Ubud --> Penelokan --> Toya Bungkah

In the early morning we said "goodbye" to our friendly hosts at "Hai Homestay" and left for the bus station. Our next target was the Batur massive where we wanted to hike up the famous volcano Gunung Batur. But first we had to get there. And that was more complicated than we had expected. It started well, though. The designated bus arrived in time. But when the driver tried to drive backwards out of the parking space it turned out that the reverse gear had got broken. No problem. All male passengers were asked to leave the bus - and push! It was surprisingly easy. Two minutes later we were on our way. Wasn't inspiring confidence, though :-D

We left the bus at the village of Penelokan which is located at about 1,400 meter at the southern crater rim of the huge caldera. The sight was simply put glorious! The alomost 14 kilometer wide caldera at our feet, Gunung Agung, Gunung Batur and Gunung Abang clearly visble - stunning. Unfortunately the bargainers are stunningly insistent, too. I would call Penelokan a tourist trap - except for the vista. We took some pics and then thumbed a ride down into the caldera. There we finally found a hotel room in the small village of Toya Bungkah. We spent the rest of the day strolling around. After our return we booked a tour for the follwing day. If I remember it correctly we paid about 30 $. On the following day I found out that in terms of price this was "midfield".