Camping in North Bali

BALI, INDONESIA

Indonesia // November 2018

There is so much to do in Bali, but one thing people don’t opt into often is camping! This is for quite a few reasons I imagine, such as the chance for torrential/tropical rains at any moment, humidity, mosquitos and other bugs or even snakes near rice fields, etc. This didn’t stop me though. I had an image in mind with this trip and I got more or less what I wanted out of it. Thats probably my favourite thing about being an adventure photographer, is planning a trip or mission according to what I want to create. Now with that being said, this was actually a 100% spontaneous mission and happened as a result of another mission plan that fell through.

Initially, the plan was to hike up Mount Agung, the volcano on the island that has caused some media uproar in the past year for its activity. Nevertheless, the plan was to start our hike at midnight and hope to make it to the top by 5am. But a few hours before leaving, my friend Lucas (who was supposed to do this with me) received a call from his colleague who was Indonesian, strongly advising him against it, as most people (typically foreigners) who tried to summit the majestic Agung without a guide, didn’t actually make it back down. It was too late for us to get a guide, but we were already hype on the idea of going up to North Bali for a mission, so we came up with another plan really quickly!

This was the goal!

We decided to bring the tents to somewhere else in North Bali and camp out for the night somewhere near rice fields. It was such a nice view to wake up to! So we set off at around 11pm from Canggu (about 2 hours drive from the goal) and met up with my friend Jonny on the way. En route to this spot, cruising at 100+km/h, my scooter all of a sudden made a massive bang sound, started smoking and felt super strange! I turned it off and pulled over as best as I could, as soon as I parked the bike it started leaking oils and continued smoking.

It turns out a piston literally blew out of the bike (from not being checked for 10+ years probably haha) and just barely missed my leg! Talk about luck in an unlucky situation! This didn’t stop us though, we were just about half way, so I took my belongings and hopped on the back of Jonny’s bike. We cruised to a spot that seemed ideal, and made it here at around 2am. After setting up our tents, we slept for about 3 hours, and then woke up to an unforgettable sight. It turned out to be worth every single second of that mission!

My agung before sunrise light hit the peak

Rice fields we camped in with the sunlight beaming through the palmtrees behind us

It seemed that every sign coming my way was telling me to get a good nights sleep at the homestay back in Canggu. But, pushing through led to one of the most memorable nights and most beautiful sunrises I have ever seen as the majestic volcano appeared from the dark as the day came to life! It is experiences like this that shape travels and memories, and that’s what gets me so addicted to it this lifestyle.

I can’t wait to head back to Asia later this year. Thanks for reading along and let me know if you have any questions!