Volcano Hopping
On Tuesday, my friend John and I decided to test a theory that it might actually be possible to motivate two aging, beer-logged bodies up the side of a volcano by use of self-locomotive power alone. we set out early on heavy, cheap Indonesian bikes, with coffee, then energy drinks, and finally just sheer stubbornness to propel us to the top. when we finally made it (some four hours later thanks to a disintegrating crank), we were rewarded with a view of Mount Batur across the big old hole that it had made for itself some time earlier. it was a stunning sight, from which we were almost immediately distracted by a very persistent mass of hawkers plying us with postcards and exhortations to eat the meal of our lives at their peerless restaurant. before hopping back on our bikes to escape the throng, we did catch a glimpse of a little wisp of smoke rising from the cone, reminding us that craters exist for a reason. at this point, the smart thing to do would have been to turn around immediately and take the downhill ticket at a leisurely pace. However, being foolhardy idiots, we decided in favour of cycling down to the floor of the crater, where, admittedly, we had a fine lunch of grilled fish, rice and beer while staring at the volcano in a sweaty stupor. We even had time for a quick swim in the lake, thinking it would prepare us for the ride back up the rim. This was a fairly flawed assumption, since you can't digest a whole fish and two beers in the space of twenty minutes. The 300m climb that followed was intense enough to require several stops and much contemplation of a lunch revisited. When we finally got back to the top, the locals chose to ignore our bulging eyes and wheezes of death in the hopes that we would…