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 Visitors to Indonesia and Bali may not immediately think of hiking up a volcano as a holiday activity but it can be enjoyable and interesting. Here are some of my tips on doing that.
First choose a volcano that suits your style. If you are into strenuous hiking, go for Gunung Agung in East Bali. There are 2 places you can hike from, Besakih on the west slope or Pura Pasar Agung on the SSE slope. A summit hike from Besakih might take you 6 hours and another 4-5 to get down. Only do this if you are in good shape.
There are local guides on offer at Besakih who you can hire on the spot.
Pura Pasar Agung might take you 4-5 to climb and another 3-4 to get down.
These 2 hikes are usually started at night (people from the Besakih side starting out at mignight) to see the dawn from the summit. The footing on Gunung Agung is a bit slippery, especially after a shower and is heavily rutted. Hard for people with knee problems but a reasonably fit person can make it.
There are a few guides hanging around at the base but they are mellow and one even told us we did not really need a guide. We ended up taking him as we did not want to fall over a mini-cliff in the dark.
Gunung Batur in the Kintamani area will take 2-3 hours and about 1 ½ or 2 hours coming down. People start out here around 4am to see the dawn. Clouds roll right after the dawn so getting up any later can mean all you will see is clouds. The most popular volcano to hike in Bali and you can expect to pay a fee and meet local touts acting as guides.
The Association of Mt. Batur Trekking Guides has a fixed fee of 300,000rp per guide with a limit of 4 people. I remember back in 1993 before this existed the local guide would hassle tourists trying to climb the volcano themselves. This is their money-maker and they are going to hang on it.
Gunung Catur is a decent sized volcano that is forested the entire way to the top. Hiking can be done after dawn and the time is around 3 hours to get up and 2 hours to get down.
Very nice hike. Not many other people climbing this one. No fees, no guides and you really do not need one.
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