So, exercise tends to come in sporadic bursts, such as an organised 5k run, a day spent kayaking, or cycling (although our downhill efforts a few days ago didn't break a sweat), or climbing a hill.
Today, we climbed not a hill, not a mountain, but a volcano. Gunung Batur to be precise.
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| Mount Batur |
At 1717m, the summit falls far short of Mt. Agung's imposing 3,031m. However, the mountain used to stand much taller until an eruption thousands of years ago ejected a huge amount of its bulk. It is an active volcano and has erupted on a regular basis over the past hundred years - the last eruption of ash accompanied by lava being in 1994. The island remains on alert, the authorities ready to close the hiking trail (as they did in 2009) and evacuate the area should there be a need.
We accepted the risk inherent in walking up a seething fault in the Earth's crust and woke up at 1:30AM for our pick-up. The mountain is over two hours' drive away and our aim was to reach the summit in time for sunrise at around 6:30AM.
As we awoke, heavy rain was pounding on the roof, so I anticipated a wet climb. However, the storm had passed by the time we came to leave and there was no sign of it at the base of the mountain. There were several other people also waiting to make the climb, all wondering what they were doing up at 4AM. We met our guide, Wayang, who works on a local plantation and leads people on hikes for extra income. The volcanic soil in the area is not good for growing rice, so the locals plant vegetable crops. In the darkness, we could smell when we passed through the onion patch.
Although quite an altitude, the base of the mountain is already some 1000m above sea level, so our climb was only around 700m. However, the terrain was tricky, with lots of loose volcanic rocks and inclines of black sand sending us back down the path. I imagined the pyroclastic flow that might have hewn this path out of the surface. Despite the rocks under foot, we made good time to "sunrise point" at just under an hour. However, this turned out to be the first station for those who couldn't face the climb to the true summit. Gratifyingly, we ambled by many people our junior who were wheezing and asking how much farther to the top.
With still an hour to go before sunrise, we made the extra journey and rewarded ourselves with a hot cocoa as the sun appeared from behind Mt. Abang and Mt. Agung.
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| Sunrise over Mt. Agung and Mt. Abang |
The morning sun illuminated the caldera (land that collapsed following an eruption) and the path we had trodden. Steam rose from the ground beneath us, warning us of the volcano's temperament.
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| Smouldering |
While we had been enjoying the view, our guide had been busy stashing eggs into a tiny nook in the side of the mountain. The temperature inside was over 100° and he proudly revealed the boiled eggs for our breakfast.
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| Also not dragon's eggs |
With the mountain fully illuminated, we enjoyed a thrilling walk along the ridge. A steep drop awaited us on either side if we were not sure of foot.
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| Ridge walking |
Our guide admitted that in high season he sometimes makes the trip up the mountain twice a day. He showed both his fitness and knowledge of the terrain by running down the inclines and surfing the sand around the lip of the caldera.
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| Caldera |
Trying to keep up with our guide's rapid descent, who only stopped to empty sand from his trainers, we quickly made it back to the bottom.
We were then taken to the natural hot springs at the edge of Lake Batur.
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| Batur hot springs |
Natural spring water is pumped into open-air pools at three different temperature. With a stunning view of the mountains, this was a perfect setting to rest our weary legs. Given the early start, it was still only 9AM, so we had the pool to ourselves.
As the waters became busier, we moved onto Ubud. There we continued our indulgent day with a massage at Sedona Spa. This was a traditional Javanese lulur, which followed the massage with an exfoliating body scrub made from various spices and an application of soothing cool yoghurt. As K noted, it made us feel like a piece of meat being prepared for dinner. After this, we soaked our muscles in a flower bath (cooking our deliciously tenderised and marinated flesh).
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| Very manly, I'll have you know |
Suitably pampered, and not subject to any Balinese cannibalistic ritual, we moved on to Saren Indah for a late lunch. Vegetable mushroom soup greeted us, followed by a rice set with fried tempeh, tofu, tofu sate sticks, green beans and bean sprouts. Fruit was the only thing we had space for as dessert, and SE Asians have a marvellous idea of serving sliced fruit with a slice of lime, which oddly brings out the sweetness in certain fruits such as melon and papaya.
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| Tofu sate at Saren Indah |
After our visit to ARMA, the Agung Rai Museum of Art, on Sunday, we decided to spend a little while longer and make the most of its quiet cultural atmosphere. Fortuitously, it also has rooms as it doubles as a hotel. We checked in for the next two nights.
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| Pura Dalem Puri |
As well as the family temples in traditional Balinese households, each village has three temples (pura) dedicated to each of the Hindu Trimūrti (Trinity). The Pura Puseh for Brahma the creator, situated at one end of the village, Pura Desa for Vishnu (here Wisnu), situated in the centre of the village for daily activities, and Pura Dalem for Shiva (Siwa), found near the cemetery at the other end of the village.
Tonight, and over the next few days, there is a festival at the local Pura Dalem Puri. Agung Rai, the founder of ARMA made us aware of the celebrations, which include dance, prayer and offerings.
After dark, hundreds of people descended on the temple, all wearing traditional clothes. White shirt, sarong and udeng headdress for the men, colourful blouse and sash for the women. Some people carried a ceremonial keris blade.
We joined the group, seated on the ground of the open-air temple courtyard. A gamelan orchestra filled the air with traditional music, while a man with a loudspeaker intoned, presumably, words of prayer and the proceedings. Everyone (bar us and a few other awkward-looking foreigners) knew exactly what was happening and when and moved from on area to the next, carrying offerings of fruit and flowers on their heads.
At one point, a group of men and women came through the courtyard, some splashing holy water on the various shrines, one pouring a small amount of alcohol (arak) on the ground, and a pair holding a goose and a hen. At this sight, I feared we would witness animal sacrifice, but the only thing to be sacrificed were a few feathers in this case (the offering of animals' lives is still practised).
The 'dance' this evening was prembon, a kind of masked drama, which to be honest is not the most spectacular from an outsider's point of view, as it relies on narration by a series of individual characters. However, there was a martial display by warriors with spears, which was impressive as the performers were not the polished professionals we had watched at ARMA, but workers from the village.
After the offerings and entertainment, there was a period of prayer. A priest offered holy water for the worshippers to drink and with which to wash their faces, and rice to eat, a small amount of which they also stuck to their forehead. It was a spellbinding atmosphere, full of families and welcoming faces. We stayed until late, and finally went to bed around 11:30PM, making it a 22-hour day.
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