Blogs from Bromo Tengger Semeru, Java, Indonesia, Asia

We left Yogyakarta at 9am by train. Getting train tickets in Indonesia is pretty straightforward once you know how the system works. Kereta Api, the indonesia railway, has a website where you can easily book the train you want. However, many international credit cards are not accepted there. So we booked the train tickets easily on traveloka.com. You can chose between ekonomi class (lowest), bisnis class (middle), eksekutif (most expensive one) on normal trains. You pay the ticket by credit card and will be sent a confirmation. With the confirmation, just show up at the train station 1 hour before departure, scan the code on the confirmation at one of the machines and your final ticket will be printed. Easy, quick and really straightforward. We chose bisnis class for our trip from Yogyakarta to Probolinggo. And ... read more

Monday, 23rd April 2018 We signed up for the Bromo Sunrise Tour with Helios Transport in Malang and we must say that it was really comprehensive and well organised. The 12-hour tour began at midnight on Monday morning when the 4WD drove us to King Kong Hill for a glimpse of sunrise over Mount Bromo National Park. There were 3 of us in this tour including a tourist from Germany. The weather was chilly and when we arrived at around 3am and we spent some moments sleeping in the jeep while waiting for the day to break. There was coffee and clean toilets at one of the many huts leading to the viewing point. Given the cloudy weather, we did not have much luck with the sunrise even though the drive-through of the savanaah was probably ... read more

Having drifted off to such a tranquil soundtrack which made us feel as though we were miles from civilisation, we did not expect to be wrenched from our sleep at 4.30am by the call to prayer echoing from the trees, but rouse us it did, and since we were awake, we were able to appreciate the jungle waking up around us before we enjoyed breakfast with a stunning view. We were taken on a walk around the plantation of the centre itself, a not-for-profit organisation designed to educate both children and adults from Indonesia and elsewhere about the importance of conservation, as well as using all profits to benefit ecological programmes for the local area. It was created entirely from barren woodland in 1990 when all the trees that now surrounded us were planted, and has ... read more

Lieve vriendjes en vriendinnetjes, Het echte avontuur is begonnen, op reis in m'n uppie. Op dit moment sta ik ergens onder een ontzettend idyllisch afdakje ergens in de middle of nowhere op een berg, te wachten tot dat de regen voorbij is. Er is dan ook geen beter moment om maar eens te beginnen met mijn volgende blog. Er zijn al 7 weken voorbij en ik kan je zeggen dat afgelopen week in m'n eentje voorbij is gevlogen. En hoewel ik het ontzettend spannend vond om in m'n eentje verder te gaan ben ik van mening dat het een van mijn beste keuzes ooit was. Tot hoe ver mijn goede keuzes reiken dan... Enfin, voordat ik aan dit avontuur kon beginnen, moest er een project afgerond worden. Zoals ik al had geschreven in mijn vorige blog, ... read more

Vulkane: Bromo & Ijen auf Java Teil 1: Bromo Unser Fahrer hat uns um 02:00 Uhr Nachts vom Hostel in Malang abgeholt und hat uns zum Mt. Bromo gefahren. Dort sind wir dann in einen 4-WD Jeep umgestiegen, und über eine steile und enge Strasse zu einer Aussichtsplattform gefahren, um den Sonnenaufgang über den Vulkanen in der Tengger-Caldera zu sehen. Auf dem Weg dort hin haben wir noch eine Russin mitgenommen, die glaubte zu Fuss raufgehen zu wollen. Wir haben sie dann überzeugt, dass man da nicht zu Fuss raufgehen will :-) Nachdem der Sonnenaufgang erledigt war, sind wir mit dem Jeep wieder zurück hinunter, und durch das Segara Wedi ("Sea of Sands") zum Krater des Bromo gefahren. Von dort gings dann zu Fuss rauf (man könnte auch auf einem Pferd rauf reiten - aber hallo!!) ... read more