In Reply to: Kintamani posted by lori on Thursday, 14. June 2007 at 18:00 Bali Time:
Kintamani is the village at the top of the crater and Mt Batur is the volcano.
I did it about 5 or 6 years ago. It was great! I stayed at a hotel in the crater. I can't remember it's name. It wasn't the best but was a roof over my head. I got woken up at about 3:30am I think and was then driven to a spot at the bottom of the volcano. They was about 10 or 15 people walking. We were given torches and some head torches. It was a fairly long walk to the start of the climb. The climb is pretty steep and a bit rocky. We got to the top of the Volcano at about 6am and stopped to watch the sun rise. It was one of the most amasing sights i have ever seen. The volcano crater was full of cloud way below us and the sun was rising, setting the sky on fire with bright oranges and reds. There is another island you can see from the top and from memory the sun rises over that island.
After that we walked some more and go to a spot where the ground is really hot and they cook some bananas and eggs. The food wasn't the best but just saying you have done it is cool. They also cook some Bali coffee (Yuck!). After breakfast you walk back and get back at about 10am.
I can't remember the cost but it was way cheaper than their original quote. I wouldn't have paid more than $10. But it was worth $1000.
You can't see any lava but you can hear it and see the smoke coming from the ground. The holes open up in different spots all the time so you may be lucky and see some lava. You have to be very careful beacuse the Sulfur fumes are very poisonous.
I have also done the walk in the day with my wife and 2 very small kids.
If you go to Kintamani and drive into the Volcano crater you can ask any of the hotels and they will advise who can take you up. Quite often there are guys stopping on motorbikes asking if you want to walk.