Loving Francheska: Mount Batur Sunrise Trek

I've done about four hikes in my lifetime and all of them were not very pleasant experiences. So I've developed this notion that hiking should never part of a holiday itinerary. But my perspective changed during our recent trip when we went up Mt. Batur, one of the many active volcanoes in Bali. I've started to see that it can actually be relaxing instead of stressful, empowering instead of energy-sapping.

Let me share with you my experience and how different it was from my previous hiking adventures.

I think I've started to fall in love with hiking after this.

I prepared myself physically.

Weeks before our trip, I have started to engage more in physical activities. Primarily so I could fit into the swimsuit I got from Koi swimwear. I went for swimming sessions on weekdays after work instead of just watching Korean dramas. I also traded my precious sleeping hours for freakin-early swimming sessions on weekends. I even started opting for the stairs instead of the escalator or the lift.

I didn't loose much weight and I only got to wear my swimsuit in a villa where only Dennis could see (and adore) my fats! haha. But I did develop strength around my legs and thighs. It improved my endurance and flexibility as well. This was so helpful with the steep path going up the volcano.

We spent a relaxing day before the trek.

Although there is a need to do some physical activities as preparation, we didn't do a lot of walking the day before the trek. I restrained myself from too much window-shopping. We just spent the afternoon lounging and reading in a café. We also got ourselves pampered with a traditional Balinese massage. We were sound asleep by 10pm and didn't have trouble waking up to our alarm clock when it went off at 1am.

Before the hike, we had some banana pancakes at Pineh Colada Bali coffee plantation and organic farm. This was part of the package we got.

I dressed for battle.

First few times I went for hiking, I always came wearing clothes and shoes that were meant for full-day mall-marathon-shirt and shorts partnered with sneakers. Back then, I was more concerned about looking good in photos.

This time, I had my hiking shoes on. Aside from shorts, I wore stretch leggings also. I later realized it served as protection against insects and sharp grass blades and rocks. We expected the weather to be cold at the peak so I also had an extra layer of shirt and jacket to keep me warm.

I read up about the trek.

There were quite a number of bloggers sharing their experiences about Mt. Batur. Package tour websites also offered substantial information along with the packages they offered. That's how I found out that it was 1717 meters and took about 2 hours to reach the peak. I was aware that it was an active volcano and that it last erupted in 1968.

I focused on seeing the beautiful sunrise.

It was my first time to do a sunrise trek. It was quite scary just having a flashlight to lit up the path and I could only see the next few steps in front of me. But trekking during the night was also advantageous in the sense that I couldnt see how high or steep the path was.

And the lovely part - aside from the multitude of stars in the sky, I could see the other trekkers walking ahead of us, all holding their flashlights. Against the dark terrain, they seemed like moving fireflies.

After a few water breaks and slips here and there, we finally reached the main site.
It was few minutes before six in the morning.

It was very foggy. I had to wait for the perfect timing when the clouds parted to capture the glorious sun slowly coming out to greet us a lovely morning.

The summit was another 30-minute trek. With the foggy weather and slippery pathway, we decided to leave it to the more adventurous ones.

This was the part of the volcano where you could make loud echoes.

This was our local guide. He could barely speak English but it didn't seem to be a problem with Dennis. They conversed the entire time. And they seemed to have understood each other.