... Buffaloes got thrown into craters?

Adjusting from an up-all-night partying til sunrise schedule to one of early morning yoga classes and 2am hikes up volcanos has been tricky (tricky meaning I haven't made it to a single early morning yoga class). For some reason I think Anna and I expected our bodies to just adjust - "you'll sleep when I tell you to sleep" - type thing. Unfortunately I don't think it works that way so we've had a lot of restless nights followed by tired, moody days (on my end at least). That being said, the recent hike we did up Mt. Batur was well worth all the tiredness and soreness that followed... Seeing the sunrise from the top was absolutely breathtaking.

We woke up at 1:45am and set out with a small group including couples from New Zealand, Singapore, and China. Somehow we were able to form sentences and chat during the one hour drive to the volcano and began our hike in the pitch black with the most incredible stars I've ever seen. I would've hiked the whole thing with my eyes plastered to the sky but every time I looked up I tripped or ran into someone so I pretty much focused on the ground for the whole two hours. As we reached the top the sun was just starting to rise over another mountain creating a sky filled with vibrant colors and streaming sunlight. 

The temperature shifted pretty quickly and we all threw on our jackets and ordered hot chocolate at this little shack which I later found out was inhabited by... monkeys. I swear they follow me or something. Anyway, we walked around the top a bit and saw a bat-infested cave along with a pretty incredible crater. Our guide told us they often do ceremonies up there with animal sacrifices. I asked if they killed the animals before or if they just threw them off the edge of the crater alive and he responded that it depended on the type of animal. Chickens were usually killed before, pigs were usually tossed right on off but the buffaloes were too big for that so they had to be led/shoved off. I had a horrible image of a squealing pig flying down and hitting all the rocks and squirming at the bottom. I had to remind myself that it's another culture and if I lived on a small island with multiple active volcanos, I would probably sacrifice a few animals to try and protect my people too.

So the hike was a success overall and I'm hoping to make the 4pm yoga class with Anna today which seems much more reasonable. Still loving Ubud and enjoying this healthier break!

A few pics:

Sunrise from Mt. Batur

Our tour group

The crater 

Monkeys!!!