Mount Bromo and the trip to Bali

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We left Jogja three days ago now, taking a mini bus on another long and exhausting journey east towards Mount Bromo. The drive out of Jogja took us past the towering peak of Mount Merapi, Indonesia's most active volcano. Once out of the Jogja, the landscape opened up on either side of us. I'm not sure i have ever seen such a green country. The land is so fertile here and it seems that every where that could be cultivated has been. Rice paddies and fruit plantations stretch far into the distance. We continued east past more volcanoes and rice paddies on what started to become a very uncomfortable bus ride, we were used to those by now though. We arrived in the town of Probolinggo by early evening where we transfered to a different bus for the long and torturous ride up the mountain to the small settlement of Cemero Lawang where we would sleep the night before our climb to the summit of Bromo the following morning. We arrived late and so quickly grabbed a meal at a small resto and then got ready for bed.

Our alarm clock was set for 3.30 AM the next morning! The best time to see the volcano is at dawn. We dragged ourselves out of our damp beds and into some warm clothes ready for the climb to the summit of Bromo. The walk to the crater rim took us one hour through the darkness across the luna like landscape. The ground is entirely covered with volcanic ash. Its a very different landscape to anything I have ever seen before. The view from the crater rim was incredible. Mist had gathered in the valley below and as the sun began to rise a dramatic landscape was lit up before us. It was quite awesome to be able to stare into the steaming vent of this active volcano. However, it was freezing that morning so after 30 minutes of waiting for the sun to rise and taking some photograhs we began our decent back to the gusethouse, on motor bikes for the return journey. We grabbed a few hours sleep before breakfast and then packed our bags and boarded the mini bus for the long and winding road back down the mountain to Probolingo.

So began an even longer and tiring journey towards the eastern shores of Java where we would take the ferry to Bali. Setting off from Cemero Lawang at 9.30AM and arriving at Denpasar on Bali at Midnight!!! We had met a Dutch couple on Bromo and once we arrived in Denpasar we decided to take a bemo to the town of Ubud in central Bali along with Paul from England. We arrived in Ubud at 1AM and began the search for a place to stay. After several attempts of waking guesthouse owners, a local showed us to a place with rooms available at an affordable price. The time was now 2AM! We dumped our bags in the room and set off in search of food. Luckily a bar was still open and we managed to persuade them to fire up the ovens and make us five pizzas. Food has never tasted so good. We must have looked like zombies walking into that place! By the time we had eaten, showered and were ready for bed it was 3.30AM!

Bali is great so far, we are staying in a great room in a small resort where they serve breakfast to our terrace and with a swimming pool 10 metres from our door. Ubud is a trendy town with nice but expensive restaurants and shops. We can tell you some more once we have explored a little further. Time to finish my tea and then I'm going for a dip in the pool to cool down. I heard you have snow in Europe now? We don't, it's close to 30 degrees here every day! Enjoy the white stuff!

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