A Sunrise Jeep Tour of Bali’s Mount Batur
When I was planning things to do for my trip to Bali, I knew seeing Mount Batur at sunrise had to be on the list. Originally, I came across a sunrise hiking tour, but the hike is said to be moderately strenuous and I wanted my aunt to enjoy herself too. So when I came across a jeep tour, I booked it right away.
What is Mount Batur?
Mount Batur is an active volcano located in the Kintamani Village of Bali, Indonesia. It last erupted in 2000, but the last powerful eruption was in 1963. This eruption led to the creation of the black lava fields in the Kintamani Village.
We started the morning bright and early with a 3am pick up from our airbnb and made the 2 hour drive to the base of the volcano, where we got into our jeep. This is where the real adventure began. It was the definition of off roading! We were laughing so hard the whole ride up, thinking how is this even legal. But alas, we made it to our lookout spot and got settled waiting for the sun to rise. The tour included breakfast, so our guide brought us some traditional Balinese coffee, hard boiled eggs, some sort of chocolate candy, and banana sandwiches. The sandwiches were more like bread with one piece of a banana smeared thinly, but hey it was free, so we were grateful! It was a little chilly at 5am (the only time I was actually ‘cold’ in Bali), so we were cozied up with the blankets they provided us with. While we waited for the sun to rise, my aunt and I each bought bracelets that members of the Kintamani Village walked around selling.
After 45 minutes or so, the sun began to rise and man did we get lucky! Even our guide was amazed because the last few days had been super cloudy and they didn’t see a sunrise.
Once the sun was up, I walked around to get a better view of the mountain. I was mesmerized by the clouds floating over the mountain in the distance - it was so magical! I will say this was definitely an ‘instagram vs. reality’ moment for me. From where our jeep was parked, you couldn’t see just how many jeeps and people were actually there. However, once I walked to the other side I was blown away by the amount of jeeps!
After watching the sunrise, we drove in the jeep to the black lava fields that were created from the last big eruption of Mount Batur in 1963. The views coming down were gorgeous! I wish I could’ve captured the off roading experience because it was truly hysterical. The lava rocks were MASSIVE, but we were honestly pretty tired so we didn’t stay long.
We then made our way back to the place where we left our car and made our way to the Batur Natural Hot Springs, which was about a 15 minute drive. There were 5 different pools of hot springs, with varying temperatures, so you could find what felt best for you! It was barely 9am at this point, so it wasn’t too hot for the hot springs yet. I mainly stayed in the hottest one and it actually felt really nice and relaxing. Entrance to the hot springs, fresh guava juice, towels, and lockers were included in our tour.
After the hot springs, we drove to our last stop for the morning - a coffee plantation. We had gone to a coffee plantation two days before because we didn’t realize that both tours included one, so we didn’t spend much time here. I will say the first coffee plantation we went to was a much better experience as far as tour wise and atmosphere wise. The coffee pretty much tasted the same! Read all about our experience with Kopi Luwak - Bali's Infamous Cat Poop Coffee. We enjoyed another plate of free samples of coffees and teas, bought some coffee to take home, and made our way back to our airbnb.
I found this tour under the experience tab on airbnb. It was $47/person and included pick up from our airbnb by car (2 hours from the base of the volcano), the jeep ride up the volcano, breakfast, the jeep ride to the black lava fields, the car ride to the hot springs, entrance to the coffee plantation, and the car ride back to our airbnb. And of course, incredible views! In total, about a 9 hour day worth of activities, so I definitely thought it was worth it!
