The Magnificent Mount Batur

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One of most popular tourist place in Bali is Mount Batur which you can see from Kintamani village. The village is located somewhere in the middle of Bali, about 2 hours drive or 65 km from Denpasar to the north.

Mount Batur has erupted a couple of dozens times since 1800. The first eruption was on 1804 and the last was on July 2000. (Well, I was on a tour to Kintamani at that time, but it was only small eruption. Only some smoke puffed from the top.) The biggest eruption was in 1963 with three flows of lava.

Anyway, it is a great panorama. You can see the trace of black lava on the volcano and shimmering Lake Batur beside the volcano. On a clear day, it is really fascinating to watch this there-crater volcano. You can see only those three craters when you are at the top because the smaller craters are located in the main crater.

You can hike to the top. People usually do it in the morning; and so you can start your journey at 4 am. After two hours hiking you will arrive at 6 am. That is the time when you can see the sun rise. But even when you are still on the way hiking to the top you can already see beautiful view of the forest, villages, and lake that spreaded around mount Batur. And, guess what, there shops on the way to the top where you can buy drinks and snacks.

Mount Batur is an active volcano. There is an observation post in Penelokan village, a nearby village, to see what the volcano is doing whether or not it is going to erupt. There is also a seismometer or radioteleseismograph located somewhere in the height of 1350 metres.

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