10 Trekking Mistakes I See on Bali Trails Every Week

I have been leading sunrise groups out of Ubud for six seasons, and the same avoidable problems turn up on almost every departure. None of them require a fitter walker to fix. They are decisions made the night before, in a guesthouse, without anyone who knows the trail in the room. I have started writing them down after trips, and the list has barely changed since 2023.

What follows is that list, in the order I end up saying it. Read it once before you book, then read the last section again, because the mistake that costs people the most is not the one at the top.

The mistakes I keep correcting

1. Starting too late. The crater rim is best before 06:30, which means leaving Ubud around 01:30 for Batur. Groups that leave at 04:00 reach the top in full sun and miss both the cold and the colour. Build the drive into the plan, not the walk.
2. Trusting a sunrise promise. No one can guarantee cloud cover. A good guide watches the 02:00 sky, checks two ridge cameras and tells you honestly whether the hike is worth the alarm. Ask what the backup plan is when the cloud sits on the crater.
3. Wearing new or smooth-soled shoes. Volcanic sand eats grip. I send people back to the guesthouse for closed shoes with tread, and I keep spare laces in the day pack because a broken lace on a descent is how ankles get rolled.
4. Carrying two litres and no cash. Water matters, but so does money. Entry gates on the Batukaru and Agung approaches take cash only, and the small warung at the trailhead does too. Bring rupiah in small notes before the drive.
5. Skipping breakfast because it is early. Two slices of banana bread at 00:45 do more for a climb than a big meal at 22:00. Eat something with salt in it, then eat properly when you come down.
6. Walking in a silent single file. If your guide never speaks, you are being escorted, not guided. Ask about the village you are crossing, the temple calendar on the slope and where the water source is. A working guide answers while walking.
7. Ignoring the descent. Most twisted ankles happen on the way down, on the loose grit, when legs are tired and people hurry to the car. Shorten your stride and keep your hands free.
8. Leaving a rubbish bag with the guide. Carry your own wrappers back down. The bins at the trailhead fill before the weekend, and the ridge has none at all.
9. Booking the cheapest driver on the square. Ask whether the price covers the return wait, the entry ticket and the headlamp. A quote without those three lines usually grows by the time you are back at the vehicle.
10. Skipping the fitness question. Tell your guide honestly how far you walk at home. A route that suits a weekend hiker will not suit someone whose longest walk this year was a car park to a temple gate, and there is no shame in choosing the shorter ridge instead.

The one that costs the whole trip

It is the third one on the list. Someone buys shoes in the city two days before the climb, wears them once to the beach, and discovers on the loose descent that they were designed for concrete. I have turned groups around at the gate for exactly this, and the walk back down is always slower than the walk up.

If you cannot get new shoes, get old ones. Any closed shoe you have already walked in for a hundred kilometres is worth more on volcanic grit than the best trail runner bought last week. Check the sole with your thumb: if it does not feel slightly sticky on a smooth tile, it will not feel sticky on ash.

What I would do differently on a first trip

Pick one climb, not three. Do the Batur ridge on day two after you have slept, keep the rest of the week for villages, rice terraces and the road north, and book a guide who will say no to you if the weather turns. That single conversation is worth more than any list, including this one.

And write your start time down. The night before, on paper, next to the alarm: the hour you leave, the hour you walk, the hour you expect to be back. When the room is dark and the driver is waiting, a piece of paper settles the argument before it starts.