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| The girls climbing Mt. Batur! |
We spent Independence Day (Friday, August 17th) in Bali. We booked a couple of drivers to come and pick us up from our hotel by 1:30 am. One of them was on time, and I think the other one was still sleeping. We were definitely not happy about that. Nicole called him, and he said he would be at our hotel in 30 minutes. We needed to leave by 2:00 am to be there on time. You are probably thinking, where on earth would be going at 2 am? It was funny, because there were people just getting in from being out, and we were just waking up to go out. Haha. The first group left for our destination, and left the other group behind to wait for the other driver.
After about a 2 hour drive, we arrived at Mt. Batur. I could not believe that I was going to be climbing this volcano at 4:00 am! After a guy explained the hike to us and gave us a couple of guides, we were off. The walk just to get to the base of Mt. Batur seemed tiring, and we weren't even climbing yet! Haha. As we started climbing, I really didn't think I was going to make it. I was moving pretty slowly up the side of the volcano. I pretty much had my own guide, because they can't leave anyone behind. It was so sandy, so it was very easy to slide while you were trying to go up. After we got to the top, or what I thought was the top, we took a break and took some pictures. We stopped here to watch the sunrise. It was so beautiful; like nothing I have ever seen before. It was a great experience that I will never forget. Too bad that I forgot my camera...I will have to steal some from the others that took pictures. Since it was Independence Day, there were large groups of people with Indonesian flags singing the National Anthem. It was really neat. We were able to sing a little with them, since we sing it once a week at school.
After watching the sunrise, we took off for the rest of our hike up the volcano. It seemed like it was taking forever...haha because it was. I was definitely not prepared for it at all. After many "water breaks", we reached the top of Mt. Batur. They told us that when we reached the top, they would serve us breakfast. They served us a banana sandwich and hard boiled egg that was cooked with the hot steam from the volcano. How cool is that?! We sat around and ate our breakfast, while enjoying the beautiful view from the top. When I looked out, I could not believe that I had made it that far. Climb a volcano in Indonesia. CHECK! That's one off my bucket list. Of course we weren't finished yet. We still had the journey down the volcano, and it was kind of scary.
After about a 2 hour drive, we arrived at Mt. Batur. I could not believe that I was going to be climbing this volcano at 4:00 am! After a guy explained the hike to us and gave us a couple of guides, we were off. The walk just to get to the base of Mt. Batur seemed tiring, and we weren't even climbing yet! Haha. As we started climbing, I really didn't think I was going to make it. I was moving pretty slowly up the side of the volcano. I pretty much had my own guide, because they can't leave anyone behind. It was so sandy, so it was very easy to slide while you were trying to go up. After we got to the top, or what I thought was the top, we took a break and took some pictures. We stopped here to watch the sunrise. It was so beautiful; like nothing I have ever seen before. It was a great experience that I will never forget. Too bad that I forgot my camera...I will have to steal some from the others that took pictures. Since it was Independence Day, there were large groups of people with Indonesian flags singing the National Anthem. It was really neat. We were able to sing a little with them, since we sing it once a week at school.
After watching the sunrise, we took off for the rest of our hike up the volcano. It seemed like it was taking forever...haha because it was. I was definitely not prepared for it at all. After many "water breaks", we reached the top of Mt. Batur. They told us that when we reached the top, they would serve us breakfast. They served us a banana sandwich and hard boiled egg that was cooked with the hot steam from the volcano. How cool is that?! We sat around and ate our breakfast, while enjoying the beautiful view from the top. When I looked out, I could not believe that I had made it that far. Climb a volcano in Indonesia. CHECK! That's one off my bucket list. Of course we weren't finished yet. We still had the journey down the volcano, and it was kind of scary.
They warned me that it was going to be a little scary, and they were right! OMG, I thought I was going to die. There were points when we were crawling on the side of the volcano finding rocks to put our feet on so that we could make it across. I don't think this would ever be allowed in Amerika, and we didn't even have to sign a wavier or anything before we went up! It was so sandy! You could just slide down the side of the volcano and hope that you didn't fall. Danna had a fight with the volcano. Score ended up being Volcano: 2, Danna: 0. Poor girl. She has the battle scars on her legs. We moved pretty slowly down the volcano. I was so afraid that I was going to fall. The guide was very patient with us, and he even taught us some Indonesian and Balinese language on the way down. I kept telling him that I was just going to roll down the side of the volcano. It would be much easier and faster right? Haha.
About an hour later than we were supposed to be, we made it down the volcano. I could not believe that I just did that. I haven't done any hiking in over a year, and I just hiked up and back down a volcano! I did it super slow, but I still did it :) We thanked our guides, and got in the car for our two hour car ride back to the hotel. Everyone was so tired that we slept on the ride home.
About an hour later than we were supposed to be, we made it down the volcano. I could not believe that I just did that. I haven't done any hiking in over a year, and I just hiked up and back down a volcano! I did it super slow, but I still did it :) We thanked our guides, and got in the car for our two hour car ride back to the hotel. Everyone was so tired that we slept on the ride home.
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