For the past 23 years that I've lived in Bali I've often said that I wanted to climb 1,717m ( 5,633 ft.) tall * Mt. Batur Volcano.
Elevation: 1,717 m
Last eruption: 2000
Location: Bangli Regency, Bali, Indonesia
There never seemed to be the time.
This year was unusual because we had the opportunity to celebrate first my lovely wife Aziza's birthday on the 18th and then 20th we celebrated our best friend's birthday Joy Murray both at Bali Paradise Beach Estates.
Not wanting to have another party at our house I decided I wanted something different for my Birthday on the 27th.
With the advent of COVID-19 preventing practically anything else from happening we decided to do it last Sunday, a couple days before my birthday this year.
It was an adventure that my wife Azizah and our two boys Xander and Darius will never forget.
The drive up to Batur was spectatcular as usual .
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To insure we would arrive on the summit for sunrise we chose to leave our house around noon the day before and drive 90 minutes to what we considered base camp, a quaint small group of cabins at the Black Lava Hostel.
Reasoning that were only going to be there for about 13 hours I didn't do my normal Internet check of reviews etc. because the price was extremely reasonable.
We found a small restaurant on the lake that we could eat take away food following the current PPKM COVID - 19 protocol which has been put into effect since the beginning of this month.
While waiting for our food we managed to shot some spectacular photos of Lake Batur.
Then it was back to our accommodations for what we hoped would be a good night sleep starting at 8 PM and rising at 2 AM to enable us time to prepare for our meeting with our guide at 3 AM.
Our guide Made was there right on time and had some hot
coffee ready for us before he transported us about 15 minutes to the base of
the trekking trail going up Mount Batur.
First we geared up with our hiking sticks and flashlights.
We already knew the temperature was going to be around 12°C which is not cold to someone from the northern hemisphere but to someone who normally sleeps in 24°C without air-conditioning this time of the year it was cold.
I fumbled around trying to get a picture of the full moon with my new Nikon lens which is one of the reasons I chose this date.
I managed to get a few before we began the ascent.
Some posts I've seen have talked about going up without a guide. Yes, I agree if you been up there 10 times. But even with a guide our two boys, who became anxious and tended to wander ahead of mom and dad from occasion went off on the wrong trail and had to come back and join us. Not something you want to do at 3:30 AM in the morning.
Contrary to the comments made by up someone that you could possibly run up this trail this trail consists of mostly broken rock and hard lava which when you're walking on it on a 30 to 45° pitch is very slippery and dangerous. Especially for someone tall like me where your centre of gravity is quite high.
As I turn older I have learned to take my time and as the Balinese say plan, plan, Hati, Hati ( be careful and go slow).
We were in no rush as we had lots of time to make it to the summit, so we did rest on several occasions.
Made was very professional. He reminded me of when I use to be Captain and take people scuba diving. I would always identify who would have the most difficult time and make sure I watched them all the time. This is exactly what he did with me.
He pointed out many spots that were dangerous with his flashlight and made sure that we all passed before he went forward.
Slowly we made the ascent rarely passing others and occasionally being passed by younger people one third of my age.
As we rose we began to look down at the lights below and realize what a magical island Bali is.
Finally, we made it to the top around 5:30 AM. Following
Made’s expert instruction we went a
little bit further than the other groups that had already assembled to a spot
that we had all to ourselves.
He then had his friend prepare some hot tea, coffee, and sandwiches as we waited patiently for the sun to rise.
Suddenly there it was, and we scrambled to get our cameras and phones ready for the event.
You can move around to various positions on the summit.
One of my favourite shots from this whole event was this one where I captured a group looking out towards the moon.
Then it was time to begin the dissent.
We all thought it would be much easier. First and foremost because it was now daylight and secondly because were going downhill.
But again, you must be careful because none of the trail is
of a nature that it won't let go underneath you especially on sandy spots which
is like skiing down a hill.
Fortunately, the birthday boy didn't get injured but our young 13-year-old managed to get a few scrapes from being too aggressive.
Mom originally, from the farms in Java who is now a fully licensed Notaris on Bali handled everything perfectly and as always provided for some great photos.
There was a slight misunderstanding of how our dissent would happen.
We were advised on our way down we would go back a different route which would end up very close to where we we were staying.
What he didn't tell us it is was a lot longer than the way going up.
After spending two hours climbing down Made said we still had 50% to go. We were beginning to winch.
Plus, it was now about 25- 28° and that wasn't helping.
When the birthday boy finally stopped at an old, dilapidated Warung and fell asleep on their former benches Azizah came up with a brilliant plan to waive down some of the mountain motorcycles that were running past us at the time caring people from midway down to the bottom on a very rough path.
They normally charge 300,000 rupiah, roughly around $20 per person which would not have been a problem, but we didn't think we needed it.
She managed to negotiate 100,000 rupiah per person for the balance of the trip.
Right from the moment
I mounted the bike I was very worried because this wasn't a road or even a path
but a former riverbed. And they wanted me with my large mass to get on the back
of this bike and hold on tight to someone I've never met before.
Immediately my mind began to think about if I have an accident and I must go to the hospital right now in Bali with most of the hospital wards filled and no oxygen available I could be the serious trouble. I also then thought about my wife and children. Is this a wise idea?
In hindsight probably it wasn't because some of the spots we drove down with wet leaves in the shade at a 60° pitch could have very easily thrown the bike and us along with it.
When I finally reached the bottom after a 15 Minute ride which seemed like eternity I thought well that's an experience that I won't forget, and I commented on how professional these middle-aged Indonesian bikers were.
The rest of this blog is boring but is a reminder for us in the future of this special day.
We drove back to our home in Bali Paradise Beach Estates on a road that I rarely used the last 23 years because I was living in a different part of Bali
I found that this road is one of the best ways to drive up to Batur. It's safe and very comfortable.
When we finally arrived home and sat in the Jacuzzi trying to ease away some of the sores from using muscles that I never use in tennis I reflected that this will be one of most Memorial experiences that I've ever had on my birthday with my family.
I'm sure all of us, even our young boys will remember this. They still talk about it.
The next day I decided to go into my office to check on alterations to our hotel, play some tennis.
Since the restaurants are closed in Bali for the COVID - 19 protocol we ordered up some beautiful roast duck, wonton soup from my favourite restaurant the Tasty Kitchen in TSM Mall and picked it up along with an apple pie for a birthday cake.
Later that evening we all sat in front of the big screen TV
watching the photos from the Mount Batur experience which I had edited earlier
that day.
Sadly, during the afternoon yesterday, we were notified that Azizah’s mom has a medical problem not related to COVID - 19 and needed to be hospitalized for observation.
We decided that it was best if Azizah went to Java with our trusted driver Gusti to ensure that she received the best care.
So sadly, she had to leave at 5 AM this morning with a kiss on my actual day of birth today.
The only birthday present that I desire from all of you currently is to say a prayer for my mother-in-law, Azizah’s mother for a fast recovery.
In conclusion this is the second birthday I had interrupted by COVID – 19.
Last year I had planned an around the world trip to celebrate a new decade.
We were going to go to England attend the Royal Ascott races then on to Scotland and Ireland for another week and finally onwards to Nova Scotia for my birthday, feasting on delicious fresh lobster.
Then we were going to continue across Canada to visit my brother and finally go sailing with a client and a good friend on Vancouver Island completing our around the world trip.
It's times like this that it is very difficult to follow the philosophy of Napoleon Hill “that every adversity has within it the seed of an equal or greater benefit”.
After almost a 1 1/2 years of COVID - 19 Shutting Down Business in Bali there are a few benefits that I've seen.
The Pandemic allowed us time to totally renovate and make our villas and hotel perfect as well as renovating and improving our homes.
Perhaps the best equal or greater benefit of COVID - 19 is that in the particularly the last 12 months during the school vacations we have managed to enjoy sites that we never had the time to visit during the last 23 Years in Bali.
We will certainly add this adventure to a series of adventures that stared last year going to Lovena and visiting waterfalls on the first day after lockdown with not a single tourist in sight.
We also visited Nusa Penida under the same conditions with basically all the famous Instagram sites all to ourselves.
Perhaps one of the biggest hidden benefits of COVID - 19 it is that we had time to visit Mount Batur.
As a footnote for those of you who would like to visit Batur it doesn't cost a lot of money right now.
Everything is a serious bargain.
We had comfortable rooms with a lovely view for 300,000 per night. That's only $21 per room including tax.
Our meal from the lakefront restaurant only costs six dollars per person.
Our guide Made day gave us a special rate of only 200,000 per person or $14 per person. These are all at least 50% to 75% below normal prices.
So, if you need a break from COVID - 19 PPKM protocols I highly advise you take a day and go Trek Mount Batur.
Send me a whatsapp at 08123814014 and will be happy to
provide you the phone number for Made the guide. I highly recommend him.
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