There are few things more rewarding in life than waking up in the middle of the night, rolling out of a bed, slapping on some hiking boots, and trekking up a mountain for a sunrise.
At least, I think so.
My girlfriend, not so much. She thinks it's more rewarding to skip the hike, sleep late into the morning, and then head to a local market for an early lunch (or late breakfast, depending on your view).
But, on a recent trip to Bali, I convinced her that it would be worth it to do a sunrise trek up Mount Batur (Gunung Batur), an active volcano that most recently erupted in 2000 and is one of the holiest sites on the island.
At 5,633 feet high at the summit, Batur isn't the highest point on the island - that would go to Mount Agung (Gunung Agung), which erupted earlier this year - but it is likely the island's most popular sunrise hike.
At 6 a.m., we found out why.
After traveling to 25+ countries and forcing myself up at the crack of dawn to catch the sunrise on countless beaches and mountains (not to mention New York City rooftops; hello all-night partiers), I'm confident saying the sunrise I saw on Mount Batur was the most beautiful I've ever seen.
Here's what it was like: