In Reply to: Going up Mount Agung? posted by GinnyTonic on Monday, 18. June 2012 at 21:16 Bali Time:
G'day Ginny,
We climbed Agung in 2009. Our flight to Bali arrived at 2pm. We checked into our hotel at Nusa Dua and lazed around the pool for the afternoon, had dinner at a restaurant, all as per usual, then at 10pm that night, we were picked up at our hotel by our driver and driven the couple of hours to Besakih Temple, which was our starting point.
We were welcomed into a small hut/house belonging to our guide and his family, given drinks, bottled water, torches and snacks to pack in our own small backpacks we brought with us.
Our guide Putu spoke very good English, and was very accomplished in climbing the Sacred mountain. He routinely took tourists up every second day (to give himself a break in between).
Anyway, before midnight, we began the trek, stopping at a small remote temple near the bottom to ask permission from the gods to ascend the mountain. That done, we continued on the track (fairly well worn - but dont try it without a guide, especially in the dark - people have died) and made stops every hour or so to rehydrate and have a snack to keep the energy up. It was surreal to be climbing a mountain in the middle of the night. It was steamy near the bottom, but once we broke through the light cloud layer, it got very cool, very quickly, so make sure you take some type of warmth for the top. About 10 deg Celcius up top. We passed some other groups who had climbed part way and stopped to camp before continuing.
Eventually, we arrived at the 7th false peak to find that it was indeed the top, just in time to see the sun rise. WHAT AN AMAZING MOMENT IN TIME!!!! ABSOLUTE SERENITY!!!! PERFECTION!!!! We were sore, but it was well worth it, and we would have happily paid double the $100US to have the same experience. We watched as the sun threw its rays around the peak and created a perfect mountain shadow on the valleys behind.
DO IT! If you are at all physically capable. DO IT. Once in a lifetime.
Email is open if you want more details.