Mt. Agung 3142m via Pura Pasar Agung (2-3 May 2015)

Mt. Agung is the highest volcano in Bali. I've been there once with 3 friends of mine, via Kubu, the rare route people take. Here is the full story of that moment. Anyway, after more than two years, I wanted to try again. This time from Pura (Temple) Pasar Agung which located at 2010 meters above the sea level. I have 3 friends coming with me, none of them have been to this volcano before.

We started from Ubud and Sanur at noon, it was a raining day, and have been raining for like a week. We met in Klungkung and go through Sedimen, and then make a stop for early dinner, just before the road going up to the start point. We had some conversation after meal, as only one of them is my real friend, and the others we met from Couchsurfing. And then we continue driving to the temple. One of the motorbike wasn't strong enough, as the road is quite steep. The good thing is the weather getting better, we could see the volcano.

On the way to the temple, we could see the top of Agung

We arrived at the temple right after sunset, we could see the blue view and then turned into lights of the South Bali. As the hike will take about 4-6 hours, we decided to start at 2am. After taking pictures and having some snacks, we squeezed in the small tent.

Parking area of Pura Pasar Agung

Nice view from the front of Pura Pasar Agung

My alarm rang right when I'm having a dream about my Mom, we was hugging tightly. We put down the tent and rolled our sleeping bag, and then put all in the room of the Temple's guardian. The hike start at 2:15, little bit late. My friend who has been there many times told me some details, so we didn't use any guide (no body offering service anyway).

So, the path start from the left side of Temple's building. Basically the route is a quarter in deep forest, a quarter in dry forest, a half way in stony area with some rock climbing. 
4 hours up
4.2 km long
2100m to 3140m

Half of our way was raining, we meet some people who gave up and going back down. We took a rest in a small flat area, after no more rain and we could see the light in the South Bali. The stony area was tricky, we need a good light to identify which one is the route. There are some sign and vandalism on the rocks. About 30 meters before the top, we need to find a sign "SOTO" on the right side, and climb that way.

About half way, we could see the lights in the South Bali

Torch is not practical for climbing

We arrived on the top at 6:20, kind of late for sunrise. We could see the crater, another top, another volcanoes.

View of Batukaru (on the left) and the other mountains in the middle of Bali

The summit we could reach from Besakih Temple

View of Mt.Rinjani (Lombok)

One of my friend tried to go around the rim of Agung

The Crater of Agung volcano

After taking pictures and having breakfast, we going back down. Some area needed to go slower as it was steep and slippery. But went back wasn't as hard as we thought when we were climbed up. We felt so tired and long way in the dry forest. In deep forest, i did some run to make it faster to reach the end.

The sign "SOTO" just before the summit

It is a steep way

Extreme route, but it was fun

This is exactly the same point we took a rest in the dark

Feeling like no-ending dry forest

My tired face

Once we arrived at the Temple's yard, we put cream for legs and we laying on the grass. After got back our energy, we went down to the parking area and go home.



From this experience, I would like to give some information for you who interest in this climb.

Where and what time?
Start point is Pura Pasar Agung (-8.369231, 115.503197), about 2 hours drive from Ubud, 3 hours from Denpasar or Kuta. The perfect time to start hike is 2am, as it will take about 4 hours including some rest. So you can adjust depends on how fast do you hike. Too early will be freezing cold on the top.

What to bring?

• Headlamp, better than torch as  you need both of your hand to grab the rock.
• Water and food, just enough, too much will be too heavy to carry
• Jacket and trouser to keep you warm
• Raincoat (in rainy season)
• Tent and sleeping bag (if you want to stay overnight)
• Gloves, better the one with fingers hole, so you can grab the rock easier
• Proper shoes, at least the one with pattern in the bottom
• Camera