Today started at 01:30 for Simon and I as we were picked up from the Club Med and driven to Mt. Batur, one of two active volcanoes in Bali. Why such an early start? So we could be at the summit in time for the 6am sunrise!
We reached base camp at 03:30 and soon commenced our two hour hike steep uphill. We had a private guide, though there were perhaps 200 others making the same trek at more or less the same time, so there were many other such guides, most of whom live the same village close to the Batur base camp. My 43yo dad-bod was struggling on the way up, but able to take occasional joy when we overtook other groups.
The sunrise was spectacular, and pictures simply cannot do justice to it. The sun rises just behind Mt. Agung, the other active volcano on Bali, and over twice the height of Batur. It it a picture perfect experience; the sort of thing you read about and find yourself shocked that you are actually experiencing.
We had arranged to have our breakfast watching the sun rise on the edge of the rim of the volcano. It consisted of warm banana sandwiches, boiled eggs, a fresh banana, and coffee!
As a side note, Bali exclusively uses the Gros Michel banana versus the Cavendish. In the 1950s the Cavendish replaced the Gros Michel in the western world due to the Panama Disease. When you have something the is artificially flavoured “banana” it is actually the Gros Michel it is trying to mimick. It was the first time I tasted a Gros Michel and I have to say we’re are missing out. While the Cavendish is bigger it really lacks flavour compared to the Gros Michel. I wasn’t sure I would like it because I never liked “banana flavour” but it is actually a much nicer taste.
Of course, discussing Bananas is not germane to our travelogs…
Not only did we get to see a mainly cloudless sunrise, but once there was enough sunlight to do justice to it, we continued around the rim of the crater. Along the way, we were wafted with steam emitting from cracks in the volcano-side. Apparently, this is what was used to cook our breakfast! As we walked, our guide pointed out the lava flow from the 1963 eruption which killed several people.
We made the descent a little more quickly than the ascent, despite taking a longer route back, and made it back to our driver soon after 8am. My dad-bod was struggling with the downhill as well; my knees/legs refusing to move and making parts of the journey down a painful, step-by-step experience. Though for the views and experience, I don’t regret it one bit.
For reasons that no doubt seemed sensible at the time, we booked a combined trek and white water rafting experience, so next was an hour-long journey to Ubud, where we would raft down the Ayung River. This was Simon’s first time rafting and my third.
After kitting up we were required to descend more than 300 steps to reach the river bank. Needless to say, my body was not at all happy with me. Getting into the water for a two-hour, 10 kilometre experience was fantastic though. Seeing Simon experience his first river rafting was great too.
The section of Ayung we tackled consisted of level 1 and 2 rapids, but I swear some of them felt like 3. Our boat was completed with three tourists from Western Australia. For them it was 3 ½ hour flight to Bali or 4 ½ flight to Sydney. Clearly Bali won the day.
Rafting is a VERY popular activity in Bali, and there are several operators offering more or less the same experience at the same time in the same place. The fact that the river was pretty crowded did not diminish the experience; in fact, it provided frequent opportunities for some friendly splashing and bumping of other rafts. Of course, this also meant we ended up drenched ourselves, but as no-one one went overboard, so it was all good fun.
Our river rafting experience included a buffet lunch, which was surprisingly tasty and very much welcomed. After an hour long ride back to Club Med, Simon and I were totally exhausted, but for 110 USD it was an amazing value for money tour with 12 hours of some of the best of what Bali has to offer!
