Volcano trip to Mt. Batur
It started at 2 am, with a new motorbike at my heels
and a beautiful young estonian lady on my back,
with a thought of mountain climbing
I conjured up a few other hopeful souls
an american-canadian, only out for what he believed was a 3 am hike 2 hour hike
with a night shirt and his red vibram five fingers laced to his feet,
on his back, a romanian ex real estate agent, finding her way in the world
with cigarettes attached at her hip, an “I love Bali” white bag crossing her shoulders,
we were all in for a whirl of adventure, having only met all the night before
at an asian style karaoke evening....
The last comrade in our adventure; a jakarta indonesian, Mimi, with zero motorbike experience, funny one would think
Indonesian=I am born on a motorbike!
but not in jakarta, where cars are more of the norm, little did I know...
Our destination: Mt. Batur!
I led the way, having only done the trip a few days prior with my local friend leading the way
at 3 am, through the hills and streets of Bali, most of the world asleep,
with yesterday’s dreams of a expat sales of their fine wood carvings left hanging in their windows
it was a calm, graceful drive through the night
until the ill prepared pseudo american guy, Dave, realized that his once half tank full of petro
was slowly decreasing, as the hike he thought was just up the street, was a good hour and a half via motorbike.
as his petro decreased, the other ill prepared indonesia woman, Mimi, realized her tank was slowly drifting down and petro was imminent for the completion just to the volcano trail head
we came across some local men moving some late night bags of rice off the side of the street, our local friend Mimi discussed with them our petro issue and they
the proposed way to the all night petro station....
and then just a matter of minutes later, Mimi, far ahead of the rest of us, came to a startling stop,
staring at her back tire
this bike would no longer be moving, with a large gash across the back tire...
So, we created a young fruitful “indonesia” family and all three of us continued on my one bike, with the american/romanian combo on the other motorbike dreaming of a drink of petro
soon, after realizing that the petro station that we knew would be closed, was actually closed,
we came across a local indonesian, trying to make a midnight western sale of us, attempting to sell us a package to the base of the mountain.
after simple deliberation and a generous overpriced offer, he informed us of his local home, and the possibility that a large can of petro maybe waiting for us to fill up....
so, after just a few small late night hiccups, we were back on our way to the trail head of the volcano.
upon reaching the trail head, the standard group of aspiring indonesian greeted us
trying to swing their way around the system and sell us a guide to the mountain
gracefully and willingly, we made our way to the base center, found a guide and began our way up the mountain...
The climb was joyous, slightly lava rock filled, as my experienced legs were used to through many similar hawaiian style hikes...
upon reaching the summit, night time still fell upon us, as the glimpse of sunrise was still a distant dream...
So, Piret (the beautiful Estonian woman), and I waited at the top for the rest of them to join,
the american guy realized the lava rocks were slowly outbeating his “five fingers”
and the joyously complaining Romanian, was filled with sneers and comments throughout the hike from her sneakers, that she happened to forget needed socks...
So after around twenty minutes of waiting, they appreared from mountain climb...
The summit was magical, the clouds drifted slowly across the village
the white haze surrounding every inch of us, just waiting for those few minutes short enough to snap a profound picture and capture this glorious achievement.
Summits, for me,
release a real sense of achievement
the inner child within gets to look down over the mountain he just climbed
with joy in his heart
and overwhelming appreciation through his spirit
truly capturing the sense and release of one’s true inner freedom.
So, as we ventured around the ridgeline, Piret happened to find some other
traveling Estonian’s, and in a country so “large”, such an occurrence is absolutely natural :), not so much..
so her joy was overwhelming, finding her homeland comrades on top of this mystical mountain top in the beautiful land of Bali
And after paying outrageously for an overpriced tea and attempting to get warm in the clouds, we began our descent
slowly along the way, we picked up the other stragglers, Mimi, who decided not to climb the ridgeline, and Dave and Catalina, who only made it to the pseudo summit
considering, he is a pseudo american, this seemed righteously fitting, in love and just :)
The descent was not quite as adventurous, but upon reaching the bottom, we discovered a beautiful floating restaurant and filled our bellies with delicious and spicy indonesian fish!
After a long morning and a long day, it only seemed perfect for the clouds to rain down upon us on our way back. We decided to join others and find this beautiful white sand beach on the east side of the island.
It was here, that I realized that Dave thought our 2 am departure would mean he would be back home by around 9 am. Considering it was now nearly 5 pm in the afternoon, with still a 2 hour motorbike ride back to Ubud, where we had met and were sleeping, he was filled with strong loving opinions for me.
I took them with a kindred spirit, as he had a sense of playfulness in his heart and really had quite an adventure on the day.
After a local beachside message for about $7 US, and a fresh young cocunut for $1, the time had come to make our way home.
It was at this point, that the God’s really decided to cry down upon us, and literally we were driving through torrential downpour
Joy, was still the name of the game, as I sang at the traffic lights, with a smile on my face, the beautiful souls of Bali were filled with the same sense of joy that came striking through me...
Once we finally reached back to Ubud, a delicious indonesia
n homestyle meal greeted us at a local restaurant, as we laughed and delighted with other couch-surfing friends in Ubud...
I did not realize, that in that local evening meal, I was signing myself up for a three part adventure starting at 9 am the next day...
