Stunning Sunrise & Volcanic Bromo!
Trip Start
Aug 22, 2011
1
23
24
Trip End
Feb 15, 2012
Bromo, East Java, Indonesia
Saturday, November 19, 2011
For at least a couple of hours we were not moving or just crawling a little bit, at one point we all got out and were walking down the highway just to stretch our legs and we were flying compared to the traffic. On returning to the bus as the traffic was getting slightly better we noticed that our driver had taken a slight turn for the worse. At one point the was hanging out of his door throwing up which was not a good sight to see, this guy had another 5 or so hours driving to do to get us to Bromo!
We finally got out of the traffic and moving again but our driver was getting worse and worse, pulling over to be sick and even falling asleep at the wheel when we came to traffic lights, he was in no state to continue.
Luckily for us a French guy also on the trip had done some mini van driving in Malaysia so he took over the driving for a bit so our driver could rest. After all this excitement, getting stuck in traffic, having a woozy driver, a French guy taking over we finally made it to Bromo and the tour operators office. We then had to get in a jeep for our final drive up to Cemoro Lewang which was another hour or so.
FINALLY we made it to our hotel, Café Lava at around 1am and after the 17 hour disaster journey from Yogy, wow that was exhausting!! We got to our room and got settled, you certainly did not need air con in this place as we were around 2,700m up the mountain it was like the arctic!!
We got a much needed 2 hours sleep before we had to be up to meet our jeep driver to take us to the summit to see the sunrise. I don’t know how we functioned and managed to make it up in time but it was so worth it. On arrival at the viewing area we then trekked up to the highest viewing point, 2770m up and I had some noodles while we waited for the spectacular that was about to happen. Watching the sunrise over the mountains with steaming volcano’s was just a breathtaking sight, it had made the ridiculous 17 hour journey so worth it.
After taking in the sunrise with lots of great picture moments we got back in the jeep and headed to the active volcano ‘Gunung Bromo’. We arrived at the bottom of the main craters and then started our ascent up the sandy paths and finishing with a 250 step climb to the summit. We were now standing at the edge of an active volcano and with the steam rising it was again quite the site to behold. We trundled back to our jeep after more perfect picture moments and got back to our hotel at around 7am, completely exhausted but with a buffet brekkie waiting, get in!
The next stage of our journey was a coach to the ferry point and then on the our first stop in Bali, Legian. Although this journey was delayed and took around 8 hours it was nothing compared to our first trip, maybe we were slightly stunned from the wondrous sites we had seen this morning, or it could be the two hours sleep and then 4 hours trekking, who knows!! I think some relaxation on the beaches of Bali is in order!!
