BALI TRAVEL GUIDE: MOUNT BATUR

Whether you are an avid climber or someone who has never scale a mountain before, Mt. Batur has everything to offer. From beautiful sceneries to warm-hearted people, from rocky terrains to manageable elevations, you can get to the top of this 1717m tall mountain within 1.5 to 2 hours of trekking regardless of your physical stamina with minimal preparation.

Getting Started

Even though trekking Mt. Batur is relatively easy, it is recommended that you hire a guide as this not only helps to support the locals who depend on guiding tours for their livelihood but also guarantee your safety along the way. Do remember to check the weather forecast before booking your tour! If the weather is good with clear skies, you may even see the milky way in the night sky!

Tour package is inclusive of pick ups from your hotel with AC vehicle (from Kuta, Nusa Dua, Sanur, Denpasar, Ubud, Tuban, Seminyak), entrance fees for Mt. Batur and Toya Bungka Hot Spring, english speaking guide,  breakfast before the trek and at the peak of the mountain as well as drinking water and cool towel/wet tissues along the way. All for just $114 which we felt it was very well-worth it for a 8hours program!

Book the Mt. Batur Sunrise Trek + Toya Bungka Hot Spring here

Attire

1) TOP

• Long sleeves if you don't like being too charred at the end of the trek. 
• Short sleeves/singlets is good as well if you are more afraid of the heat than being charred. 

2) BOTTOM

• Shorts if you aren't that scared of cold at the start of the trek 
• Trekking pants if you want to keep your legs protected from scratches caused by the plants by the side of the trails. 
• Our personal preferences: the Convertibles Pants

This has got to be our favourite trekking pants as the bottom part of the pants can be easily detached to convert itself into a pair of shorts in the event if it gets too hot after the sun rises or you can just leave the zips open to air the legs yet still protecting them from scratches. Convenience and efficiency, we get the best of both worlds! :D

3) Windbreaker to keep you warm before and at the start of the trek as well as when you stop at the peak to wait for sunrise. It can get quite chilly especially when the wind blows. I wore this windbreaker from Northface for this trek and it sheltered me from the strong wind at the peak. At the same time, it wasn't as thick as a fleece so it didn't get to warm when we were going down the mountain after sunrise. Pretty good buy as I've had it since 2011 and it's still working well with minimal wear and tear.

4) Proper trekking shoes (advisable) Keep in mind that although Mt. Batur is consider easy to trek, it's still a legit mountain with rocky terrains. We underestimated the hike and did it with our normal running shoes which resulted in broken shoe soles at the end of the trek. On top of that, proper hiking boots will also provide support to the ankle so you will be less prone to sprains on the rocky paths.

Things to bring

1) Water bottle/hydration bag to keep yourselves hydrated although they will provide water as well.

2) Some snacks to munch at the peak (optional)

3) Sunglasses and buff for the trip down when the sun gets too glaring and in case the wind gets strong and ashes start to fly all over (& into your eyes). At least you have something to cover your eyes so you can still see where you are going.

4) Head torch may be provided by the trekking company however I always feel safer to have my own.

5) Action Camera/ Drones/ Camera 

6) A day bag to put all these stuff in! And you are all set to go! 

D-Day

We headed back to our hotel to rest early the night before the climb as we were told that our driver will be picking us up as early as 1.30am. It's a 1.5hr drive to the start point so we actually got to continue our sleep 😴 Upon reaching the starting point, we were served a light breakfast of banana pancake and hot tea before starting our hikes with another 3 friendly Australians :) 

Our first breakfast before Ascent

The Ascent

The start of the trail was pretty easy as it was still nicely-paved tar road. We were dazzled by the amount of stars in the night sky! There are tomatoes growing at the side of the trail as well. After 10mins of "walk in the park", the road starts to change in terrain and inclination. We found ourselves navigating through rocks of various sizes and shapes, the path we were on became narrower such that we could only walk in a single file. The inclination also increased pretty much and people in front started slowing down, creating a bottleneck. Don't be too surprise by the amount of people on the mountain as we were told that the mountain is always this busy be it weekends, weekdays or their public holidays. 

Everyone was in great spirits in hopes to reach the peak before sunrise, so it wasn't long before we actually summited. And this is the view that greeted us after 1.5hrs of trekking!

View at the peak, featuring Mt. Agung and Mt Rinjani further back.

The Summit 

Our guide found us a good spot to rest while he went to prepare our breakfast at the peak. We had bread and eggs that were cooked by the volcano steam itself while waiting for the sunrise. It was so satisfying! Please be aware of the monkeys around the area. Yes, there are monkeys up at the peak as well and they came after our bread and eggs. 😅

Slowly but surely 🌤

Watching that yellow "yoke" while eating our egg yolk :)

Breakfast is ready! 😋😋😋

Insta-worthy photo 😎

Look at that! 🌞

The Descent

After an hour at the peak taking photos, we started heading down the mountain. It was quite fascinating to see the path we came from in daylight. We were like, "Oh, so we climbed through all these rocks!" or " Oh, it was this steep!", "Oh! There's the 1717m board!" and of course, our trekking companions' faces 🤣

Our 1717m Achievement!  

Our Australian friends which we were finally able to see after trekking together for the past 2 hours 🤣 

Monkeys on the mountain

After about 40mins into our descent, we could see the black lava remains of Mt Batur eruptions from where we were. People are actually allowed to walk on the lava remains or take a jeep tour there! But as we were short on time, we saved that till our next trip to Bali.

Black Lava field at the top right corner.

A closer look at the Black Lava Field

The long queue back to base. The human traffic is real!

And so due to the human traffic, we took about 2 hours in total to get back to the base, not forgetting to take more photos along the way!

Jumping for joy when we know we are about to reach our car!

Can't get enough this view. Same view, different time, different feel.

Finally back on good path! Wheeeeeeee!

The tomato vines that we "saw" in the dark! 

And so these tomato vines pretty much wraps up our trek at Mt Batur! We headed to Kanto Lampo Waterfall (1 hour drive away) after the trek to soak our tired legs. It is one of the best ways to freshen up and relax after treks! Another alternative is to head down to Toya Devasya Hot Spring located right at Lake Batur itself!

Additional Tips

Pickups from Ubud and further south of Bali usually commence very early in the wee hours. So if you wish to have more sleep before trekking, it will be nice to plan your stay around the mountain base. 

So what are you waiting for?! It's time to pack up and go! 😉