This evening I am in the Kintamani area checking out some of the hiking opportunities and looking at hotels. It's a flying visit and I won't have the time to do a travel guide. I am gathering info for the upcoming Baliblog guided tour.
For those who aren't familiar with Kintamani, it is the small village on the rim of Mt. Batur, the huge crater in NE Bali. Kintamani is really a collection of tin-roofed shacks and hasn't changed since Covarrubias's day, but the whole area is known loosely as Kintamani.
Back in 1993 I did a sunrise hike on the mountain which was fun, but in the year since the whole hiking scene has been taken over by a group of locals Lonely Planet refers to as the 'Mountain Mafia'. They charge extortionate rates in dollars for a guided hike and have been known to get violent. I'm happy to say they won't be getting a cent of my money, but I will be researching the surrounding area.
The weather in Kintamani is quite different from Kuta and any overnight trip should be prepared for with long pants, a sweater and some decent footwear if you are hiking.
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Be selective when choosing a hotel in Kintamani.
The quarry trucks run all night long up that steep hill coming from the lake. They can be heard for miles around !
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