Gunung Agung...BOOYAH

11:30 p.m.: Ready to Go

2:00 a.m.: Hike up the stairs to Puri Agung begins…At the temple our guides bring offerings, and we begin our trek.

3:00 a.m.: Takin’ a breather! One of many to sit back and watch the stars. I have never seen a night sky like this before. Headlamp off, and the shooting stars take off in all directions.

5:30 a.m.: The sky becomes a bit lighter in the distance. We’re above treeline, but can still only see the light from our headlamps in front of us…all starting to wonder how much further since our guide keeps repeating the same time over and over. (He also had a unique pattern of bolting ahead of us, then taking a nap while we caught up. I have never seen guides sleep on the job, let alone on a volcano)

6:00 a.m.: SUMMIT! We made it! And it’s freezing! But beautiful!

7:00 a.m.: OK, too cold now. And down we go…

7:15 a.m.: You can see literally all of southern Bali, east and west coast as well as the two islands Nusa Lembongan and Nusa Pendida. It is so beautiful…minus my wheezing from smoking too many clove cigarettes. Ugh.

10:30 a.m.: Still not there…lava flow from 1968 eruption.

11:00 a.m.: Pain in knees is beginning to become slightly irritating. So I sat and watched a sweet bug, some monkeys, and the beautiful flowers around me.

11:30 a.m.: FINALLY MADE IT.

GUNUNG AGUNG…check! Which peak’s next?