more famous for being a live active volcano
that has the possibility of erupting any minute! Brief History: Since 1800 Batur has erupted 22 times, in 1974 Batur
erupted wiping out much of the area with its lava flow killing 1,000 people. In
1994, Batur experienced a small eruption that did no harm as well as in 2000.
This was the last bit of activity this volcano has seen. It has been predicted
that it is due for another eruption within the year! We crossed our
fingers and hoped Batur would not blow the day we were there!
We finished our 3 hour motorbike ride
in the town of Toya Bungkan located at the base of the volcano and on
the shore of lake Batur, the largest lake in Bali. We arrived right before
nightfall. What a dramatic temperature difference we experienced from scorching
hot Amed to the cool breezy town of Toya Bungkan. We were in tank tops and
shorts, but all the locals were wearing puffy jackets and pants. We were
freezing, tired from traveling, and could not find the desired homestay we had
hoped to find when out of the blue, a man on a motorbike followed us down
the road and asked if we needed a place to stay. Normally we would politely say
"No" to people when they give us their selling pitch but in this
small and almost barren town of Toya Bunkan, It seemed that we did not have
much of a choice. We got a decent room at Under the Volcano II for a budget
price and did even better with getting a tour guide ticket the next morning,two
for the price of one! Thanks Roy!
We were woken up with a thud on our
door at 3:30 am. Early morning start to get to the top before sunrise. It was
still very dark, cold, and damp when we drearily headed out for the volcano
trail with our tour guide and 2 girls from France. We bundled ourselves up, put
our flashlights on, and hoped for the best!
What we found very quickly was that this
volcano "hike" was more like a mountain climb! This climb was for the advanced! There were parts of the trail so steep that we needed an
extra pull from our tour guide (Well Roy was too manly to get any help) Also,
the trail was so slippery from all the volcanic gravel and ash. We were sliding and
sinking into the gravel continuously.
We took multiple breaks along the way
because our legs were on FIRE! Throughout it all we maintained positive
attitude, for reaching the summit would be a great
accomplishment. If that was not enough motivation we had our own personal
mascot, a sandy-haired canine friend who followed us all the way up to the top. What a dog!
 |
| The Pooch, tired from his daily trek up the volcano |
Finally we reached the peak and it
was as wonderful as we imagined it was going to be. There is nothing more
beautiful than observing one of natures most thrilling sights. We watched
the sun emerge out of a sea of clouds next to Bali's largest active volcano
Gunung Agung. We stood in awe next to the other hikers.
By then we were getting a little
hungry... What better way to eat breakfast then by having the volcano cook it
up for you? Because this volcano is still very active, there are many parts of
the volcano that reach more than 100 degrees Celsius on any given day and admit smoke
into the air.
We watched as one of the guides cooked us up some eggs and
bananas right from the heat of the volcano. It might have not been the tastiest
breakfast we've ever had, but certainly one of the most memorable!
After breakfast we walked around the
crater of Batur to begin our decent down the volcano. Not sure if our legs were
just overly exhausted from the climb up, but getting down was just as hard and
tiring. We viewed the landscape below and observed the multiple craters from
each eruption Batur had seen.
We even saw monkeys living in their
natural habitat!
When we had finished, we were
relieved but proud that we climbed every one of those 5,600 feet to see the
sunrise. We were exhausted! It was 9 am and we had already been up for more
than 5 hours! It was time for a quick recharge nap and then back on the road
again to Ubud!
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