Mount Batur

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We got a taxi from Ubud to Toya Bunkah with our sole intention to climb a volcano. As we drove downwards the views were spectacular. The guest house where we were staying was situated on the lake overlooking the volcano. There were a number of different treks you could do some starting at 3am and getting back at 10am. Being the hardcore trekkers that we are we opted for the 3 hour trek (the easy trek) which meant we didn't have to get up until 4:20am, what a lie in!

There was one major problem with this place which we quickly realised.... the flies....they were everywhere. Due to this we decided that after we had climbed the volcano no matter how tired we were, we were going to leave. After having a fly infested lunch and flapping our arms around trying to keep them off the food.... we headed off for a bit of relaxation in the hot springs. However we were a bit disappointed as the hot spring looked like a small swimming pool, we were expecting something a bit more au-natural. After having a dip, drinking our free warm glass of orange and being landed on in all directions by flys we headed off and after eating some dinner we got an early night.

We were woken up at 4:15am by lots of banging on our door by our trek guide and sat down and had breakfast, we were actually quite peckish for that time in the morning! A group of us were driven to the bottom of the crater where we were to start our climb. We had decided to climb the outer crater as climbing the inner one doesnt give you the best views, although you get to see he crater. The climb was pretty steep and we had a rest half way up. On the way up there were lots of villages where people lived and their crops that they survived off. Most of the group managed to make it up to the top together except for one guy who had bought with him two of the biggest cameras ever.... so was having a little bit of trouble.

The climb was well worth it and we were able to see views for miles. From the top you could see a village which our trek guide told us that it is their custom that they don't bury people......they wrap them in cloth and leave them on the surface (nice!!!!). We were a bit disappointed as the weather was fairly cloudy but we managed to watch sunrise before our decent down. We were glad to have done the outer crater as you wouldnt have been able to see anything from the volcano as it was covered in cloud for an hour during sunrise. We trekked down a fairly steep hill until we reached the lake where a boat was waiting to take us back to our guesthouse.

After attempting to go and have breakfast we left quickly due to the flys and got a taxi out of there. We were really pleased we did the climb but we were pleased to leave as we hated the flys!!!

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