B and I are all set ready, waiting for the guide from The Association of Mt. Batur to take us up to the starting point, at the base of the mountain. Finally, we started at 4.30 a.m. The ascent is completed in total darkness and guided only by flashlight (given by our guide). The first 30 minutes of hike is fairly flat but then it's a steep climb from there. This is my ever first experience in life, walking out alone with my partner, inside a forest, with lots of excitement and fear - I was looking out for animals! It wasn't much of a problem to hike initially as we did stop twice to take a break and drink water.
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| Powerful orange glow.The beautiful early morning sunrise. |
The first part of trekking wasn't bad , but the second part of Mt Batur is tougher! It's uphill and some steps really require you to stretch hard. We got really tired and we had to stop for breaks a few times.The worse was yet to come and the final ascent was the toughest of all. It's steep, rocky and you you really have to take each step carefully.
B got really tired and was in the verge of giving up, at that point completing the task and getting over it was all on my mind. I was surprised to see B struggling to climb up since I am weaker and I was suffering sinus headache that morning. As my body got warmer, the headache reduced and I felt better.
I literally had tears in my eyes as I was wondering will I be back home safe, ha ha! This hike taught me a lot of things, positive thinking and mental strength to overcome come what may. We are not professionals hikers yet we managed climbing up to the peak, the only complaint was, we did not get the right guide to take us to the programme we've paid for. We are supposed to watch the sunset, have breakfast at the craters and see the hot springs and come downhill. Our guide left us alone and went up to the peak. We didn't know we were reaching the peak until we saw the hut. We finished up all our water bottles and no breakfast. However the feeling on top of the mountain is undescribable! I never thought I could accomplish this just one day before my birthday! B was tired and he took a short nap in the hut whilst I was taking photos :) Now the challenge is getting down hill.
I cried halfway as my toes were hurting so bad. The rocks were so ashy and slippery that I was even afraid to step forward, at some corners of the rock, I just sat and stepped down. B's reebok shoes are gone into pieces. We finally reached middle of the mountain and discovered two stalls. We were so tired, hungry and thirsty. We had a cup of tea and a piece of biscuit. We then started our journey back. After a while, you begin the long descent. It’s a slippery slope down (the volcano rock is very coarse and sandy at some points). Funny thing, now that you can see where you’re going, the descent feels much, much longer than the ascent. Your tired legs don’t help at all. I finally sat on a rock to check my painful toe, I felt the blisters are hurting so bad. I decided to take off my shoes and walk with socks. Aaah... I was right, that felt lot more better than walking in pain, though it was hot and rocky, my socks was full of sand and ashes. At a point, I was dying in thirst, I just thank god for giving us the strength to come back home safely , hey it rained! Guess what, I drank that rain water, ha ha! That rain was sent by god to save us, thank you god! We finally reached our hotel and our sweet receptionist girl was freaking out that she didn't hear from us, she thought we went missing! Glad that they actually provided us with the full breakfast that we missed out early in the morning. We're really exhausted and hey, I climbed up the freaking tough Batur volcano!
