Mt. Agung, Bali, Indonesia
My first big mountain hike
📌 By Jakub Mikula | July 24, 2016
When I visited Bali in July 2016, I embarked on my first hike up Mount Agung (3,031 m), which at the time was the highest mountain I had ever climbed. With no prior experience hiking mountains of this scale, I had no expectations, and nothing could have prepared me for the breathtaking sunrise and the panoramic view overlooking Mount Batur and the island of Bali.
My friend and I arrived in Bali and spent our first day exploring the island. We hired a private driver who took us to some stunning spots where we admired serene lakes and endless terraces of rice fields.
.jpg "fig.2 Stunning landscape of lakes and mountains.")
The landscape left me in awe.
That evening, we were scheduled to hike Mount Agung. We were dropped off at the base of the trail late at night, provided with extra warm clothes and gloves, and began our ascent. The trail was narrow and shrouded in darkness. Along the way, we stopped a few times at small clearings with fireplaces, where we warmed ourselves by the fire, sipped some hot tea, and had a quick snack before continuing.
Being my first experience with a mountain of this magnitude, I was amazed at how quickly the landscape transformed—from narrow, bushy paths to more open terrain, eventually giving way to a rocky trail almost devoid of any vegetation.
At this stage, we were still enveloped in darkness, and I had completely lost all sense of orientation. But as dawn approached, the inky black sky gradually gave way to the first light of morning, and I began to understand my surroundings.
We were walking along a narrow ridge, and in the distance, I could see the trail ending at the summit of Mount Agung. As the sky cleared, the sun began to peek over the horizon. Beyond the sparkling sea, other islands emerged, and the sky was mostly cloudless, with only a few wisps of clouds hovering far below us.
.jpg "fig.5 At the summit.")
Only then did I truly grasp the altitude we had reached. On one side, we could see the full crater of Mount Batur; behind us, a massive, pyramidal shadow stretched across the island—a sight of unimaginable scale.
.jpg "fig.6 Overlooking Mt Batur.")
.jpg "fig.7 Massive pyramidal shadow stretching accross the island.")
The view left an indelible impression on me and cemented my fascination with mountain hiking. At the summit, we enjoyed another cup of hot tea, had a light snack, and began our descent, returning to the car park later that morning.
I could hardly believe that all of this had happened in just around 12 hours. I cannot wait to return to this mountain again :)
