Conquring the sleeping giant ...

My alarm woke me up at the ungodly hour of 0130. Thank God I resisted the temptation to spent another couple of hours at the cozy, little jazz cafe on Jalan Hanoman and instead turned in early the previous night. After a couple of minutes struggling to get my contacts on (I just couldn't get my eyes to open big enough to pop them in!), I heard the faint beep of my "mobil". Had to creep silently out of my homestay to avoid the rather amorous, dreadlocked Balinese - Japanese neighbour smoking weed on the porch. Luckily he was too stoned to see me go by.
The "mobil" was driven by a rather ancient looking "pakcik" who seemed to be dozing off at the wheel but somehow miraculously, he got me to Penelokan. At 0315 I had a yummy snack of choco-drizzled banana pancake and the ever famous "Kopi Bali". Specifically ordered it "kow kow" to get my brain working and packed it with an extra spoonful of sugar for the extra energy.

With the carbo & sugar boost, off we went to the check point at the edge of Lake Batur. Stopped on the way at the local grocers for my mountain top (or volcano top) breakfast. You will soon find out what I had at the summit.

By 0415 I was already making my way up Mount Batur with guide in hand, WAYAN (the firstborn). Destination: Crater 1 at 1717m. There was even this young chap who would porter up your 6-pack of BEER BINTANG or COCA COLA. For a fee, of course! It was a much easier climb than Mt K as there were NO STAIRS. Only the ever increasing gradient as we neared the peak. It's kindda weird but the 1st half of the journey was like a walk on the beach - all sandy but is actually volcano spewed sand. When the ascend begins, you walk up petrified lava flows and crunchy but dangerously sharp lava pebbles. I only discovered this when I checked my boots & trekking pole to find the edges shredded with millions of tiny lacerations.

With nothing but the halo of light from my headlamp, the journey went UP, UP and UP! As I took a breather from looking downwards for proper footing areas, I was pleasantly surprised by the tapestry of colours in the early morning sky. Time now was 0545 and the sky was preparing for sunrise. The fiery reds, blazing oranges and cool indigoes against the silhouette of nearby Mt Agung & Mt Rinjani was a sight to behold. Comparible to the sunsets of Laban Rata. Unfortunately, I was too preoccupied to take a pic at the time as my thoughts were solely focused on getting to the peak in time for sunrise.

Alas, when I reached the peak at 0610 the mist had decided to settle in denied us all the spectacular sunrise we had hoped for. We had peeks of Mt Rinjani on Lombok Island & Mt Agung, the highest peak in Bali in between swirls of mist.
However, the warm breakfast provided some consolation. Banana & eggs were steamed in the active volcanic fissures and served with toasted bread.

Thanks to the bananas, I had to answer the call of nature and at 1717m, toilets don't come cheap! I paid 5000 Rp (RM 2) to use a squat toilet as fresh water had to be portered up in jerry cans.

After the substanance & futile glimpses of a proper sunrise, we were off to discover the craters. The caldera at the peak still spouted steam all round its vertical fissures. If you need a steam bath to open up your pores, here's where you can get one for free. Just don't do it for too long unless you want to end up like a fully boiled egg!

I did a bit of "lava skiing" on the way down to the most recent crater which errupted in 2000. "Lava skiing" is basically a combination of a push off and glide movement down the lava flows which consist of sharp lava pebbles. All you need is a pair of shoes with thick soles & a pole (or branch from the nearest tree!). My Leki & trekkers did the job perfectly.

Down we went to the last erupted crater- the smallest caldera, but still spewing toxic sulphur fumes. It erupted in 2000 and some poor German dude got cooked when he fell of the slippery sides of the crater in 2002. The edge of the caldera is rimmed with yellow sulphur deposits. From our vantage point, Wayan picked up a rock which still went snap, crackle & pop akin to rice crispies in milk!

All around the ring of fire, you can see the extent of damage Batur has caused but in turn has blessed the land richly. There are fields of black lava near the still active 2000 crater. Adjacent to it are acres of red lava where civilization & agriculture has encroached. The lava has provided rich and essential nutrients for life while Lake Batur has provided the life giving water. The succulent tomatoes & yummy bananas planted around Batur and Penelokan are testament to that.

The journey down took slightly more than 3 hrs as we made tons of stops to admire the vista beneath us. As the fog lifted, the land below was a kaleidoscope of colours. The reds & blacks of lava fields, white swirls of active fissures, greens of agriculture & forests and at the distance, emerald-turquoise of Lake Batur.
Indeed, it was a BEAUTIFUL DAY!