Indonesia 2010 Day 3

040410 0030 local time (GMT +8)
Bali, Indonesia

Happy birthday Jinjun!!!

Damn I hate waking up at this time. We have a little time to prepare, Jinjun's cooking Maggi using my mess tin. Oh well, got to rush!

0300 local time (GMT +8)
Mount Batur, Indonesia
1100m ASL

Wow. Batur looks imposing at night. What a starry sky though.

We took a 2 hour drive to get here, where we met our guide and prepared to head up. Just starting now, all the best to us!


0700 local time (GMT +8)
Mt. Batur, Indonesia
1600m ASL

Wow, the sunrise is simply stunning. It's almost surreal.

I can't really describe it, the vista with clouds below and Mt Abang and Mt Agung shrouded by mist in the distance.

The climb was much easier than Mt. Ophir. Took us 3 or so hours to get to this point. It's not the summit but it does give us good views of the sunrise.

There are quite a few people here, not to mention a bunch of playful and smart monkeys who love stealing our food and producing babies in front of us.

We'll be heading to look at the crater soon, then pressing on to the summit.


0900 local time (GMT +8)
Mt. Batur, Indonesia
1717m ASL

Summit!!!!

The view is brilliant.

The climb up took us up slippery slopes of volcanic soil. Kept slipping down, but I found it easier to get a comfortable footing as compared to rocks.

On the way we heard about a Swede who fell into the crater and perished. Sad, really.

We carried out a flag raising ceremony on the summit, using of course the Raffles flag. Really nice to plant our colours on the summit.

I feel really happy for Jinjun, to be able to spend his birthday this way. I know it means a lot to him. It means a lot to me too, as his friend, to be sharing this with him. I really have him to thank for making it here. Calvin too. I never had any motivation to climb myself, so every inch of the way, my main motivation was not to let them down.

Should be casing the colours and making our way down soon, as rain clouds are coming in. Agung looms in the distance, but I'm thankful we didn't climb her. We wouldn't have made it, not to mention missing out on the dolphins and stuff.

Facebook on the summit is fun.

1200 local time (GMT +8)
Kintamani, Indonesia
1300m ASL

The descent was pretty ok. Had a taste of skiing as we delberately slid down the volcanic sand on our feet. That was really fun. The rest of the descent was easy, checking out stuff like volcanic vents called fumeroles and cooking combat rations on them.

Now on our way to buy Babi Guling, or roast suckling pig, which is one of the most famous Balinese delicacies. The mountain looks like Totoro from here. Hope we get back soon, we need to change room again and I'm exhausted.

2100 local time (GMT +8)
Bali, Indonesia

A strong case of Deja vu. I left the room for a while to use the net downstairs and when I came up, Jinjun and Calvin had both fallen asleep, leaving me locked out. They didn't even wake up to the repeated excerpts from William Tell Overture. In the end I had to find a spare key once again.

We wanted to watch the sunset that night. However, Calvin and Jinjun slept through, and no matter how hard I tried, I failed to wake them up.

Dinner was KFC. Not as bad as I remember it, but nothing fantastic. Now at the restaurant having a LAN session with the other two guys.

Back home tomorrow, it's a bittersweet feeling.
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