Height-Intermezzo: Mount Agung

10 Oct 2015. It was 01:15 in the morning and deep dark when I arrived at the parking area of Pura Pasar Agung. A man came up to me, and asked whether I was Chris. So there he was, my mountain guide for that night, bapak Mangu, with his relaxed smile that almost hid his upper row of teeth. A few minutes later we started the ascent. We made a good speed, no too fast, saving energy to reach the top. I was not sure whether I would make it. But with a few breaks, some water, bananas and chocolate bars, there was enough energy. Only after a long field of large rocks, quite steep, and not without danger, I was having some doubts whether I should continue. This was at the peak of exhaustion, and it would still be 45 minutes to climb. But so close to the peak one doesn’t want to give up. Just before sunrise we made it to the top.

About half or 2/3 of the way up to the peak on Mount Agung stratovolcano

Fellow climbers on that day on their way to the peak

Mountain Guide bapak Mangu who led me the way to the peak at 3031 meters over sea level

The real challenge was getting down. For the first two hours, balancing on the rocks and being cautious not to fall, still with weak legs from the ascent, and the other two hours the pain in the feet, the toes to be particular. The ground consisted of loose gravel, and later it was a bit softer and dusty but not much less steep or slippery. My shoes gave up, and fortunately, the soles were not completely detached, but still held by a few strings. The last hour was the toughest. Knees were weak, tighs evenly, toes were feeling like the nails wanted to come off. Pak Mangu had to help for a few meters, and I had to walk backwards for the final 500 meter or so to bear the pain. When I reached the temple at the foot of the mountain, watching up, I could almost not believe I have made it. Now, in daylight, I would never have thought to climb to the top of this majestic volcano.

Viewing the sunrise over far away Mount Rinjani in Lombok…

…and seeing a range of volcanic peaks in Bali, among them Mount Batur, in the opposite direction, lit by the early sun rays and being shadowed triangle-shaped by Mount Agung

Ice cold wind and clouds at the peak, resting with some fellow trekkers, enjoying the hot tea of pak Mangu with some biscuits and bananas    

View from the peak, it was a cloudy day  

The adventure was not yet finished, and I would need to postpone my sleep for another 6 hours. The car run only for a minute until it stopped on the way back, just in the middle of nowhere on a steep forest road down from the slopes of the mountain, 30 minutes from the next village, at least 1 hour from the next town. Based far away, it took the rental guy of my car 6 hours to show up. But great that he did. I had already suspected injection issues, because electricity, oil and water was ok. He had brought a mechanic that reminded me of an artist, and his art was to fix cars. He detached the petrol tank in the middle of the forest and changed the petrol pump. I thought that kind of job needs a garage, and could not believe my eyes the way they helped themselves, lifting the car, and finally the tank up again. The engine started running just when dusk broke, I drove home, got my legs treated with hot oil by my wife, and slept very, very well.

The tree-line looks far, but it is hours of trekking away, and the way down was the hardest, with a mix of exhaustion and toe pain

I survived, but not my shoes

When I watched up in daylight, I would not have imagined I could make it, and was surprised by myself

And this is how the adventure actually was extended by a whole afternoon