Yes, you read that right – we climbed an active volcano in Bali by torchlight to watch the dawn! This was the best experience of our whole trip!

We knew it would be an early start, so we decided to do it on our first day. Our driver picked us up from our hotel at 2am and it was a 2hour drive to the base of the volcano.

We were dropped in a carpark filled with other buses and cars, but to us, it felt like the middle of nowhere. A young girl gave us two little battery powered torches. Bianca immediately regretted not wearing a jumper. It is much colder in the mountains than it is near the beach. She quickly forgot about that once we started climbing though. There are (very dodgy) toilets next to the carpark at the base, but make sure you bring tissues and some cash with you. There is a charge to use the toilet and paper is extra!

In daylight the climb up the volcano probably would have been beautiful and interesting, but at night it was terrifying. We walked through terraced fields cut out of the jungle that reminded us of hidden drug fields shown in horror movies where machete-wielding psychos jump out of the dark! We tried to keep up with the others and avoid being alone because every twig-snap sounded like someone loading an AK-47!

We are both experienced hikers and we love a good walk through steep hills to get to a beautiful view – but this was a different experience. Doing it by torchlight was one thing, but the steep slope and loose terrain made it even more challenging. With barely enough light to see the loose volcanic pumice crumbling beneath our steps, we clambered up the volcano. At times, each step was higher than our knees, and the slope was nearly 45⁰. This made each step hard, as it was more of a steep climb in places than a walk or hike. Our guide seemed to find the climb easy! She was half our age and obviously very fit. We found out later that she climbs the volcano 6 times a week as guide! She often reached down and helped Bianca up the steep steps.

The climb was hard work. It was humid and the paths were crowded with people. Our guide set a cracking pace and she did not seem to get out of breath at all. But she was helpful and friendly, and made sure we got to the top.

We approached the summit long before dawn. Near the top, our guide gave us the option to stop at the top of the caldera. She told us that this area was much less popular so would be much quieter. The alternative was to continue for another 20 minutes to the very top, which we could have made before the dawn started. We looked up and saw a faint line of torchlight, wobbling up the impossibly steep slope and decided to stop where there were picnic benches. Most others carried on to the very top. As the sun rose, we felt so glad we made this decision. We noticed that the summit was crowded with people and there was nowhere to sit.

As the sun rose, our guide gave us refreshments. We enjoyed strong coffee, an egg boiled in the volcanic steam, and a wonderful packaged chocolate sandwich. The coffee was so strong that there was still brown sludge at the bottom of each mug, and our eyes opened wider than they ever had before – ideal to take in the view of the dawn. Our two hour hike and climb seemed like a distant memory already.

As we sat on the benches at the top of Mount Batur, the stars were still visible in the sky, and the lights of the town below were the only indication of life. The sunrise was absolutely stunning! It made the trek up the mountain absolutely worth it. We did this climb on 21st June, the longest day of the year. The dawn was slow and beautiful. A line of orange formed on the horizon and highlighted distant mountains on Lombok. Then the sky lightened slowly, hiding the stars that had been visible.

As the sun rose, clouds caught the light, making it difficult for us to distinguish between them and the mountains.

As the daylight grew, we delightedly discovered that we were almost alone on our comfortable benches. Most other hikers and walkers had decided to scale to the 1717m summit, where there was standing room only. Our view was just as good, and our experience was much better. Many of the tourists were noisy and had brought Bluetooth speakers that were blaring music.

Whilst we were not at the top, the view was still amazing. We could see the crowds on the peak, and finding a comfortable place pleased us.

Our guide led us into the caldera (volcanic crater) to show us the steam rising from the ground where our eggs had been cooked. See Bianca’s glasses have fogged up…

On the way back down the mountain after the sunrise, we took a different path. It was more of a general downward slope than steep steps, but it was pretty slippery. The ground was very loose in parts. It was beautiful though, with many sections covered in rainforest. When we got the bottom, our driver took us straight to the hot springs for a wonderfully relaxing soak (see our blog post on the Mount Batur Hot Springs).

The dawn volcano climb was the best experience of our whole trip to Bali. If you have a pretty good level of fitness, we highly recommend that you do it.