Mt Batur, hot springs, coffee & massages

We had a very early (2:30 a.m.) pickup time from our driver and we were off to Mt. Batur. We were each given a head lamp and a walking stick and were assigned Charlie and Coleman as our guides. Emily wasn’t feeling well (we think she has sun poisoning) so after climbing about a half hour, Emily and Mom decided to ride on the back of motorbikes up the mountain. They still had to climb the last half hour, which was the most difficult, but got there before the rest of us. Maddy, James, and Heidi climbed fairly quickly and left Dad with Charlie as they took their time going up. Charlie was patient and Dad says he wouldn’t have made it without him. At the top, Charlie managed to find all 3 of our groups so that we could sit together. There were probably 500 people waiting at the top of the mountain and it was dark, so that was quite an accomplishment. Charlie then made us breakfast of warm banana sandwiches, boiled eggs, and oranges. The sunrise was amazing. When it came up, we could see that we were above the clouds. Charlie also took us to the very top where you could see steam coming out. Mt. Batur is still an active volcano. After taking pictures, we headed back down, which was not as easy as we had hoped. With the loose rocks, it was very easy to lose your footing so we needed to go slowly.

We finally made it to the bottom where we thanked Charlie for his support (we’re not sure where Coleman ended up) and met our driver and headed to the hot springs to soak our sore muscles. After the hot springs, we stopped at a another coffee plantation and tried a sampler of 14 different coffees and teas. Heidi even tried the special coffee that is made from a coffee bean that has been pooped out of a mongoose. It was very dark and very strong, but Heidi liked it.

After the plantation, we finally headed back to our villa to relax. After resting for awhile, Dad and Mom got their first massages, a 1 hour Balinese massage, and Emily got a post sunburn treatment before dinner. After dinner, we were very tired, so got to bed early.Read more