"Don't forget your jacket", said my sister Rani who accompanied me that morning along with her fiance Garu. It was precisely 2 AM Bali time. I honestly thought maybe I was missing something there as I was sitting in the car that was speeding through the narrow roads of the Balinese village.
Wait. We are in Bali. Bali equals to beaches and nice warm weather. Why the heck did my sister reminded me to bring my jacket for? "There it is. This is where we start our trekking", said my sister. Right, I said. We had planned this before we landed in Bali. I totally forgot that we were about to hike up Mount Agung that morning.
What was I thinking? This is Mount Agung we are talking about. The highest point in Bali, which is also an active stratovolcano. This mountain represent a very sacred area for the Balinese people as local mythology foretold that it is said to be a replica of Mount Meru, or often called Mahameru which means the Great Meru, a sacred mountain in the Hindu or Buddhist cosmology and is considered to be the centre of all the physical, metaphysical and spiritual universe. And I am about to hike it! Yaaayyy...!
Inhale.. exhale.. and a large gulp of bravery later, I started my climb with my sister and her fiance and a number of other climbers that morning. This climb is definitely not for the weak minded and those who are unfit. Slippery surface, rocky terrain and random weather occurrences would be enough to make people break. As I experienced it myself, 500 meters off the peak I honestly thought I was going to die..!
But thankfully, I made it. And just in time for sunrise. Despite all the hardship that I had to go through, it was worth it. The view and the feeling, they were just outer-worldly.
"Hey Bayu", called Garu. "Yea Bro". "You do realize that we have to climb down after this, right?" After I survived that day, I told myself that I would never ever walk again. But then again, I like breaking silly vows like that.
Wait. We are in Bali. Bali equals to beaches and nice warm weather. Why the heck did my sister reminded me to bring my jacket for? "There it is. This is where we start our trekking", said my sister. Right, I said. We had planned this before we landed in Bali. I totally forgot that we were about to hike up Mount Agung that morning.
What was I thinking? This is Mount Agung we are talking about. The highest point in Bali, which is also an active stratovolcano. This mountain represent a very sacred area for the Balinese people as local mythology foretold that it is said to be a replica of Mount Meru, or often called Mahameru which means the Great Meru, a sacred mountain in the Hindu or Buddhist cosmology and is considered to be the centre of all the physical, metaphysical and spiritual universe. And I am about to hike it! Yaaayyy...!
Inhale.. exhale.. and a large gulp of bravery later, I started my climb with my sister and her fiance and a number of other climbers that morning. This climb is definitely not for the weak minded and those who are unfit. Slippery surface, rocky terrain and random weather occurrences would be enough to make people break. As I experienced it myself, 500 meters off the peak I honestly thought I was going to die..!
But thankfully, I made it. And just in time for sunrise. Despite all the hardship that I had to go through, it was worth it. The view and the feeling, they were just outer-worldly.
"Hey Bayu", called Garu. "Yea Bro". "You do realize that we have to climb down after this, right?" After I survived that day, I told myself that I would never ever walk again. But then again, I like breaking silly vows like that.
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| Prepare an umbrella before it rains... huh? |
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| Welcoming a new day |
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