Bali - Agung Volcano Trek

For updated & practical info, visit :

The Agung Region, located on the north-eastern side of Bali, is probably the calmest and less touristy region of the island. Most of the hotels are located in the sleepy & hilly town of Amed. This place is ideal to find peace and quiet. It is probably less frequented because the beach is actually made of ash sediments from the volcano, and the sand is black. However, there is great snorkling to be done, and a shipwrek can be seen, snorkling from the coast!

The main sights, located in beautiful landscapes, are Pura BesakihTemple (At the foot of Sacred Gunung Agung) and the water palace. Of course, near Amed, the main trek to be done is the hike up the highest volcano of Bali: Gunung Agung!

 

From Singapore, this trek can actually be done in a weekend! There are three paths to the summit. The first path lasts 10-14 hours and starts from the bottom and goes on the ridge of the volcano all the way to the top. The second path lasts 2 hours, starts from the temple of Pura Besakih and finishes on the crater rim (lower by a few hundred meters to the summit). The third path is only practiced by a few guides, and allows a straight-super-steep climb to the summit by starting at Pura Besakih temple. It is possible to opt for the third route, and change to the second route if too tired!

For this trek, I highly recommend the services of a nice and energetic local guide: Wayan Dartha (agungguide@yahoo.com). We took the third route, and made it to the summit. The trek is done at night with headlamps and is quite strenuous because of the steepness. Not many hikers make it to the summit, which ensures a quite exclusive feeling when reaching the ridge and eventually the summit!

Culminating at 3031 meters, the sacred volcano of Agung is the highest point of the island of Bali, and offers a beautiful trek with an extraordinary view on all of island. At this altitude, you get to enjoy a view well above the clouds.

From the top, it is possible to see most of Bali Island. Batur seems very small, and it is possible to see afar Bromo on Java and Ridjani on Lombok. The sunrise is actually right behind Rinjani and the view is truly spectacular! You also get to enjoy the volcano sunrise's speciality: the volcanoe's triangular-shaped shadow on all of Bali!

For those of you on a tight schedule, Wayan can pick you up from the midnight-arrival flight from Singapore, drive you to the temple (in approx 2 hours). After the trek (which takes 6-7 hours to the summit and back), Wayan can also arrange the transport to the nearest beach to relax, i.e. Amed Beach

And yes, at this altitude, you get Edeilweiss flowers, which are clearly not a specilaty of the Alps!

The way down is quite tiring because it is very steep and there are a lot of rocks which implies that the path is not easy. However, from the arrival point of the trek, you are 1-2 hours car-drive away from Ahmed black-beach and its range of confortable hotels!

From Ahmed, its really easy to rent a morotbike and drive to the beautiflu Water Palace (30-45mins drive through the rice paddies and coco-nut tree-filled countryside.) The water palace is one of the most relaxing temples of Bali!