In Reply to: volcano tour posted by JBRB on Wednesday, 16. March 2005 at 23:53 Bali Time:
Which volcano are you talking about ??
June 06, 2004
Day trip to Kintamani Bali
Sunday came along here in Bali and I wanted to get out of the Kuta area for a few hours.
One of the things on my list to do is to get some lava rocks for my bbq, the idea being that they will raise the height of the coals and retain heat. They also smoke a lot too which all adds up to a better bbq.
My friend Ebong suggested going to Gunung Batur, the big volcano close to Kintamani and so around 12pm I set off. Sunny days are with us again and I have managed to lose a couple of cheap sarongs. I stopped off in Sanur and picked up another one for 20,000rp to wrap around my neck. Hours of riding in the hot sun really work your neck.
The route I took was to head to Sanur, then to Gianyar and ride through Bangli to Kintamani. This is around 3 hours and I got to the rim of the volcano still feeling fresh. Stopping off to take a photo I was attacked by souvenir vendors. I gave them no positive feedback or showed any interest but they hammered away till I remounted and pulled away. I can imagine newcomers to Bali being overwhelmed at the constant assault.
Gunung Batur sits inside the caldera (crater) of a larger volcano which is also occupied by Danau (Lake) Batur. The lake holds a massive amount of water which feeds Bali's springs. In a culture that needs water for rice production this is really important and needless to say Danau Batur is a holy place.
The entry to the lake is directly off of the main road and there wasn't an admission or any other nonsense that you sometimes encounter in Indonesia. I rode for about 10 minutes down a windy forested road before getting close to the lake. On the way I passed locals and realized this place was inhabited and the whole usual village set up was waiting for me. The village at the bottom of the hill was called Kedisan which has some accommodation and runs boats trips to the traditional ‘Bali Aga' village of Trunyan further round the lake.
I was thinking ‘this is a crazy place to put a village, inside a volcanic crater, but the place is scenic, very fertile and has access to unlimited fresh water. In one way it could be almost idyllic living here. Gunung Batur has erupted 20 times since 1800, the last time being 1994.
In 1993 I hiked to the top of Gunung Batur starting at 4am like so many other tourists do. If you would like to do this too you will have to spend the night at a village called Toya Bungkah on the north side of the lake. I remember finding out the hard way what to look for when renting a guest house in Asia. My place was clean but the inside toilet and no ventilation made me feel like I was sleeping in a toilet.
Some of the locals are reliant on the tourist trade selling paintings and boats rides. As soon as I stopped to take a photo a fellow called Wayan stepped in front of me and told me about his paintings. His friend Putu wanted to sell me land (100m rp for 4 ara). I told them both I was heading back this way and would talk to them later.
Its possible to pass through a couple of villages heading anti (counter) clockwise around the lake. I rode some extremely potholed roads for maybe 30 minutes before coming to a dead end, at least for motorbikes. As many people will know the traditional Balinese village of Trunyan exists on the banks of Danau Batur and is only accessible by boat. Several people offered me boat rides starting at 100,000rp and finishing at 30,000rp for the 30 minutes minute trip. I want to check this place out with Barrie when he comes so left it for later. The inside of the Batur crater is a unique little scene though.
Before leaving I had the task of locating lava rocks. Just where do you look for lava rocks? I know they are directly on the volcano but that was far away and the place I was in was heavily overgrown. As luck would have it I passed a few piles of apple sized lava rocks at the side of the windy road and quickly loaded about 40lbs into my backpack.
Before taking off I bought 2 liters of petrol (bensin) from a local vendor at a little shop, just like everywhere else in Bali. When I asked the price she called over to a group of men and one came over. 'Where are you from, how long you been in Bali?' he said. 'Oh God what is this?' I thought, ‘figure out the ‘bule price.' In fact the lady was speaking Balinese to him and probably didn't understand my bad Indonesian. The price was 5,000rp, nice to know you can get a top up almost anywhere on this island.
Riding back up the windy hill to the main road I was down to 1st gear in places and I was sure the engine was getting quite hot. Fortunately after hitting the main road I rode down a long straight road to Bangli for many miles and the motorbike got a chance to cool off.
Perama buses operate to Kintamani every day and so do many private tour operators. For me I would prefer to get dropped off in the area and find a guest house for the night, check things out and go for a hike.
There are many restaurants set up around the rim of the crater and guest houses inside the crater.
Allowing 4 hours of daylight to get home I had an uneventful ride, although the heavy backpack did add force to the ‘saddle grab' that us guys have to deal with on long downhill sections.
Posted by Nick on June 6, 2004 12:02 PM Bali Time
I thought this was an interesting read for you.
Paul