Mount Bromo!

My trip to Mount Bromo was one of the most memorable experiences of my life so far. It was so different and beautiful and unexpected.

The trip started with our dark ascent up the mountain to the nearest town to Bromo to stay overnight. Our guest house was super eclectic and interesting, with a kind of ski lodge feel to it! A lively, folky band serenaded us until we checked in for an early sleep, as we were waking up at 3am the next day to hike a nearby mountain and watch the sun rise over Bromo.

The next morning, around 4 am, we drove up in really tough, off-road type jeeps, and i stuck my head out the window on the drive up, looking at the stars in the clear mountain sky.

The hike up once we were at the base took about an hour. We were dressed really warmly as we were at a high altitude, and after the steep climb, i was a little hot! There were many other tourists there and we all staked out our spots to watch the sun rise and try and get a glimpse of bromo! I apologize for the number of photos that appear to the untrained eye to be somewhat repetitive, there were just such stunning views, and as with any sunrise or sunset, it keeps changing and just keeps getting better and better!

I was worried it would be really cloudy and we wouldnt get a good view, after all our efforts to come and view bromo - and as the sun started to creep around the horizon, i could see there was a large cloud, and I kept hoping it wouldnt obscure the volcano! There were many mountains and potentially volcanoes coming into view, but I couldnt pick out which one was bromo! Finally, i discovered, to my delight, that the big cloud was not going to come in and block my view, it was the ash pumping out of bromo itself! I was also surprised to learn that Bromo was not the tallest mountain in view, but the smallest surrounded by an expansive desert walled in by mountains on all sides. Such a bizzare arrangement! Now the 'sea of sand' description in the tour companies description finally made sense;)

The sunrise was phenomenal, but it was only the beginning of the fun.

After many photos and feeling energized by all the discoveries, and a good mountain-side pee (haha), we headed back down the mountain to drive to the base of Bromo and climb up to the rim. Our guide was a little apprehensive, as Bromo was pumping out a lot of smoke, more than normal, and had erupted only 8 months ago. I had already decided I wanted to go and managed to convince some of the nervous ones in the group to just drive down and have a look from the desert.

So Bromo is the small smoke-pumping one to the left. The one on the right is a baby I think? Its building up still.

Group shot, everyone looking sharp and excited, at 5:30 am!
Back down the mountain

All the horses around were there as options for lazier or older or horse-loving travelers who didnt want to or couldnt walk the whole way. There were many people trying to get us to ride one! I was of course skeptical of being ripped off, but secretly longing to ride one.

On the ground, driving across the 'desert' for about 10 minutes, we arrived near the base of the volcano. The landscape was so strange and so vastly different from the rest of Indonesia I had experienced - dry, cold, and sandy? What?!

Check out our jeeps!

There was a temple near the base, which was covered in a hefty layer of ash/sand, and in the picture i have here, you can also see an atom bomb like eruption of ash from the volcano. Lynn, who is 65 for the record, turned to me to say something. I thought she might say something like, "well, its a little too dangerous, we should probably head back", instead she said - "you don't come all the way here not to go to the top!". Alrighty Lynn, I'm with you!

So we decided to be sensible;) and hired horses to take us to the base of these sand stairs, and made our way there!

It was funny, because I've had pretty disappointing horse experiences abroad. In Ghana, trying to live out a fantasy of riding a horse on the beach, I ended up walking on a poor old nag, with a pesky young guy who was leading the horse hitting on me from the ground the whole time. This time around, I was trying to protect myself by refusing the men with the horses! Finally, caving, I decided I would not let some little man once again stiffle my horse riding experience! So in my best Indonesian, I explained I could ride, and he gave me the reins and the rest was history... Muhahaha, it was excellent.

I did not do a good job negotiating the price of this, but, being on the back of the horse at 6am, in this surreal place, after about 8 months without riding, and with the guy letting me take the reins and gallop up to the base of an active volcano...I almost wanted to pay him more! Best 5 bucks I've ever spent!

After the ride up the hill, it was an ascent up these sand stairs. It was very challenging, and took about 20-30 minutes. About 3/4 of the way up someone coming down turned to me and simply said 'its worth it'.

Enough said, and I forged ahead! Because you almost worry with something like this that it will be disappointing, and I had really no idea what to expect (which increasingly I am learning is the key to being pleased with an experience!).

Fortunately, he was right, it was incredible! So incredible that we all managed to overlook the danger we were facing, at the edge of a ashy/sand volcano, peering down into the depth of a volcano. Unfortunately you could not see any lava, but it was the sound that surprised me the most. It sounded like the ocean, the deep, low rumbling and churning out of ash into the world from deep down in the earth....ooooh, very cool!

The view from the volcano was spectacular, so bizarre, for a few hours we were transported to a desert from the middle of equatorial Indonesia.

This is an offering made to the volcano - apparently in September there is a large sacrifice where people will offer food and gifts (not virgins, I checked). People will throw these gifts into the volcano. After the festivities, poorer people from surrounding areas will come and scale the interior edges to collect these things! OMG! so dangerous. Apparently no one dies - but thats the answer everyone gives me when something sketchy is done. I'm sure people must fall in. There are no safety measures - as you can see!

So, needless to say, this was an amazing experience! I would encourage anyone who is travelling to Indonesia to add this to your to-do list (aka, Jaime;))

The drive back down, in the day light, was incredibly impressive as well. People, I suppose out of necessity have managed to farm these impossibly steep slopes. And because of the cooler climate and the nutritious ash that is spewed around, I got the impression they were quite successful. A very challenging life though, I am sure.

Below are some shots of mine and Emma's crazy hotel/ski lodge room and our amazing and strange view.

So that just about wraps up my time on the island of Java. That afternoon (it was a long day), we headed over to Bali. This, was the highlight of most peoples trip. For me, I felt very sad to leave behind the island that I had lived on and learned about for 2.5 months. I was also leaving behind some great friends and part of my heart with the people I loved in Bekasi. But, as Betsy said, there is nothing like a boat ride, car ride, or plane ride, to take a chance to switch gears and miss what is left behind and look forward to what is to come!