Bali, sunrise hike Mt. Batur
One reason for Bali’s special distinctiveness is the country’s diverse landscape. Besides the spiritual rice fields and pretty beaches you find an impressive alpine landscape in the northern part of the country. Part of it is Mt. Batur, an active volcano, 1,700 m high and a popular hiking destination for tourists.
There are a lot of providers offering sunrise hiking trips with hotel pick-ups from all major destinations in Bali. Easiest way to book is asking the hotel reception staff (which I experienced as outstandingly friendly all over the country), to organise the trip.
We were picked-up at 2am from our hotel (from Ubud). The drive took about 3 hours, including a break for traditional breakfast. When we arrived at the starting point of the hike we were a little shocked of the amount of tourists but for the hike itself we were split in smaller groups of 7-10 people. We were trekking in the pouring rain (Luckily we have learned our lessons by then and brought rain covers and dry spare clothing^^).
We reached the sunset viewing point (which is about 300m below the summit) after approx. 2.5 hours and needed to wait about another hour until the sun started to rise.
With all the rain, clouds and fog I did not expect a too impressive sunrise anymore but the atmosphere felt very mystical and special. As soon as the sun has still spectacularly risen, also the rain stopped. We were truly impressed to suddenly see Mt. Batur at light and with the sun it seemed that also our mood has risen.
Of course it also helped that walking down was less of an effort than getting up the mountain and so we deepened our conversation with the fellow travelers in our hiking group. We got to know very nice and interesting people.
The trip, which was about 20 EUR per person, included a drop-off drive to the hotel. It was a great and rewarding feeling when we got back at only 8 am with the rest of the day just ahead of us. Despite the kind of tourist mass treatment, I can recommend this guided activity. If you are an experienced hiker or climber you can of course find other routes or spots by your own. Also the neighboring island Lombok is known for great volcano climbs.
Read more about my stories of Bali here.