Mount Abang

Mount Abang (Gunung Abang) rises to about 2,150 m on the south-eastern rim of the Batur caldera, directly above the east shore of Lake Batur. It is the third-highest peak on Bali after Mount Agung and Batukaru, and it stands taller than Gunung Batur, the active cone across the lake, yet it draws only a fraction of Batur’s climbers.

The two mountains could hardly look more different. Batur is bare black lava and ash, while Abang’s steep inner wall is cloaked in forest, with ferns, orchids and flowering shrubs along the trails. From the rim you look across the lake to Batur, south-east to the cone of Agung and, on clear days, east across the strait to Mount Rinjani on Lombok.

Abang is a sacred mountain. A temple, Pura Puncak Tuluk Biyu, stands near the summit and smaller shrines line the upper trail, so dress modestly and keep noise down near them. The Bali Aga village of Trunyan sits on the narrow strip of shore at the mountain’s foot.

There are two main ways up. The route to the true summit starts on the outer rim road south of Penelokan, near the village of Suter, and climbs through shady forest along the ridge. It is a long, steep day hike, and the trees mean views open up only in places, mostly near the top.

The shorter option climbs from the lake side to a lower lookout peak above Trunyan, which looks straight across the water to Batur and is popular for sunrise or sunset. Some walks combine the rim with a descent to Trunyan and the Trunyan Cemetery.

As on Batur, climbs are normally made with a local guide, arranged through the licensed guides of the caldera villages or through your accommodation. Trails turn slippery after rain, so the dry season (roughly May to October) is the best time, and an early start gives the clearest views before cloud builds over the caldera.

Abang is part of the wall of the Batur caldera, a huge volcanic depression formed by massive eruptions tens of thousands of years ago, and it has no active vent of its own. Its steep inner slope is unstable: in 1917 a strong earthquake sent part of the mountainside down towards the lake, destroying the lakeside temple of Pura Abang Erawang and damaging villages along the shore. Only a gateway of the old temple survives.