Batur Sunrise Jeep in the UNESCO Geopark, Down Through the Jungle to Toya Bungkah

Batur is part of the UNESCO Global Geopark Network, and this is the operator's most booked trip on it. Licensed local guides take the jeep up before dawn. Breakfast is light, with coffee, eaten while the sun comes up over the volcanic valley, and from up there you can see Lake Batur, Mount Abang and Agung. The roof of the jeep is the vantage point people use for photographs. The route then crosses the crater rim and goes down the back of the mountain, through jungle, to the village of Toya Bungkah. The black lava is worth understanding rather than just crossing. Balinese call it lahar hitam. It is solidified basalt: heavy in iron and magnesium, light in silica, which is why it comes out dark grey to black. It cools fast when it meets air and ground, which traps tiny crystals and leaves the rock porous, and because there is little silica it flowed easily and set smooth or ropey rather than jagged. The best known flows around Lake Batur date from the eruptions of 1963 and 1974, and today they read as a black desert with moss and small plants working their way across it. The same rock is why Kintamani grows oranges and coffee: broken lava weathers, over a very long time, into extremely fertile soil. Cancel at least 24 hours before departure for a full refund.