Guest Post of Mount Abang Bali

Although Mt. Abang is not as famous as Mt. Batur or Mt. Agung, but it is located between them. What is the difference is that it is not a volcano, so the trek is in the forest. The starting point of the trek is located in -8.369231, 115.503197. In order that we get there it is necessary for us to drive to Kintamani first, which is about one hour in the north of Ubud town. At that time I started at 5 am from Ubud, with a friend of mine, who is an Estonian girl spending her holiday in Bali. Then we halted at Kintamani to see the sunrise view.

There is the mountain we are going to climb up. We took pictures very often and we loved doing the activities. One of the is that we took pictures of Mt. Batur just before sunrise.
After enjoying the sunrise views, then we drove to the start point of Mount Abang trail, the road quality was pretty bad and it was misty so I was not able to see more than 3 meters in the front of us. There will be a sign “WELCOME TO GUNUNG ABANG” on the tree in the end of the road which is also the start point of the trek.

At the beginning my friend told me that it is going to take about 2 hours up, and we did it in one hour 37 minutes which includes some halts for pictures and drink. The track is pretty slippery in several points, and steep as well. There is a flat open view point with a typical tiny Balinese Hindu temple. From here you can see witnessing the top of the mountain.

We admired the top of Abang mountain, its slopes, colorful tropical trees.
The trees here are interesting to see and we took pictures in which the trees are as the back ground. The trees feel like in the middle of old rain forest of the equator. For instance, most of them are pines covered by moss. Some fallen trees are on the track which actually helped us to climb the slippery parts of the trek.We also admired the forest track in Mt. Abang. And those Pine trees which were covered by moss also made us eager to capture them with our camera. When the weather is fine and clear, there is a point where we can see these views of the tropical paradise of Bali Island. Most of the time we could see clouds that covered Kintamani area where Batur mountain and lake are located.

At that time we reached the top of Mt. Abang in a sunny morning, before 9 a.m. The view was really amazing! We were able to enjoy seeing Mt.Batur, the beautiful valley and slightly Mt.Agung in the other side. After taking several pictures, we sat on the edge looking at the views and eating breakfast served for us.

The pictures we took are the temple on the top of Mt.Abang, Me posing with Mt. Batur as background, picture of Mt. Batur taken from the top of Mt. Abang, the beautiful valley, just another nice view from the top of Mt. Abang, and pictures looking down at the village by the Lake Batur.

Before we were leaving, the place became misty, but it is still beautiful. Then we met a group of climbers with 20 people on half way down. And also in the end, we met a noisy off road motorbike community; they have made the road even much worse!

Misty temple on the top of Mt.Abang was really dramatic for me. So, I took some pictures of it.

Now let me tell you again about the off road motor bike community. We need to give a way for bikers while they are sort of ruining our track.
We stopped at Kintamani view point once again for the views of the lake and Mt. Batur and then drove back home to Ubud.

There are several things that you need to prepare for this trekking tour:
1. Proper hiking shoes and make sure that the bottom is not flat.
2. Headlamp in case you want to start early to catch the sunrise views.
3. Warm clothes in the early morning, light one if it’s sunny daytime
4. Enough food and water just like a breakfast

Whether or not you need a guide for this trekking tour, the choice is yours. If you get used to mountain, the track are clear and safe. However, if you need somebody to lift you up or carry your backpack, then you can hire a guide or book your trekking tour to a Bali Jungle Trekking company.

It is very useful to check the weather forecast for your trekking tour. It is because in rainy season it could be more slippery and there are leeches along the trail.

For your trip comfort, you should know that there is police checking almost every day just before Kintamani area in daytime. So, make sure that you have driving license and vehicle’s paper. Unless they will ask you some amount of money as a fine.

What is more is that there are some check points before entering Kintamani and Abang area, they won’t open before sunrise though. However, I heard it’s pretty expensive for foreigners. Luckily, you can avoid them by saying that you are going to Besakih Temple and only passing this area. Last but not least, Make sure that you bring your camera! There are too many beautiful views to skip during your trip