Bali - Batur Volcano Trek

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The northern region of Bali is the wildest region of the island. Many rice fields around Muluk, amazing views on Batur Volcano, and sleepy towns on the northern coast such as Lovena. This region is more complicated of access and as such, is less crowded by tourists, and is the best place to enjoy the piece & quiet of Bali! Some travel agencies organise cycling trips where you basically start uphill, and "cycle" your way downhill all the way to Ubud while crossing villages, temples, rice fields and so on. This is actually a very enjoyable way to visit the area!

Of course, the main activity of this region is Gunung Batur, which is quite an easy climb with very rewarding views on the whole valley!

Mount Batur (Gunung Batur) is an active volcano located at the center of two concentric calderas north west of Mount Agung, Bali. The south east side of the larger 10x13 km caldera contains a caldera lake. The inner 7.5-kilometer-wide caldera, which was formed during emplacement of the Bali (or Ubud) ignimbrite, has been dated at about 23,670 and 28,500 years ago.

This trek is very easy to organise from Singapore for a weekend, flights leave Singapore at 9pm, and arrive a little before midnight at Denpasar Airport. From the airport, it is a 1-1.5 hour taxi drive (150 000IDR) to Ubud. From Ubud, it is possible to find people to organize a trip to Batur with a departure at 2am.

The trek is quite easy but it is compulsary to get a guide & permit, and the best is to start early to be able to catch the sunrise. It takes approximately 2.5 - 3 hours walk to the top with a steeper gradient at the end. The Sunrise being at 5.30 / 6am, I would advise to manage well your climb so as not to miss the sunrise of course, but also so as not to wait ages up there because the strong wind makes the waiting quite cold up there!

From the top, it is possible to trek all around the caldeira so don't hesitate to ask the guide for this extra trek to have great views on the valley, and walk above the clouds!

Sunrise on top of Mount Batur:

Walking around the calderia

Batur is very near to Ubud, which is a great base for visiting some truly incredible temples!