How to Freeze Your Bali's Off
It was not until we were halfway up the mountain that I realized just how much trouble we were in. The rain started to come down harder. The air turned from cool to chilly. And with each step, my cotton T-shirt became wetter, heavier, colder. We'd been in Bali for three days. We'd come with two bags, both filled with what you pack for a week in the tropics -- flip-flops, shorts, hats, that sort of thing. After all, Indonesia is about as close to the equator as a place can get. Temps hover around 90 F. There's no need for any kind of dress other than what we brought. Unless you do Bali the weird way. Unless you decide to eschew the beach for a day, head well inland and hike up Mt. Batur to a volcano crater. Well before sunrise. During rainy season. Then, you're in for it. We didn't prepare for this kind of Bali. But this was unequivocal. Because despite the fact we were shivering and sleep-deprived (the wake-up call came at the ungodly hour of 2 a.m. ... seriously),