Agung is the highest volcano in Bali. At a height of 3031 m – it can change when erupting – you can see it almost from anywhere on the island.
Last year it started to smoke, and from time to time to spit lava. Since we arrived, it started to show signs of activity and one night it erupted. We had not yet explored the places with a good view of the volcano, and at night it was impossible to navigate. We decided we would leave in the morning, so we could watch the smoke cloud in the sunrise.
Few days ago we decided to go and search for new places, to be prepared if it will erupt again. We knew a nice sleeping place from the last trip, so our camping place was set for the first night.
The second night we didn’t know where to camp, but we knew we’d find some trees to hang our hammocks. We were studying places on google earth, asking some locals, so we had a plan that could have changed along the way, of course.
First night we slept somewhere near the village of Culik, on a dry field. My guess is that in the rainy season, the people are cultivating something there. We arrived in the evening just before the sunset, we hid the motorbike in the high grass and climbed the hill to set our hammocks.
The next day, before sunrise, we packed and set off on a road leading directly to Agung.
Our reliable transportation, Honda CB100 from ’83
After we explored many roads leading to the volcano and the villages at it’s footsteps, we headed to the second camp site. The plan was to climb about 2 km up to an isolated village on a hill with a good view to Agung. The road was good only for motorcycles and off-road vehicles. Hot and dry, reminding us of our country’s summer.
Amed city on the coast
We finally found a place with a good view of the mountain and the village on the hill. We’re not sure about the village’s name, but it’s probably called Purwakerti, from Amed area.
A good sleeping place. The advantage of the hammocks is that we can hang them anywhere we find some trees. With the tent it would have been impossible to camp here.
From the village across the valley, we could hear every noise as we were on the other side of the valley.
You can see how high people live on an active volcano. Just three weeks ago the lava was flowing down the slopes. Those in the nearby villages were evacuated until danger passed.
The place is wild and quiet, even if it is very close from a very touristic area. It looks like the mountain villages from Romania. The local villagers we met on the road seemed very excited to see strangers, especially as we could speak the language and we could change a few words.
We decided to come back one day to interact more with the villagers.
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