the great bali escape: may ‘09: day three: to the peak of mount batur (part one)
I had NO idea what we were going to do in Bali, besides the usual drinking and chilling out. Don’t know about you, but I’d get bored just drinking and chilling out for 4 days. When my sister and brother-in-law were in Bali earlier this year, they cycled around the countryside leading to Lake Kintamani where they had lunch overlooking the lake and the volcano mountains. They greatly enjoyed it. For those interested, the organiser is Bike-Baik Tours.
Unfortunately Fireangel is as handy with a bicycle as I am well-versed with a surfboard. I half-serious half-jokingly gave her 4 months to learn. Of course she never did. So cycling plans out of the window kthxbai.
The idea of seeing something related to lakes and volcanoes stuck with me. I googled for Bali tours and ended up at BaliTourGuide.net. The last item on the Tour page caught my eye, “Batur volcano sunrise trekking tour. We should arrive at the slove of the volcano at 04.00 hrs early in the morning then start climbing the volcano with flashlight on your hand, around at 06.00 hours, we arrive at the top of the volcano and wait for a couple of minutes for the most beautiful sunrise on the island.” Fuwahh… sounds adventurous, kan? sounds really fun, kan? Like something I’d never do, kan?
You know they always say that when on holiday, eat whatever and the fats don’t count. I suppose it’s related to your mental state, where you are in idyllic bliss and you don’t/ shouldn’t worry so much about everything. Well, that was what happened with me when I e-mailed Yande Ardana, owner of BaliTourGuide.net to ask for rates and more information. Somehow I didn’t fully register “2 hours trekking + MOUNTAIN” till I was there in person.
Besides the word ‘tour’ is somewhat deceptive. It conjures images of air-conditioned bus, Japanese tourists with straw hats and cameras, stopping by every rip-off shop selling things that you will never use in life.
Yande was to pick us up at our hotel at 2 a.m. We’d been walking around Kuta/ Legian/ Seminyak earlier, went to bed around 9 p.m. in hopes of getting some sleep before we were to go to Mount Batur. Of course I was not able to sleep a wink. As mentioned earlier, I’d neglected to apply sunblock and my skin was burning from within. The room’s air-conditioner helped but it was very uncomfortable. Plus lots of noises from fellow hotel guests coming in and out, walking by, talking, splashing in the pool etc. A couple of hours later I got really hungry. I looked over at a soundly sleeping FA and felt incredibly jealous. Really wanted to go jump on her bed or something, at least I’d have company heh 
Finally 1.30 p.m. arrived. Torchlight, check. Sunblock lotion, check. Wind breaker, check. Band aid, check. Willing spirit, check. Willing body, errr…
When we got into Yande’s car, I asked if he could stop by somewhere so we could get drinking water and something to eat. Since the only food outlet available at 2 a.m. in Bali is McDonalds, we settled for that. Got myself a double cheeseburger. Tasted great at that time, but I’d regret it later when I was halfway up the mountain.
Slept through most of the nearly 2 hours journey to Kintamani, to the foothills of Mount Batur. Streets of Bali was deserted anyway, lots of dogs around. At first Yande would tell us where the wood/ silver etc villages are as we went past them, then he drove on in silence when he saw us sleeping, heh. For the record, I’m extremely glad that we got ourselves a guide/ driver. Don’t think I’d be able to navigate through the small roads in the middle of the night even with GPS.
Reached the foothill of the mountain in good time. Earlier, Yande got us a guide and negotiated a price — Rp300,000 (RM103) for the two of us including breakfast at the peak of the mountain. He didn’t mention the food part until we were there so that was a bit of a lovely surprise. When I got back to Malaysia, I googled for Mount Batur trekking information. Some people paid double our price (still cheap in their currency), some people scoff at the thought of guides (they hero mah). Looking back, I think a guide is most needed because the trail can be misleading, it’s dark and we are not familiar with walking on volcano rocks (big or small). More on this later.
I was already feeling rather lousy when we reached the foothills and the hut where the guides are. Then I nearly got a heart attack when I saw a whiteboard stating that the climb to Mount Batur is categorised as ‘Moderate to Hard’. It’s easy for people who are used to trekking mountains but for me, drinking and chilling for 4 days didn’t seem like a bad idea at all…
We were introduced to our guide, an amiable chap called Wayan. There are many Wayans in Bali, click here to find out why. There were a few groups of fellow trekkers with their own guides, some already walking towards the peak. Another chap called Ketut followed us. He wore slippers and carried a backpack filled with bottled waters and Coke to be sold to the tourists at the peak. Mountain goats, all of them.
Peak of Mount Batur, 1,717 metres high, 2 hours of walking… here we come!
*Complete Flickr set of Mount Batur, Bali here.
Related Posts
- the great bali escape: may ‘09: day three: to the peak of mount batur (part two)
- the great bali escape: may ‘09: day three: ubud and the famous ibu oka babi guling
- kemensah falls
- original bootcamp malaysia: reflections (part 01)
- the great bali escape: may ‘09: day one: departure, arrival, blasted taxi driver
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Make sure you don’t miss out Babi Guling Ibu Oka. Its a sin if you do.
Located in Ubud and practically everybody knows about it, locals and tourists alike…
Well done you, for making it to the mountain
after reading your post, waiting anxiously to go for my Bali trip in sept
Btw, may i know how to book massainn hotel? direct with hotel or thru 3rd party online? i find difficulties in accessing their website
the bali bike tour seems damn nice but unfortuantely my friend also like FA… so have to forget about it
JV: we did hahah next post.
AT: thank you thank you
sim: i emailed them directly. you can use: booking [at] masainn [dot] com . if you can’t cycle, trek! heheh it’s worth it
You know, when I hear “tour” and “mountain” together, I’m more likely to think of rugged Japanese tourists who look fit enough to qualify for the Boston Marathon! They’d probably be the type to go up Mt. Fuji at least once a year hahaha!
Yes, very good idea to get a guide! Like, you’re not familiar with the island, not familiar with going up a mountain and not used to driving in exotic places – really, really not a good idea to GPS-orientate your way around! Good thing your guide sounds pretty reliable..
so proud of u suanie to be able to get up in such middle of the nite. LOL
but but y regret had the McD later when halfway up the mountain. ?
suertes: i must have had the wrong impression then!
our guide was good, i liked him
horng: thinner air + sweat + tired = can feel the cheeseburger at your throat
ZOMG Moderate to Hard – Suanie is my hero!