Mount Batur Sunrise Trekking

Another novelty of our trip was planned with the Mount Batur Sunrise Trekking. Climbing the still active Gunung Batur volcano at night was complete new territory for us, where we wanted to admire the sunrise as a reward after a successful ascent.

But at the beginning, organization was once again necessary. Anyone who has ever tried to organize a tourist tour in Bali knows what we are talking about, because at the beginning you have to select the seemingly best provider from an endless selection and of course negotiate the price. Since we were a bit tired of the discussions at the tourist information stands, we wanted to choose a slightly different way for the tour. So we only took various flyers with us and finally organized the tour simply by WhatsApp over a cup of coffee on our small terrace. This was much easier than expected and in the end we did not choose the cheapest provider, but one that included insurance in case something happened and had the most suitable overall package.

The pick-up at 2:00 am at the hotel, as well as the transport to Mount Batur including a sparse breakfast, worked without any problems. Arriving there at 4:00 am, our guide welcomed us, a seemingly 14-year-old boy, but very nice and helpful. Afterwards, we started directly with the ascent of the almost 1,000 meters in altitude.

The ascent is reminiscent of a nocturnal procession due to the countless tourists with guides... Unbelievable how many people hike up the mountain. Unfortunately, the path is not necessarily safe and sometimes goes over loose scree or sandy ground, so sturdy shoes or hiking boots are highly recommended.

After a 2.5-hour ascent more or less in a trance due to the darkness and tiredness, we finally reached the summit, which was relatively cold. The sunrise afterwards compensated for all efforts and offered a beautiful view of the largest volcano in Bali, Gunung Agung, and the highest volcano on the neighboring island of Lombok, Mount Rinjani.

On the overcrowded summit, we had about 1 hour to rest and enjoy the sunrise before we started the descent. This is even more dangerous than the ascent due to the loose ground, so some concentration is required. We saw tourists fall several times. If something really happens, you are definitely in a difficult situation.

After safely reaching the bottom, the return transport to Ubud was immediately on the program, which was again well organized.

Generally, the hike was a nice experience for us, but unfortunately quite crowded and reminded us a lot of mass processing, even though we were in the low season. If you want to take on the tour, you should definitely not pay more than 350,000 IDR per person and in any case remember good shoes and a jacket, and a functional headlamp is also not a bad idea ;-))