At 9pm we went back to the MBA office to meet our driver (Arata) and head to Besakih temple where our climb would begin at around 11.30pm. We stopped at a mini-mart on the way to get some food, but didn’t find much. Some Ritz crackers, water, chocolate, a few sweet buns and a couple of apples. Pretty pathetic. When we go hiking in Japan we are well stocked with sandwiches, nuts, fresh and dried fruit and a flask of tea. This would have to do. We drove for about 2 hours and parked the car in the deserted carpark next to Besakih temple. It looked really creepy in the dark. All the village dogs were out howling and barking. It was a beautiful clear night and we could see the stars really clearly and even the Milky Way!
Our local guide Yeman- arrived, we shook hands and got ready to go. Arata decided to come with us as he had never climbed the volcano from that side before. Most people choose the easier path from a place called Selat. We wanted the maximum challenge (are we mad? What is wrong with us?!) Gunung Agung is the highest mountain on Bali and is said to be 3142m, although it may be a bit lower than this as I don’t think it has been measured since it last erupted in 1963. The starting point is around 1000m so the climb is a steep one, up and down around 2000m in one go. We have only ever done this a couple times in the past: Mount Fuji and Mount Kinabalu in Borneo. On each of these occasions, our legs hurt for days afterwards. I still wanted to do this one. Why? Because it is there? For the challenge? For the photo opportunities? For the experience? So that I can lounge around Le Meridien for the rest of the week feeling like I’d earned it? A bit of all of these reasons I suppose. Also for a bit of closure. Last year we climbed Mt. Rinjani on the neighboring island of Lombok. From there we looked over and saw Gunung Agung and I now wanted to do it the other way around.
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