Mt. Batur
One of the big events included in our intrepid trip package was a sunrise climb of Mt. Batur. Mt. Batur is an active volcano having had its last major eruption in 1960, which buried a village in lava and ash. Unfortunately, this trip followed one of danielle worst episodes of intestinal distress, so she sat, (or rather slept) this one out. I unfortunately would have my episode later that day…
As we wanted to reach the summit for the sun rise, we obviously had to leave very early. We got our wake up knock on the door at 3:30 and most of us were out and in the vans waiting to leave by 4. After a short drive we all donned sashes. You see Mt. Batur is a holy mountain, and when visiting the holy places you are supposed to wear a sarong. (Which is why there are numerous pictures of me in what appears to be a skirt). Now they realize that in climbing a mountain, this attire may be a bit restrictive so they downgraded the requirements to a sash. Which you could conveniently rent at the trailhead for something like 50 cents. I brought my own silk sash. There were other restrictions to climbing the mountain, women who are menstruating are not allowed, so as prevent the fouling of the area with blood. Also there is only one toilet on the mountain. It is owned by the monk that runs a small tea house at the top of mountain, and only monks are allowed to use it.
So we climbed in the dark for a little under an hour and a half, me and three people from our group, who were the first to reach the cafe on the edge of the crater. It wasn’t a particularly difficult hike for me, but if it had been we had no lack of guides. We had two official guides, which we had hired and we were paying. However, we also acquired 3 or 4 drink sales people. They also were exceptionally helpful. Sometimes literally pulling people up the mountain, and at the top they guilted you into buying an overpriced soda. Towards the top of our climb my stomach started doing some somersaults and gurgling, I was a bit worried about this but at first I though I might just be hungry.
So, I sat eating my breakfast waiting for the sun to rise. When we started our climb the sky was clear with a beautiful sky full of stars, but just when the sun was getting ready to rise, the clouds rolled in. As a result we got some colors, but no sunrise, oh well. At this point the sunrise was rapidly becoming a secondary concern, eclipsed by the question of how (and where) to poo. Here I am on top of a HOLY mountain and I have a series of questions rolling through my mind. “Can I head back down now and make it?” “No.” “I wonder if they are serious about that no toilet for visitors thing?” “Yup”, “Oh Shit.” I had a quick conversation with my trip leader and was informed, via one of the guides that I could go behind a rock provided I apologized to the gods beforehand. I ran off to put this new knowledge to use.
Trust me I apologized before, during, and after… Especially when I realized that just the day before I gave my packet of tissues to Danielle. Thus I had only one tissue to deal with the problem. At first, I was not sure how to deal with this and many thing passed through my mind, my silk sash, my hand (interesting side note, NEVER shake a indonesians left hand, ever). A quick dig through my bag turned up the information flyer from the dancing we had seen a few days earlier. So half a flyer and one tissue later I was done apologizing to the gods.
After that incident I felt a bit better. So I also participated in a hike to the summit of the mountain and around the rim of the volcano. We met up with the rest of our group at a spot that was particularly active, where we could cook our banana in some of the vents. I didn’t participate in this, but it was kind of neat. You could see that other people used the vents to cook eggs, and other things. The guide got us to stick our hands into one of the vents, and believe me they are hot.
All in all, with the exception of the one incident, I really enjoyed my trip to the mountain. It was beautiful.
OK I’m really curious about this whole ‘no menstruating women at Holy sites’ thing. I feel strongly about striving to respect the customs of any place I’m visiting. But, what if you’re on your once-in-a-lifetime trip to Bali and oopps… wrong time of the month. Is there some kind of cotton-swab entrance exam? Furthermore, modern menstruation products work really, really well; leaving me far less likely to ‘foul the mountain’ than, well, you! So, what I really want to know is, how strictly is this enforced and/or honored by bleeding foreigners? And if a man is dying from some nasty flesh wound, is he free to crawl his way onto sacred soil?
The whole menstruating thing is not nearly as intensely monitored as you are suggesting. And also, the idea is less about the blood it self, as the idea that women are unclean during this period of the month. A bleeding dying man would be allowed on the mountain, as would a bleeding woman. So long as she isn’t bleeding from her uterus. (However giving someone a nasty flesh wound is strictly forbidden.) While this belief is perhaps outdated, and no longer as true as it once (if ever) was, they continue to hold it.
So, on the whole I am guessing that there are lots and lots of vacationers who break this ban. BUT, you have to keep in mind that you are basically running directly in the face of their beliefs. Essentially (and perhaps literally in my case) taking a big crap on what they hold holy. Sorta like taking a dump on someone’s bible. If one finds themselves in the unfortunate case that they are on vacation at the wrong time. They have to decide for themselves if they respect these peoples beliefs enough to deny themselves the once-in-a-lifetime experience.