Bali's hidden gems for adventure seekers

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Add fishing, cycling, or learning martial arts, or stand-up paddle and kayaking to the list and there is plenty to do in Bali if sipping cocktails on a sun bed is a bit too boring for you.

Of all the outdoor options that Bali provides, the two that took up most of my month-long stay here were hiking and kite surfing. I took the most popular hike in Bali: the trek up Mount Batur, an active volcano, to catch the sunrise.

The most difficult part isn’t the hike itself but the waking up at an unearthly hour. A minivan or an SUV picks you up from your hotel between 2am and 3am if you are staying in Ubud, and even earlier, between 1.30am and 2am, if your base is Canggu, Seminyak or Uluwatu. You drive straight past the rice terraces of Tegallalang to the parking lot at the foot of Mt Batur.

After a small breakfast and some hot tea or coffee, each guide rounds up his group around 4am and heads off on a narrow trail in a single file through the fields up towards the volcano.

The hike is moderate and a seasoned hiker could get to the top without breaking a sweat, mainly due to the dropping temperatures as you ascend, in an hour or less. Once on top, my tour guide pointed me towards the section maintained by his agency to settle in for the view. He then got me a cup of tea—it can get quite cold up top—while I waited for the sunrise. And I can tell you that it was worth the early start. To watch the sky change colours—from deep purple to red to brilliant orange—as the sun slowly comes up over the horizon, is the experience of a lifetime.

A guide in Indonesia is a man of many talents and camera skills is one of his most important ones. You will invariably find a few guides going beyond their call of duty and not only click pictures but also direct the photoshoot, including showing you the best locations for a wide variety of shots.

We have two options to come back down—the long way along the rim of the volcano or back down the trail you took to come up. At around 7am, I joined the group taking the long way down, which was quite fun. The guide showed me fissures from where smoke escapes the volcano, and it was a treat to see the other side of the mountain, while walking on the black, granular volcanic sand, set off against the green mountains all around. The hike around the rim and back down took about an hour and a half, and by 8.30am I was back in the cab heading back to the hotel.

I was in Bali in January, which is the rainy season. Yet, the Rip Curl School of Surf at Sanur’s Kite Beach (in Bali’s south-east corner) was functioning, weather permitting. It’s pricey (about ₹10,000 per session) and kitesurfing is no walk on the beach. I spent the first day learning the basics of the kite, which is bigger than any other that you might have flown, and how to handle it. If the wind picks up, it can literally fly you, so kite handling skills are critical.

The kite dragged, pulled and even took me on a short flight that I didn’t desire, before the instructor caught hold of my harness and pulled me back down. But after two hours of trying and listening to the instructor’s tips, I was standing shin-deep in water and controlling the kite well enough for the instructor to let me hit the water the following day.

I came in early, practised with the kite on the beach for about 20 minutes and then we jumped on to a boat, loaded it with the kite and a board and took off to a spot where the water was waist deep. If I was dreaming of moving smoothly through the water with the kite in the air, I was in for a rude surprise, since handling a kite in water is a different proposition altogether.

Following instructions, I had to let the kite pull me along, while trying to control its speed and direction. As a result, I had to first learn how to drag myself in the sea, while controlling the kite.

Only after about 45 minutes, during which time I tried to do things by the book, while ending up crashing the kite into water a couple of times, did my instructor throw me the board. Getting on to the board while controlling the kite was a brand new challenge.

I’d get one foot in but before I could get the other on the board the kite would come crashing down. The first time I got both feet on the board, the kite dragged me so fast that I landed face first in the water. Yes, my board skills were worse than my kite skills. Even though I barely managed to kite surf as I had imagined, it is a fun sport to try.

My favourite spots in Bali were the nearby islands. When you escape to the islands, you also escape from Bali’s infamous traffic. You can find peace, bliss and adventure at a place such as Nusa Penida, which is just a short, fast boat ride to the east from Sanur docks. Nusa Penida has great hikes and stunning beaches, such as the Kelingking Beach. The hike down from Kelingking cliff to the beach is short but difficult, the waters rough yet it is lovely and worth the effort.

If you feel like taking things up a notch, instead of hiking go off-roading on your rental scooter through the forest all the way down to Tembeling Beach where you can soak in a small freshwater rock pool, and gaze at the Indian Ocean from a picture-perfect swing on the adjacent beach.

Just to the west of Nusa Penida are two smaller islands, Nusa Lembongan and Nusa Ceningan. The waters are much calmer here, and a popular way to end hikes on these islands is to jump off some cliffs into the sea. That isn’t really my scene, so in-between all the hiking, I spent most of my time in beach cafes watching surfers, listening to travellers’ stories, stand-up paddling and watching stunning sunsets from different spots on the islands.

Shrenik Avlani is a writer and editor and the co-author of The Shivfit Way, a book on functional fitness.

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