Bali Trekking and Walking

The gently undulating landscape of Bali is a trekker or walker’s dream come true. Divine sunrises and sunsets, fabulously lush foliage and off-the-track tracks that offer a glimpse into secret paradises are all part of the Bali trekking and walking experience. About the only drawback is that during the wet season, roads and paths can become impossibly muddy.

Adventure trekkers can head straight for the summit of Mount Batur, an active volcano covered in green grass. Most trekking groups set off in the very early morning to be at the summit in time for the sensational sunrise. After that, a pre-midday descent offers great opportunities to explore the dramatic lava scapes of the mountain’s sides. Mount Batur can be explored from base to summit and back again in around four hours.

A harder trek starts at the Mother Temple in the village of Besakih and reaches the peak of Mount Agung, Bali’s highest mountain, many hours later. Most trekking groups do the trek overnight to catch the dawn spectacle. Mount Agung towers over Bali and the entire island can be viewed in panoramic splendour from the summit. From base to summit and back down again takes around 12 hours.

Walking through the Batur Caldera has been described as being like trekking “among the Gods”. While that may seem at first like travel brochure hyperbole, most people who take the walk along the caldera wall and reach the vast inner crater testify to the magic of this walk, that passes through some of Bali’s most untouched tiny villages, where walkers can stop for a much needed bite to eat and if they like, a cold beer.

Organised tours are the only truly safe way to reach the peaks of Lombok’s Mount Rinjani, one of the more active volcanoes of Indonesia’s violent Ring of Fire. Most adventures here last around four or five days and packages include all transfers, accommodation and food and bottled water. The moonscapes and steaming mud pits of Mount Rinjani are just part of the eye-popping sights on offer here.

Less adventurous walkers will enjoy strolling the streets of urban Bali. The frantic mayhem of downtown Kuta may be too much for some, but others will enjoy walks that pass from frenetic markets and commercial hotels to quiet temples and quaint private homes in the blink of an eye. Alleyways and lanes take walkers down towards the beach, or deeper into the daily life of locals who live and work in Bali tourism.

The slopes and slight hills of Ubud main town are a walkers delight too, with the nearby Monkey Forest and the surfeit of art galleries and restaurants provide ample opportunities to punctuate a day’s walking with plenty of sit down time. Ubud is quiet and light on motor traffic, though a lot of people take a motor cycle taxi here before setting off on a day’s exploration on foot.