My girlfriend and I hiked the 'easy' option from Pasar Agung Temple to the crater rim at 2900m with Wayan Widiyasa and loved the experience. Setting off at 1.30 am for 4 hours up and 3 down. Having not done much hiking recently even if reasonably fit 30 somethings, I think we would have had difficulty in completing the harder routes from Besakih or option 3 from Pasar Agung crossing round to the south to reach the main peak. My advice would be to make sure you have good footwear, warm clothes and plenty of water. Wayan is a very professional guide who will take good care of you on the trek, even providing BengBeng bars, Pot Noodles and Coffee! It's a tough one physically but well worth the effort when you see the sunrise from the top. Your legs might be sore for a couple of days after but the memories will last much longer!

Did a walk up Gunung Agung from Besakih Temple with an excellent guide called Wayan. Mentioned in previous reviews with his number. I was lucky with the weather as there was a lot of rain about but seemed to be everwhere but on our sacred mountain. Started at 12 midnight and took a fair old pace up. I've done a lot of walking and mountaineering and clear Wayan knew the route and was very thoughtful to adjust his pace to suit his client. I was happy with a brisk pace and we arrived early just under the sunnit ridge at 4am. Still too early to go onto the summit for sunrise we rested. wayan was all prepared with some hot drinks and pot noodles. He had thought of every eventuality. At 5.30am we headed for the first summit and then straight over to the main summit at 3200m at the end of an excellent ridge. Sunrise was spectacular and the view down to lesser mountains was a sight to be seen. Headed down abd were back at the start at 11am. If you're into hills and mountain fit, this is a must and would have no hesitation recommeding Wayan. His english is also excellent and a real companion on the hill.

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.