And yet, the Balinese look upon the volcano as an ultimate blessing for its enriching effects on the soil. For tourists, the greater danger lies not in unexpected eruptions, but in making the trek without a guide, especially alone. The slopes, covered with an exotic combination of alpine lichens, jackfruit trees, bamboo, areca palms, poinsettias and pine trees, can be treacherously slippery, and the crater walls below are extremely steep. One guide says he knew of a tourist hiking alone who died when he fell from a rain-slicked trail into a slippery gorge. He wasn't found until some weeks later.
Steam rises from crevices and broken rocks at the top of all three peaks.
If you have worked up an appetite, the volcano and its guides can accommodate you. Eggs are actually cooked in the steaming holes with a little dried grass piled on top, and, after a few minutes, come out perfectly hard-boiled. Slide down the lava slope that takes three hours to climb, hop on your guide's motorbike back to the waiting car, and you cannot help but feel you are flying home. Monica Showalter is a freelance writer based in New York City. Review Publishing Company Limited, Hong Kong.