Bali. Climbing Mount Agung. Tips.
Nikita continues to share details of his trip to Indonesia with us. In a month spent on the islands, he managed to climb 4 volcanoes. Let's start the story with Agung.
"If you love mountains, you will definitely have something to do in Indonesia, as it is not without reason called the country of volcanoes. During my trip, I managed to climb 4 different volcanoes: 1 in Bali, 1 in Lombok, 2 in Java.
In Bali, in my opinion, the most interesting point is, of course, Mount Agung. The most popular one is Batur, a trek to which will take an hour, two at most, depending on your fitness level. Here you need to be prepared for crowds of people and having to pay "guides" for entry.
These so-called "guides" deserve a special mention. In the vast majority of cases, almost any Balinese idler calls himself a guide. Moreover, I have repeatedly heard that the entire business of volcano climbing in Bali is covered by the local mafia. On the internet, you can find a lot of reviews about how people tried to go without guides and encountered locals aggressively, and sometimes extremely aggressively, explaining to them that climbing without guides is forbidden. Of course, this is a complete rip-off. At least for Batur, this is 200% true.
For the ascent, I chose Agung. I climbed without guides, although at first I wanted to avoid unnecessary problems and tried to negotiate. After they quoted me a price of 130$ (!!!), I simply had to refuse. There are two routes to Agung, both starting from temples: Pasar Agung and Besakih. The first route is simpler, the ascent will take about 4 hours. The second is more difficult, the ascent will take 5-6 hours. I chose the difficult one and climbed in about 5.5 hours. I want to immediately warn people who are going here - this is NOT an easy mountain. For all 5.5 hours, I was only going up, there are practically no breaks on the route. As for the need for a guide, it all depends on your experience in the mountains.
I took care of finding GPS tracks for this route in advance, so I didn't need a guide. The only difficult moment with orientation, it seems to me, is the very top of the mountain, when you have to scramble over rocks. There is no real route there, so you have to improvise. There was only one time when I strayed a little from the GPS track, and I had to find the right way.
A couple more important nuances. Besakih Temple itself is a huge temple complex, and the start of the trek to Agung is not from the main temple at all, but from a small one, which is located about 2km away and uphill. At first, I made a mistake and arrived at the main temple, where I was immediately attacked by several locals who vied to offer their guide services. I had to leave in a hurry. There is a road before the start of the trekking, but it is small and inconspicuous. I advise you to carefully study the road. As for the start time - I started walking around 8:30 PM to definitely avoid meeting rip-off guides. However, starting so early is not advisable. This came back to haunt me when I reached a point I estimated as "an hour to the summit". I got there around 2:30 AM.
A cold wind immediately swept over me. For this trek, you need fairly warm clothing - thermal underwear, a fleece, pants, a windbreaker - that's the minimum. At night, when I was walking to the summit, the temperature was around 7-8 degrees Celsius. You need to be at the summit approximately 20-30 minutes before sunrise - that's when the horizon starts to turn orange-red, while the sky is still absolutely black. The views are 100% worth it.
The descent from the mountain is also not easy at all; my knees were splitting by the end. The descent took me exactly as long as the ascent - about another 6 hours. Of course, the fact that I hadn't slept all night and after sunrise played a role. Once the euphoria of conquering the summit passed, my strength rapidly left my body. On the way back, a backpack will come in handy, because you'll have to put all your things in it. By 9-10 AM, the sun is blazing, and it gets very hot. When I finally finished the descent, there was an unpleasant incident with the locals.
My moped, which I foolishly parked right before the start of the trek, clearly attracted the attention of the locals, and as soon as I returned to it, two locals immediately approached me, starting to inquire why I had gone without a guide and hadn't paid anyone (in reality, that was all they cared about). In the end, a five-minute argument concluded with me simply starting the moped and speeding away from them, amidst shouts and curses in Bahasa."
To be continued...
For the ascent, I chose Agung. I climbed without guides, although at first I wanted to avoid unnecessary problems and tried to negotiate. After they quoted me a price of 130$ (!!!), I simply had to refuse. There are two routes to Agung, both starting from temples: Pasar Agung and Besakih. The first route is simpler, the ascent will take about 4 hours. The second is more difficult, the ascent will take 5-6 hours. I chose the difficult one and climbed in about 5.5 hours. I want to immediately warn people who are going here - this is NOT an easy mountain. For all 5.5 hours, I was only going up, there are practically no breaks on the route. As for the need for a guide, it all depends on your experience in the mountains.
I took care of finding GPS tracks for this route in advance, so I didn't need a guide. The only difficult moment with orientation, it seems to me, is the very top of the mountain, when you have to scramble over rocks. There is no real route there, so you have to improvise. There was only one time when I strayed a little from the GPS track, and I had to find the right way.
A couple more important nuances. Besakih Temple itself is a huge temple complex, and the start of the trek to Agung is not from the main temple at all, but from a small one, which is located about 2km away and uphill. At first, I made a mistake and arrived at the main temple, where I was immediately attacked by several locals who vied to offer their guide services. I had to leave in a hurry. There is a road before the start of the trekking, but it is small and inconspicuous. I advise you to carefully study the road. As for the start time - I started walking around 8:30 PM to definitely avoid meeting rip-off guides. However, starting so early is not advisable. This came back to haunt me when I reached a point I estimated as "an hour to the summit". I got there around 2:30 AM.
A cold wind immediately swept over me. For this trek, you need fairly warm clothing - thermal underwear, a fleece, pants, a windbreaker - that's the minimum. At night, when I was walking to the summit, the temperature was around 7-8 degrees Celsius. You need to be at the summit approximately 20-30 minutes before sunrise - that's when the horizon starts to turn orange-red, while the sky is still absolutely black. The views are 100% worth it.
The descent from the mountain is also not easy at all; my knees were splitting by the end. The descent took me exactly as long as the ascent - about another 6 hours. Of course, the fact that I hadn't slept all night and after sunrise played a role. Once the euphoria of conquering the summit passed, my strength rapidly left my body. On the way back, a backpack will come in handy, because you'll have to put all your things in it. By 9-10 AM, the sun is blazing, and it gets very hot. When I finally finished the descent, there was an unpleasant incident with the locals.
My moped, which I foolishly parked right before the start of the trek, clearly attracted the attention of the locals, and as soon as I returned to it, two locals immediately approached me, starting to inquire why I had gone without a guide and hadn't paid anyone (in reality, that was all they cared about). In the end, a five-minute argument concluded with me simply starting the moped and speeding away from them, amidst shouts and curses in Bahasa."
To be continued...
