Since young, I love travelling, exploring different parts of the world and experiencing different cultures and sights - almost never through a tour guide or agency unless it is mandatory by law.
I enjoy the free & easy style; researching and planning my own itinerary, carrying out the activities of my preferred choice at my own time schedule and flexibility.
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| pc: the australianpost |
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| pc: bali-indonesia |
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| pc: giphy |
Prior to every trip that I embark on, I would do the necessary research; things to do, what to look out for, where to try this and that etc etc. This I did with the trek to Mount Batur too, particularly the one to see the breathtaking sunrise.
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| pc: travelog |
The tour packages usually start from IDR 500,000 per person (about SGD $50), and includes transport to/fro from your hotel, eggs and bread as breakfast, and a guide to trek with you.
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| Riding through heavy fog in what feels like a 14deg weather |
Besides, we've got our own transport (our bikes), we don't need breakfast at 2:00AM, and both of us have trekked mountains before and we'd like to think that we are quite fit to trek? Hahaha I mean look at J's muscles. If I get tired from trekking he can piggyback me up no problem (or so I thought LOL).
Plus, for someone who enjoys my freedom in travelling, we decided to explore to see if it's possible to trek this volcano without a guide and - Yes, you can trek Mt Batur Without A Guide.
As it isn't mandatory by law, some travelers have trekked without a guide - read here and here.
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| Found this from another traveller's blog, unsure how legit this ticket is also |
Apparently you just need to pay an entrance fee when you arrive at Kintamani that cost IDR 30,000 (SGD $3.20)? which later we found out there's no such ticket also, might be from a local tour agency.
If you have your own transport like us, you could drive/ride all the way to the base of Mount Batur here and start the moderate hike from there.
However, many have warned that the local touts are known to harass travellers seen without a guide, and some can even get pretty aggressive.
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| 6:00AM, at the main summit of Mt Batur |
Having experienced touts before from travelling all over the world, I thought "ah should be okay lah", cuz usually I'd smile and just decline politely. After a while, even the more persistent ones will just walk away.
But little did I expect this part of Bali to be different; in a dangerous way.
Here's what exactly happened:
At 1:30AM on a cold and wet morning, we got out of bed, packed everything we needed for the trek into our backpacks:
1. A torchlight each - As we will be trekking in the dark to reach the summit before sunrise
2. Water - To hydrate on the way
3. Some bread - To munch on at the summit while waiting for sunrise
4. Jacket - As we know it would be chilly in the mountains
5. Gloves - To protect our hands from climbing rocks if any
2:00AM - Riding to Mt Batur Base
On our trusty little Honda Scoopy each, we moved off from our hotel in Ubud, rode about 43KM over 1 hour plus to the base of Mount Batur. On the way, we met quite a number of vans who picked up other travellers heading for the Mount Batur sunrise trek.
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| 3 minutes away from the base of Mt Batur |
It wasn't difficult at all finding the place, as it is where all the tour groups park their cars at and unloaded their passengers. When we arrived, true enough, we saw a huge bunch of local touts standing in a row, with a few directing us to park our scooters at another corner where all the other bikes are.
So we did, because we wanted to park our bikes at the respective area, and it was really dark here at this timing.
After we parked our scooters, three locals approached us.
The Local Touts
"Hello, where are you from?"
I smiled and replied "Singapore".
"Oh, you're here for Mount Batur Sunrise Trek right?"
I nodded, as we walked towards where everyone else is gathered at in separate tour groups.
My first mistake - thinking he was a helpful guy, I asked him where the ticket office is for the entrance fee that I thought existed.
"Oh it's over there, follow me. I bring you" - Bad idea.
As we walked, we were surrounded by other local people, seemingly all from the same group / organization. He led us to this shelter near the toilet, where another man took over. He was tall, skinny and spoke reasonably good English.
"How much for the tickets please?" I asked.
"For two of you? IDR 500,000 each" he replied.
Realising they were trying to get us a guide, I clarified "Oh sorry no, we don't need a guide and transport all. We just want to buy the entrance fee ticket which is IDR 30,000 to trek the mountain please, thank you"
He smirked and replied, "No, you need a guide. You cannot trek without a guide here"
I responded politely to him, saying that we understand that hiring a guide is not mandatory here and we are able to trek on our own.
He insisted and said no.
With that, we thanked him and walked away.
In that moment, I noticed him instructing the other locals in their language.
But wherever we walked, the locals were following us, persistently telling us we need a guide. We walked over to the local convenience store where other travellers were having their morning coffee, and spoke with them. Their guides, who seemed to have a worried expression on their face, hurriedly came over and pulled the travellers away from us.
We even witnessed one of the other local guides getting scolded by a tout who was following us.
So okay, we sat at the store, in hope to shake the touts away.
But not only did they not, more came. Is like, they were all eyeing us. So we walked around again.
While we started to feel rather uncomfortable, we continued walking around and found the entrance to the trek - where everyone was walking through as well.
With our torchlight in hand, we went ahead, only to hear a few locals shouting and the next thing we know, we were confronted by a group of them, standing in a line blocking our pathway.
The Assault We Both Escaped
"You cannot pass, you must pay us money and get a guide" he said, with aggression growing.
We said "no thank you", and took two steps forward before one of them came over and pushed J really hard that he almost fell.
Right there and then, I thought to myself, "oh so these are what they call the mountain mafias".
I told them calmly, saying we are genuine travellers who want to trek, and do not wish to engage in any trouble or violence here.
Instead, they started to threaten us, violently using hand gestures, saying if we don't pay and get a guide, we won't get out of here alive.
As much as I was shocked that they were using violence to threaten us, I stood to my ground. But J was concerned about my safety. We discussed in mandarin what we should do next as we were clearly outnumbered, and most of the other travellers have left for the trek. Weighing our safety and valuing our lives more, seeing how violent these local touts were about to become, we negotiated down the initial sum to IDR 600,000 for both of us and paid.
They called out a local guide to lead the way into the trek.
It is sad to see that the local government allowing these organizations to unofficially "control" areas where travellers from all over the world come to visit. To treat tourists with aggression and violence just to extort some money illegally.
Later we found out that we were not the first ones who encountered the Mountain Mafias, and some had it worse. You can read about it here, and how some tried to start a petition here.
Despite this unpleasant incident, we did not let it affect us and continued to enjoy the trek.
4:19AM - Starting Our Trek Up Mt Batur
It was a 2 hour ascend to the summit of Mt Batur, there's only one way up and one way down so the route was pretty straightforward. You can't get lost here. Sport shoes or hiking shoes are good for the track
The first 800metres was easy, flat ground. After that, the terrain begin to gradually slope upwards, as we trekked on mostly loose rocks. 30 minutes into the hike, the terrain got a lot steeper, but still manageable. It was more of a test of endurance level than technical difficulty.
Just 1/3 through and though it was cold with the winds blowing non stop, we were already drenched in sweat.
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| I have mud on my face wth hahah J didn't even tell me |
How encouraging right.
After almost 1 hour 45 minutes, barely catching our breaths, we arrived at junction where the route splits into two, and visitors can choose which route they'd like to take. On the right, is just 10 minutes more hike to the lower point to view the sunrise, and on the left was a 30 minutes more steep climb up to the summit.
I dragged J and along with our guide who barely spoke anything to us throughout the trek, we continued to press on until we finally reached the summit!
Yay!
6:20AM - Mount Batur Summit
It was freezing, my hands couldn't stop shaking but I set up the tripod and got ready to capture the much-awaited sunrise.
J was just at one corner sipping on hot coffee bought from the coffeehouse there, trying to conserve as much energy but not speaking a word. LOL.
He was like gonna freeze to death or smth.
Everyone just sat at the summit for more than hour as the sky slowly light up, but there was just too much fog, that covered the entire sunrise we anticipated to see.
After a while, it was time to make our descend.
The route down is easier that the one up, though it can be slippery in some sandy areas.
It took us about 1 hour 30 minutes to get down the mountain base, and on the way down we noticed some using dirt bikes so maybe we could ride up Mt Batur next time? :D
Nearing the exit, we also noticed this super fake UNESCO sign that states visitors are not allowed to enter without an official guide. The methods they use to force you for a guide... But of course, the easier way is to pay some money and get a guide just so you won't run into trouble with some bad people.
Conquered Mount Batur!
Bags all dirty and dusty after the trek, and just as we were about to leave with our bikes, we realized we ran out of petrol.
Thankfully, there's this really cute petrol station here where we refuelled then rode back to Ubud.
Along the way, we overlooked Mount Batur lake and stopped for a quick photo before heading back to the hotel for a rest.
What a morning it has been!
Skipping breakfast and sleeping past lunch time has got us starving, and as much as I miss my laksa or bar chor mee, it's time to have a taste of what Balinese food has to offer!
We found Balinese Home Cooking and seeing that is has got pretty good reviews and being ranked #3 out of over 800 restaurants in Ubud on tripadvisor, we decided to pop by to fill our rumbling tummies.
Balinese Home Cooking is a family run business and it is also where they live.
Stepping inside was like entering a private sanctuary with lush greenery around and Balinese decor around.
We were greeted by one of the family members and they showed us how traditional Balinese people lived. It was almost like visiting a friend's place here, warm and cosy.
We asked them what was good on the menu, and they said "everything!". Haha makes it so hard for us to decide when everything looks delicious especially to hungry people like us!
Ordered a couple of appetizers for a start, like this fried spring roll above which was really crunchy with a generous amount of fresh vegetable filling packed inside.
It started to rain shortly after we arrived here, so we had some chicken onion soup to warm us up.
And not forgetting our mains!
The serving size was good, not too little and not too much. We enjoyed each dish that had its own unique flavour, bringing out the true authenticity taste of Balinese food. Overall would rate this place 7/10.
Now that we've satisfied our hunger with Balinese food, time to do some Balinese shopping at Ubud Village Traditional Art Market which was just a 15 minutes ride away.
The great thing about motorcycling here in Bali is that you can stop almost anywhere you want, and when you're done, just put on your helmet and scoot off to the next place of interest. Parking is so convenient and most places are free of charge.
The art market, as the name speaks for itself, offers a wide range of different hand-crafted items and art pieces.
From home decor, to woven bags, scarfs, clothes, and many other souvenirs, almost everything here is handmade. It is a common sight to see tourists bargaining the price down by at least 40% as most of the sellers here mark up by that much.
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| pc: goasia.it |
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| pc: indonesia tourism |
Hung around the village for a bit and rode back to our hotel just before the rain came pouring in again!
[Singapore. Ubud Village. Kintamani, Mount Batur, Bali, Indonesia]
[Mileage Clocked: 225KM]
[Weather/Temperature: 14°C/Cloudy/Fog/26°C/Passing Showers]
Next stop: Tegenungan Waterall, and Gili Islands
