{"id":15085,"date":"2016-04-11T10:00:42","date_gmt":"2016-04-11T00:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures?p=15085&preview_id=15085"},"modified":"2025-03-26T01:59:49","modified_gmt":"2025-03-25T14:59:49","slug":"climb-mt-batur-bali","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/climb-mt-batur-bali\/","title":{"rendered":"What it’s really like to climb Bali’s Mt Batur"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m slipping and stumbling up a slope. It\u2019s only a few hours after midnight and I\u2019m hiking in complete darkness, the path illuminated by nothing more than our flashlights.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I trip over a rock and nearly fall on my face before an arm shoots out and pulls me upright. I mumble an embarrassed \u2018thank you\u2019 to our Balinese guide<\/a>, who\u2019s spent the better part of the last kilometre preventing me from breaking various limbs or falling off the side of the volcano we\u2019re climbing.<\/p>\n

In the blackness, I can\u2019t tell how far up we are or how much farther we need to go. In many ways, that uncertainty is a relief. I only have this moment, one foot in front of the other, the sight of darkness, the feeling of sweat on my back under my pack, and the sound of people breathing as we form a single line up the narrow switchbacks.<\/p>\n

\"HikingWe\u2019re headed to the top of Gunung Batur. The sunrise trek is a popular hike for tourists to Bali, and as soon as I heard about it, I knew I couldn\u2019t pass up the opportunity to stand atop an ancient volcano and watch the sun come up over the sea. On my first morning in Bali, I had signed up for the next available trek with no research into how long it would take to reach the summit, how high we\u2019d go, or how difficult it would be.<\/p>\n

RELATED: CLIMB MT BATUR WITH INTREPID TRAVEL<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

The weird thing is I\u2019m actually scared of heights. This would be a pretty unremarkable phobia, except I\u2019m also obsessed with mountain climbing. I blame it on travel. In my hometown of Toronto, I can\u2019t step on the glass floor of our famed CN Tower because the grip of fear is too intense. Looking out the window of a friend\u2019s high-rise condo gives me vertigo. But stick me in a foreign country, and suddenly there\u2019s no such thing as too high \u2014 at least not when there\u2019s a peak there waiting to be climbed.<\/p>\n

\"Bali<\/a><\/p>\n

I\u2019m by no means a professional mountaineer, but if there is a trail winding its way up any sort of hill\/ cliff\/ volcano\/ mountain, I want to be on it, working my sweaty self toward the top. It\u2019s that desire to keep moving higher that\u2019s led me to hike volcanoes in Iceland, mountains in the Andes, and a Sleeping Giant in Canada. (It\u2019s also what\u2019s led me to have an obsession with all things Mount Everest, although I have sufficient healthy doubt in my skills to go that far.)<\/p>\n

Travel companions have cursed me for waking them up at 2am so we could watch the sunrise from 1,700 metres or insisting that Machu Picchu isn\u2019t worth seeing if it doesn\u2019t take four days of climbing to reach it. No train for this girl.<\/p>\n

\"Mt

Mt Batur<\/p><\/div>\n

Now, full disclosure: climbing Mt Batur <\/a>is really not that tough. It\u2019s just challenging enough to make your muscles scream for a few hours \u2014 but then, before it becomes unbearable, you\u2019ve reached the top.<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s maybe why I\u2019m so addicted to mountain trails. Athleticism has never been my forte, but this steady movement of moving up, step by slow step, is a middle ground where athletic prowess comes second place to sheer desire and determination.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>You don\u2019t have to be Sir Edmund Hillary to find a spot where it feels like the world is at your feet. You don\u2019t have to hang from the Dawn Wall to know that you\u2019re doing something beyond the ordinary. You\u2019re just moving and making your way to the top as best you can, and when the view opens up, it feels like it\u2019s there just for you.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: SAYING GOODBYE TO MY COMFORT ZONE ON AN ACTIVE TRIP IN BALI<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

At sunrise, the sky turns from black to inky blue to pink and orange. With the light, we can see how far we\u2019ve climbed. I\u2019m sitting on a stone ledge overlooking the village rooftops, sipping coffee and eating a sticky bun. My feet are dangling into the air and the expanse of the valley stretches before me. I can see the faint outline of the island of Lombok in the distance.<\/p>\n

\"\"I\u2019m high, high up with nothing to stop me from falling and my phobia is nowhere to be found.<\/p>\n

Across the valley there\u2019s an even higher volcano: Gunung Agung, the most sacred mountain and highest point on the island. Hikers regularly make a similar sunrise trek up Agung, and it takes eight hours to reach the 3,000-metre summit. Our guide notices my eyes flicking up along the slopes and eyeing the peak high above our perch, and asks me if I\u2019d like to tackle it while I\u2019m here in Bali. He recognises my obsession. He knows: I\u2019m tired and sore but there are still higher hills to climb.<\/p>\n

Mt Batur FAQ’s<\/h2>\n

How long does it take to climb Mount Batur?<\/h3>\n

Climbing Mount Batur takes around 2 hours to the summit.<\/p>\n

How high is Mount Batur?<\/h3>\n

Mount Batur is 1717 meters (5,633 feet) above sea level, to the summit.<\/p>\n

Want to see Mt Batur in the flesh? Get your climb on with Intrepid’s Bali Holidays<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

Enjoy reading about epic hikes? Check out this powerful story on Machu Picchu<\/a> and these Kilimanjaro tips<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Tempted by the allure of Indonesia? Check out\u00a0this feature on the nearly untouched island paradise of Sumatra<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s only a few hours after midnight and I\u2019m hiking in complete darkness, the path illuminated by nothing more than our 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