The trek to Mount Batur.

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This is a vague thought that I entered my head when Wayan, my driver came to pick me up from my hotel in Seminyak on the wee hours of a Sunday morning for our trip to Mount Batur. To be precise, 01.30 hours – and he literally had to wade through the sea of party goers celebrating in style on the streets of Seminyak. I was excited and couldn’t help this narcissistic thought floating in my head.

Wayan was engaging and as we drove on enlightened me on the many facets of Balinese history and culture. We reached the base of Mt. Batur roughly at 2.45am and I was warmly greeted by my Guide Tri – an absolutely fit woman, a very friendly personality, all of 50. She is blessed with the strength of a superwoman, though her petite personality is quite misleading on that front.

Our climb (Tri and myself) started pretty early – say 3 am – absolutely pitch dark, punctuated with the steady gaze of a powerful torch and the murmur of other trekkers making their way up the mountain. Our path was largely strewn with lava rocks, boulders, slush and shrubs. At some places, the path was so narrow that a moment of concentration lapse could land you in big trouble. But then I had Tri.

Tri has a human connect apart from being an outstanding guide – she was caring, patient and very motivating. I couldn’t help but observe that she never had a moment of fatigue or shortness of breath throughout our climb – for me a spoilt city dweller, it was nothing short of miraculous. When the climb got tougher and my resolve weaker. Tri was a booster dose of energy – an ideal antidote to my self-defeating thoughts of giving up, weary legs, drooping shoulders and frequent episodes of shortness of breath.

Secretly I pondered about the measly yet regimental morning walks of 6 kms on a daily basis paid rich dividends and thanked my reasonable fitness levels and of course, Tri, who had guided me up the steep sections of Mount Batur. I guess will power and resolve are critical – but they feed on your own fitness quotients and the guide’s expertise a lot.

We reached the top of the mountain at 5.30am, and was thankful to Tri and the providence for helping me overcome the many challenges and achieve something that was incredibly beautiful. I settled down on a rock to catch my breath, rest my thumping heart and the apologetically weary legs. A simple and very welcome breakfast of boiled eggs, sandwiches, bananas and coffee had me recharge to stand witness to the beauties of Mother Nature.

The twilight was magical – and at 06.00 hours, I was fortunate to witness the Balinese Sum break through the clouds dazzling all of us with a spectacle that is hard to forget. The skies went through a kaleidoscope of colours and there I stood mesmerized and stunned, in awe of the power of Nature – the experience was so humbling and mystical that the whole pack of trekkers stood speechless and broke into an impromptu applause, in response to the heavens.

None of us wanted to let go of Nature’s embrace, but had to reluctantly make our way back. Fortunately for me, the experience was still on. Half way down, I chanced upon a rider on his Kawasaki. He was graceful enough to oblige me with a hitch, and there I came hurtling down Mount Batur – literally with my heart in my mouth and a generous dose of adrenaline flowing through my veins. The ride was indeed a roller coaster on a downward incline of Mount Batur – your track strewn with rubble, rocks and boulders.

Luckily for me, we managed not to have any incidents and got back to the base in a jiffy.

Wayan was waiting for me. And Bali, was too, with its myriad experiences and Natural mysteries.

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