Bali & The Majestic Mount Batur

In November this year, I visited Bali for a week to attend a conference. I stayed at Sofitel Nusa Dua Hotel Bali, and it's located in South East of Bali, which basically means it's a sunrise location.

When I had some free time, I decided to take a stroll around the beach and take some photos. I did try to wake up for sunrise, but the sky wasn't so great. I am not sure whether it was the location or may be I was too late to get to the beach??

Anyways, the highlight of the trip was hiking Mount Batur (elevation 1717m). I joined this hiking trip with four of my office colleagues and it was great fun. This mountain has an active volcano with Kintamani town located at the foothill.

We started our hike around 3 AM and by 5ish we were at the summit. The hike itself was not so difficult but it was dark and after about 70% of the distance, it became very slippery due to the volcanic ash. Once we were up there, I decided to set up my tripod and basically take picture of the sunrise, with the view of Mount Agung.

At the summit, it was nice and cold with the most beautiful views of the sunrise. I don't think my description would do justice to the scenery. The colors were simply amazing - it was like a whole range of colors in the sky.

This was the point where I promised myself that I am going to visit all the 7 summits of Indonesia before it's too late. Basically, I realized I am a mountain kinda guy...which is why I was so excited for my Switzerland trip :P

Ok coming back to the sunrise, the sky was absolutely clear & we could even see the tip of Mount Rinjani on the west side of Mount Agung (have a look at the pictures).

So from now onwards, it's gonna be mountains mountains mountains. The seven great summits of Indonesia are:

1. Bukit Raya (2,300 metres)
2. Binaya (3,027 metres)
3. Latimojong (3,430 metres)
4. Semeru (3,676 metres)
5. Rinjani (3,726 metres)
6. Kerinci (3,805 metres)
7. Carstenz Pyramid (4,884 metres)

Next year i.e. 2016 I have Rinjani, Agung,  and Semuru on my list. I think this will set me good for my trip to the Karakoram / Himalaya region back in my home country Pakistan.

Nusa Dua Beach

Mount Batur