We arrived at the meeting spot at 1:30 nighttime. We then went to the highest temple in Bali and all the guides did a ceremony for the climb to go well. There was an air of excitement and eeriness among the group. Then we started and we entered the forest part of the mountain. It had rained a little so this made the path VERY slippery, lots of people fell and it taught everybody right away: this was a serious matter and was NOT going to be a walk in the park. Grabbing tree branches and rocks as not to fall we went on, but some people already were very discouraged after the first hour and a half. Not even halfway there, the guide advised them to stop then and there and wait for the sunset to go back down. We took breaks to eat and catch out breath, little did we know this was still the easy part. After about 2 hours you reach the rocky part of the mountain. No tree branches to hold on to, no earth to softly land on when you fall. All there was, was rocks and rocks and more rocks. The trekking turned into serious climbing soon after that and this was REALLY hard and if you are not very fit you will not likely be able to take this. I am a runner but this is way tougher than running 20 kilometres, to give you a basic idea of how tough it is. Some parts are also dangerous, you have to trust your body and your balance because if you fall, you fall long and hard. The guides are amazing, they help you so much and despite looking small they are very tough and able to help bigger people than themselves go up. The last hour is the hardest, the group paused every 15 min otherwise you will cry and get desperate of the pain of climbing. The night sky with stars is amazing. The thing which surprised me was how MENTALLY hard it was. It is dark and you can't see the end, you feel like being in an endless hell. Then suddenly you are there (appr 6:00 morning) and everybody was emotional. The view is like sheer heaven and the sunrise is so beautiful you feel like crying. The guides prepare hot food and take good care of you. It is VERY cold also because of the sweat & the hight of coarse. You best bring multiple layers. I underestimated the cold coming from Holland a cold country for Indonesian standards. For me it was so scary to go down because then it is light and you see the danger and the hight. The first 2 hours going down I wanted to cry, but the monkeys along the way amused me. As far as going to the toilet goes, prepare on having little to no privacy. When I reached the forest part it went quite fast, we were back at the temple from top in 3 hours total. I felt like I had been though utter HELL but also I felt like I had been to HEAVEN on top. Mixed very intense feelings which made this whole experience unforgettable. But think before you try this, it is harder than they say in the tourist books and stuff.

This Hike is amazing and well worth it. My friends and I did it with a group of 16, with the majority of us making it to the summit for sunrise. Our leading guide was Wayan Widiyasa <wayan.idguides@gmail.com> who I could not recommend more highly. He arranged 3 vans to pick us all up from our Legian Hotel at midnight and then met us with 5 other guides at Pasar Agung to begin our hike. All this for a price of $300,00.00 Rp per person. BARGAIN!
If you are contemplating this hike I strongly suggest contacting Wayan by email ahead of time and he can help to provided you with any information you may need.
The hike itself was very intense. Even though this is the easiest route, it is by no means a walk in the park. I consider myself to be a quite fit, 30yo male and this was the hardest physical activity I have ever completed. The Hike is 3.5 hours up, 30-45 mins up the summit to enjoy the views, and then 3.5 hours back down. I strongly suggest taking a lot of care coming down on the steep rocky sections. I found this out the hard way by twisting my ankle only 10 minutes into the descent. Luckily one of the guides helped me get back down only 15 minutes or so behind the rest of my group.
This was such a rewarding experience and one that I will truly treasure for the rest of my life. If you are thinking about it, just do it. You will be glad you did.

My friends and I did a night climb at Mt Agung on 16 July. We were very lucky that the weather was good that day. As we are amateurs, our guide recommended the easiest route which started from Pasar Agung (1525 m high above sea level).

According to our guide, this is from south east side of the mountain and takes around 4 hours ascend and 3 hours descend and the altitude reached is 2907m high (crater rim only). We paid 700,000 rupiah in total for our group of 4 people. Our guide is Wayan, as recommended by many other trekkers on Tripadvisor.

We began the climb at about 1.45am. The terrain was very steep, inclined at about 45 degrees. When met with areas of muddy soil or lose gravel, having a climbing stick would be very advantageous. We reached the midpoint at about 4.15am and rested for 15mins before continuing. At this point, it is possible to discontinue if you are experiencing difficulties. Members who stopped here waited until sunrise before they descended with a guide.

The next part of the climb was even more challenging, because more rocks and less soil were in the way. The terrain seemed to be steeper and the wind was colder and stronger. At about 75% of the climb onwards, we must climb with our bare hands because the terrain was only rocks. My friends and I felt that the terrain was about 60degrees steep nearing the top. Finally, we reached the top at about 6.05am and waited for the sunrise at 6.24am. The view was magnificent because we were above a sea of clouds with the sunrise in the backdrop. The temperature was about 5 degC at the summit. We had breakfast before descending at about 6.50am.

The descend was extremely dangerous because a careless slip would cost you your life. We had a lot of phobia for the steepness. Hence you need to be calm and have good balance and leg strength. We reached the starting point at about 11.25am.

Conclusion: This is a very risky activity. Both uphill and downhill journeys are highly arduous. Do not carry on if you are not confident because you might lose your life.

Do:
Train well and be fit
Bring warm clothing (5degC at the top)
Wear jeans/trekking pants
Bring gloves (very handy when near the top)
Wear trekking shoes (good grip)
Bring enough water
BE MENTALLY PREPARED!