Hiking Mt. Batur

MT. BATUR - BALI, INDONESIA

Peak elevation: 5,633 ft

Route Length: 5.4 miles roundtrip

Elevation gain: 2359 ft

Drive time from Ubud: 30-60 min, depending on the insanity of your driver.

I feel obligated to write this post because of how much differing information I found online about hiking Mt. Batur. This is an active volcano and a very popular hiking destination. Most people choose to start the hike around 4am so they can sip coffee, eat a hard boiled egg, and see the sun rise over Mt. Agung, the highest point in Bali.

All of the information I read online about this hike mentioned hiring a guide and that most tourists make it to the top in about two hours and down in less than one. I like to think that Leah and I are in better shape than your average tourist, so we should be able to handle this on our own. I also read many testimonials confirming that the trail is technically free to hike, but a mafia-like group stays posted around the entrance at all times and requires that you hire a guide. They even have a building at the entrance that is labeled as a trail guide association so it looks a little more official. I did read the account of one brave man who tried his hardest to hike without a guide, and he did, but still ended up paying IDR 200,000 just to get some of the trail thugs to stop pushing him around. We gave up on the idea of going guide-free.

Our hostel (Greenview Backpacker) was located in the town of Ubud, which is an hour south of Mt. Batur. The owner of our hostel offered us a package deal that was much cheaper than any other option we previously found. He arranged for a driver to pick us up at 2am, drive us to the trail head, prepare a small breakfast, find us a guide, hike to the top for sunrise, have another breakfast at the top, and then a ride back to the hostel as well. This package cost us IDR 600,000, which equates to about $41.50 USD. Most other prices I saw were closer to or above IDR 1,000,000.

When we got picked up just after 2am, there were already two American girls in our van, and we ended as a group of six with the addition of a couple from Australia. Breakfast #1 was at the bottom of the mountain and consisted of a banana crepe, coffee, and a bottle of water. There were a handful of other vans and hikers eating the same thing. After breakfast we were introduced to our guide, given handheld flashlights, and set off hiking. The journey doesn’t start at an actual trail head, we had to walk down a paved road for a bit before we got to trail. In the dark, as we started to climb, I looked up and saw a great number of lights, bobbing up and down in a curvy, single-file line. I didn’t realize how many people would be doing this hike. It was too many for my liking. There were a few bottlenecks along the way caused by other parties making sure they were all together, or a single person who wasn’t a decent hiker. I can’t imagine how hectic this would be during high season.

We reached the top before sunrise and our guide quickly showed us to a bench so we could sit and wait for the sun. He joined all of the other guides in a small shack and started preparing our 2nd breakfast. He delivered banana-slice sandwiches and a hard boiled egg. I remembered reading that guides would use the volcano vents’ heat to hard boil eggs for their customers. I call BS, I saw the giant pot of boiling water in the shack where the eggs were boiled. The shack also sells hot beverages, which was amazing because it was quite chilly at the top because of strong winds. We were very glad to have brought a dry, long sleeve shirt to change into. Unfortunately, we were not lucky enough to good weather for the sunrise. The clouds below us never cleared up, so we couldn’t see the vast valley and lake below us. We had a few moments of clarity straight ahead of us to see the sun light up the clouds above and below, but nothing long lasting.

The sun was up, the clouds weren’t clearing, and we were getting cold. We started our hike down, which follows the same route for a few minutes, and then splits to take a different trail down than what we came up. It was a quick decent and we became warmer and warmer as we went. We did find a few spots along the way, under the clouds, where we got good views of the valley, the lake, and black, lava-scorched areas. We made it to the bottom, and right back to where are driver had dropped us off. We all piled in the van and quickly fell asleep for the duration of the trip.

Final thoughts: I do recommend doing this hike, but only with the right expectations. It will be busy, you will need a guide, there is a chance you won’t have a great view from the top, and you could die because you’re on an active volcano. Enjoy!

Tyler