High up very early

  Denpasar, Indonesia
Friday, November 9, 2007

The thing about climbing volcanoes at night is that you can't really see them. To the left, I could see the occasional light outside a house. To the right, the same. Then in between, there was just a big black space which, thanks to a previous visit to the area, I knew to be Gunung Batur...

After an evening of trying-to-sleep-with-no-success, my language teacher and friend, Gunawan had picked me up at 11.30pm. His teenage son Aga was with him too. It was raining heavily, and the petrol tank was low - a great start to the evening! Eventually we found a 24-hour petrol station that was still open, and we picked up Gunawan's friend Agus on the way, arriving near the bottom of the volcano at about 2am.

Gunawan is a Catholic, but Agus is a Hindu, and he had brought offerings with him, as people do so often in Bali. We stopped at a temple on the way, and Agus lit the incense and said prayers for a safe climb. He repeated this at Pura Batur (Batur Temple) which is the 'post' at the bottom of the volcano at that side.

I was rather startled to learn that I had to ask Agus should I need to go to the toilet while on the volcano, as he had to select a suitable spot for this activity - this is all part of the respect that is accorded to mountains as holy places. We could not take a photograph with three people in them, as that does not bode well in Bali. I was also warned several days before the climb not to take a beef sandwich with me on the climb. While Hindus in Bali do eat beef, taking beef up a mountain is not appropriate.

We set off at 3am, with our torches, walking boots and plenty of water. The path started easily but soon got steeper, making its way through the woods - there was a wonderful smell of herbs in the air. The first scary moment came after about 15 minutes, when a treeful of crickets - excited by the torchlight - started to land on me! I shrieked. I was a bit shaky for a few minutes after that, but fortunately I didn't see any more crickets that night.

The path started to branch off, and it was getting difficult to see where we should be going. After a while, we climbed out of the woods, but the path had more or less disappeared. We were now climbing up paths of reddish-brown solidified lava, and I was surprised that it was so red - other lava that I have seen has always been black or dark brown.

There was a smudgy half moon, and the view behind us started to become very impressive, with snatches of a large volcano visible behind the clouds, on the horizon. Every now and then there was a spectacular burst of lightening in the distance, over the neighbouring island of Lombok.

Then it got tougher. For the next twenty minutes we were climbing a slope with a gradient of about two in three, pulling ourselves up through a seemingly endless dense thicket, and the clouds had set in, so it started to feel a bit claustrophobic. We stopped for a rest, as there was no path in sight. I was sat there wondering how much further it was to the top, and whether we would make it!

After another twenty minutes of scrambling up slopes with lots of loose grey sand, we reached the summit! This was most unexpected, for some reason, and it felt great to have made it. It was about 5.30am. The summit was a small area, perhaps 20 by 5 metres, with a sign that helpfully advised caution!

The summit was surrounded by clouds, so we couldn't see anything. Then after about five minutes, all of a sudden, the pink and orange streaks of dawn started to emerge on the horizon. Then Lake Batur suddenly appeared beneath us, shrouded with wisps of cloud. A few seconds later, two volcanoes, Gunung Abang and Gunung Abang emerged opposite.

The clouds continued to clear, revealing more of the landscape as the light on the horizon got stronger. It was incredible, really breath-taking, and such a wonderful surprise - I couldn't believe it, and I kept laughing. We were very lucky, as often the clouds stay where they are at this time of the year, and there is no view at all.

A few minutes later, the crater of the volcano was visible, and as the sun rose we could see a few clouds of sulphur puthering out of vents that were hidden from view. All the while, people continued to arrive on the top, until there were about twenty. Two guides had emerged from a shelter, having slept at the top overnight.

Agus and Gunawan had brought a small stove - what better time to have a nice cup of tea? Some brilliant thinking going on there. I don't often have views like that for breakfast! A black dog joined us too - a very long way to come to try and cadge some food, but perhaps that was part of a calculated strategy. The four of us were incredibly dirty after scrambling up (cf. photos) so we laughed at the idea that the dog had been white when it set off!

An hour or so later, the clouds started to gather again,  so it was time to descend. This time it was a lot easier, as we could see where we were going, and the views continued to impress on the way. It was hard on the shock absorbers though, and all of us had tender knees when we got back. Most of the return route was through a pine forest, so we walked through a fantastic scent of pine.

We got back to the bottom at about 10am, and it was strange to see places in daylight that we had passed in the darkness earlier that morning. The temples now felt quite small and commonplace, where before they had been so very mysterious and exciting. As we reached the car, we were approached by two men, one of whom was shouting at us. I had read about this in my travel guide - there is a notorious local firm that has a monopoly on guided climbs up the Gunung, and requires all trekking agencies to hire at least one of its guides. It also has an unsavoury reputation for intimidating people into requiring climbers to use its guides.

This man mistook Agus for an official guide, and he was chiding Agus for not registering with them before we went up. Apparently the man's concern was for my safety - if I had not been there, he obviously wouldn't have cared for the safety of Agus, Gunawan and Aga! He had lots of tattoos, designer clothes and jewellery, so I stood there as he shouted, looking at some of the things he had been spending his money on, while his 'heavy' stood next to him. Agus and Gunawan listened for a few minutes, then we left. It makes me very angry to see this happening. The group are friends with the police, so there's no way of appealing for justice. They don't own the volcano, so I really don't see what gives them the right.

Anyway, we drove back down to Denpasar, stopping off at a warung for some food en route. Something rather interesting happened on the way. A woman flagged us down, she was carrying a tray of Hindu offerings, and once we had stopped she proceeded to place two offerings in the windscreen wipers and two inside the windscreen. Then she sprinkled the inside of the car with some holy water, and pressed some rice into each of our foreheads before praying aloud to Krishna two times. She then put a flower behind our left ears to indicate that we had been prayed for, and sent us on our way. The whole thing cost 20,000 Rupiah for the four of us. Agus paid, as I think Gunawan would have driven on had Agus not been with us!

We got back to Denpasar for about 1pm on Sunday, and I had a nice afternoon nap! Losing a night of sleep made it difficult to sleep for the next few nights, but it was well worth it, and I wouldn't think twice about climbing a volcano in future - unless the volcano in question is active, of course!

(More photos in the album; there are also photos of Gunung Batur from a distance in the entry entitled 'Wild Beauty').