CAIT AROUND THE WORLD

May 13, 2023 — As my last blog post indicated (go read it here if you haven’t already), this was one early morning. And quite a way to start the day!

I woke up at around 1:30 in the morning (after actually falling asleep shortly after 11:00pm) and changed into the hiking clothes that I’d set out the night before. I’d decided to wear my bike shorts, blue Nike dry-fit t-shirt, my polar fleece sweater, a pair of my Icebreaker socks, and my running shoes (of course). I knew that it was at least a two hour trek up the mountain and I also knew that the temperature would be lower up there, but I didn’t really know what to expect.

I was due to be picked up between 2:00 and 2:30am. The driver arrived closer to 2:30am and we started driving toward Kintamali, which is the village closest to the base of Mount Batur. There were six other people in the group, plus myself. We had a little breakfast of fried bananas and some coffee/tea at a little cafe in Kintamali. There were a lot of other tour groups there as well — our first taste of just how busy it would be on the trail.

I got talking with the only other under-30 year-old on the trip who was from England while we ate breakfast and we walked together for much of the trip up the mountain.

After breakfast, we got back in the car and drove to the parking lot for the start of the trek up the mountain. We met our guide, were given water, a small lunchbox, and headlamps, then headed to the start of the trail.

That first look at the mountain and the little trail of lights running up and down its entire side is ingrained in my memory. They winked in and out, a moving chain of people making the long slog to the top.

At this point, it’s still pitch black. The sun won’t rise for another three hours. We started out on the path. The first little bit is pretty inoffensive. We walked through farmer’s fields and on gravel and on relatively flat pavement until the inclines started. For at least the first half hour, we were hiking on pavement set at a steep incline, moving to the side every little while for cars that were driving further up the mountain or coming down. We stopped several times for breaks along the way. I’ve never so fully understood the importance of breaks than when hiking. And especially on this hike.

Finally, after almost an hour, we reached the bottom of the mountain itself. This is where pavement turned to path and we started climbing against rock and dirt and volcanic sand (because Mount Batur is, in fact, an active volcano) in earnest. The path was really crumbly in places and I was thankful to be hiking right behind our guide. I followed him step-for-step as we hiked against time.

As we came up to the first viewpoint, the sky was really starting to lighten. Turning around and seeing the sky brightening with that first light of dawn was awe-inspiring and exciting. When we did finally make the first viewpoint, or checkpoint, whatever you might call it, we’d already been climbing for two hours and the actual summit point for watching sunrise was another thirty minutes of climbing away. I was exhausted. I’d actually sat down at the checkpoint, thinking that this was it. It wasn’t.

I relocated our guide and he indicated that we were continuing up with the rest of that long line of headlamp lights. Up with the line I went.

This was, without a doubt, the hardest part of the hike. I’d been doing pretty well up until now. You were basically hiking up the mountain in a single-file line and you had to stop and wait for slower people ahead of you to move fairly constantly. It made it less of an effort to get up the mountain because those little breaks kept adding up. But after the checkpoint, it was fairly consistent climbing and I was sick of waiting for people to move so I hiked harder and went around people instead.

We hiked through the mist and for a few minutes, we couldn’t see anything. I flashed back to an Instagram Reel I’d watched just a week or two ago and thought about how it had said that if the top is misty, it makes more sense to watch from the bottom, where you can see. Should I turn around and head back down?

But the mist was clearing up ahead and I was determined to make the top.

I emerged to see people everywhere — grouped onto benches, sat on the ground, milling around the summit, and I knew I’d arrived. Just one last push and I’d be there!

I found a spot to sit and watch the sunrise. The sky was light to the point of bursting — you know that moment just before the first sliver of sun shines through above the horizon? It was yellow and orange and bright with dawn. With new beginnings. With a new day. And then the sun broke over the horizon and I don’t think I’ve ever seen something so beautiful.

Sunrise on Mount Batur is hushed, soft, tinged by hours of sweat and effort before the reward. Even with at least a hundred other people around, it could have been just me on that mountain. Everything is slightly out of focus, save for that brilliant ball of sunshine that lights everything on this earth and which is responsible for all that we have, all that we are and will ever be.

As my heart rate slowed and the sun crept over the horizon, I watched in wonder. I can’t explain how beautiful that moment was, how gorgeous the view, how grateful I am that I got to experience it. It’s incredible.

Though I could have believed I was the only person on the mountain, I wasn’t. There were at least three proposals at the summit as the sun rose and the day began, tons of people talking, even dogs milling around.

Our group spent some time in a little shelter on top of the mountain after the sun rose, where they were serving up alcoholic drinks among others. I sat, sated, and ate the little packed breakfast they’d given us at the start of the hike. There was a banana, a hard-boiled egg, and bread. It was just what I needed after the craziness of the hike. And before what was to come. Because we still needed to walk back down the mountain.

Eventually, it was time to walk some more. The sun was rising high into the sky, lighting up the land below us as we started back down. Now, I know I said that the last half hour going up was the worst, but I honestly think that going back down was the absolute worst. Two hours of walking down a steep decline, with rock and sand falling out from under your feet, thighs spent but somehow expected to keep you upright. Mine didn’t. I fell twice, slipping on the loose rock and sand. There were also motorcycles coming up the mountain fairly constantly, carrying passengers up or down.

Finally, though, we made it down the mountain and back onto the pavement, through the fields and to the parking lot where we’d left the van earlier that morning.

I was so proud of myself for managing this hike, considering I hadn’t done anything serious since Magnetic Island, and that had taken a lot out of me (and wasn’t even that hard).

We got in the van shortly after we got back down the mountain, turned in our headlamps and said goodbye to our guide, then started winding our way back to Ubud.

The day was shaping up beautifully. Up on the side of the mountain in Kintamali, it was a beautiful temperature. Cool but warm in the sun, with a lovely breeze and zero humidity. That was quite a difference compared to what I’d been experiencing across the rest of Indonesia over the past two and a half weeks, and compared to what it was like in Australia after I crossed into Queensland.

We drove for a while, heading to a coffee plantation, and I dozed with my head in my hand laid against the door.

When we arrived at the coffee plantation, some of our group decided to stay back. (Actually, when I booked the tour, I didn’t even realize that this was included as part of it, even though I had seen others with the inclusion.) I decided to hop out, stretch my legs, and I was pleasantly surprised that this was included. Coffee is always a good idea. We had a little tour of the place and then got to try about sixteen different coffees and teas, even one hot chocolate, all made from the plants that they have growing on the plantation. We even got to try Luwak coffee for a small extra cost, which is actually made from the Luwak animal, which is a member of the cat family. The beans are eaten and passed by the creature, then cleaned thoroughly and removed from the husk to be roasted and ground into coffee. It’s supposed to be really smooth and I can definitely say that I agree it is, though I’m not discerning enough to say if it’s the best coffee I’ve ever had. Even so, it was a lovely little break and I really enjoyed several of the teas and the hazelnut coffee.

We rejoined the rest of the group after our tasting was finished and we finished driving back to Ubud. We returned around 11:00am and I was dropped off just up from my hostel.

I went upstairs and my first order of business was to take a shower. I’d considered just cleaning up and then getting food, but I was so incredibly zonked by this point that I ignored the growl in my stomach and put my pyjamas on after my shower, climbed into bed, and took a two hour nap.

It was exactly what I needed.

I got up at 3:00pm to the buzz of my alarm and went for “lunch.” I needed something natural to me, so I went to the place across from my hostel and got a pasta dish to replenish some carbs and calories with something familiar.

After eating, I was feeling much more alive, so I took myself for a small walk down the laneway that I could see just across from the restaurant. There were tons of stands selling all manner of souvenirs. I ended up picking out a bracelet (and even negotiated from 30,000 to 20,000! Equivalent to Canadian dollars is about $3 to $2) and purchasing a postcard.

I returned to the hostel and wrote my postcards and did a little work on the blog, then relaxed a while longer. Around 7:30pm, I headed out for dinner. I went to a spot that I’d seen while walking earlier in the day and was happy to find that they had space. I ordered a peach and chamomile iced tea (delicious) and some popcorn chicken and hummus with pita bread (also delicious). Simplicity was the name of the game after the strenuous morning and I really enjoyed this dinner.

Later, I paid and then headed back to the hostel, changed, called home, and went to bed.

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