Peace of mind is not the absence of conflict but the ability to cope with it.

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July 25

80%!o(MISSING)f it was getting in a van, sweating, listening to music, looking out the window, sleeping, getting out of the van, stopping at a roadside pit stop for "traditional indonesian food" which means more and more rice and vegetables which means we didn't eat much, which means we would then get back on the van for 5 more hours or so, snacking all the while...
We slept at this really cool motel lodge for people all going to trek mt. Bromo in the morning - the walls were all bamboo which meant that everyone could hear everything, but also that it was really pretty.

July 26

Today we woke up at 3:30am and drove to the lookout point. Then we hiked up for about a half hour in the pitch black to another lookout point. I was struck by how many stars there were in the sky! Or rather, how many we could see. It felt like we were walking on sand, but actually it was just tons of volcanic ash that rose with each step surrounding us and filling our lungs and settling on our hair. I was surprised by how Many other people there were alongside us walking up. While traveling it's easy to forget that even though we don't see any other tourists, there still are a lot all around - and I almost felt a bit silly following the crowd up the mountain. I think it was because there were so many people, and because sunrises are special in my book, that I decided I wanted to watch it on my own, and not stand with the group. It was almost spiritual I guess, sitting in the volcanic sand looking out at all the stars...
The sunrise was slower than I thought it'd be. At first it was a firey line sharply contrasting with a deep blue. At this point my mom made me come visit the group, which turned out to be kind of nice, because it's been 3 weeks that a bunch of us have traveled together and it was nice to share the moment and take pictures together.

On the opposite side of the sunrise was mt. Bromo in it's valley - it looked like the moon! Well, not that I've ever been there, but how I'd imagine it'd look.

The most stunning part was when the sun actually arose itself. We'd been watching the sky for about an hour change colors and look like water colors and I thought that it was just one of those sunrises that simply gets lighter without the sun in particular rising - but it did! It was so orange! And gleaming! It was so bright it was hard to look at it, but harder not to. It made me feel like I could empathize with how people could look at the earth and its wonders and believe in creationist stories.

When we had finally decided it was over we hiked up mt. Bromo. It was totally worth it. When we got to the top there was hardly a foot width ledge of volcano sand for us to walk around and peer into the crater. It's moments like these when I think about how American laws would never let people go up something as dangerous as that, and probably for good reason. I'm so glad I did though.
The rest of the day was spent in and out the van etc. And this time a ferry too to cross over to Bali and into Lovina!! This should be a nice relief from Java. It was dark when we arrived but I can already tell it's going to be super chill.

July 27

Today Andrew, Jenny Danielle my mom and I did a "day tour" that was excellent! The guide didn't speak much English which was a little problematic, but it was fun nonetheless. We first went to a look out point to see Beraten lake and got worried that this day tour was going to be a rip off because the lookout wasn't worth an hour and a half drive. But then we went to a market and bought our first Balinese souvenirs, matching tee shirts that are made out of really thin cotton and have fringes at the ends and a balinese dragon on the front. As soon as we spotted them I knew that we should get it - and that's the kind of buy I like. Then we went down the mountain to a Hindu temple by the lake and walked around the different statues of crazy looking gods. Even though they look absolutely wild, the detail to their design makes them mesmerizing and it's hard to take ones eyes off of them I think. The colors they use is also striking because it makes them looks so passionate and energetic. The temples were starting to looking a little bland in Malaysia and Java after Thailand, thank god Bali knows how to decorate their temples haha apparently this month is gearing up for one of their big festivals because there are totem poles of sorts that are made out of bamboo and flowers and shaped like lamp posts and line every house. As opposed to Malaysia and Java, the decorations add a really nice touch and make the difference between "just another temple" and wow, this is a holy place of worship.
Anyways, from there we went to lunch on the mountain by a viewpoint and all of a sudden we were in a cloud! The mist just glided through and there was no where we could go to hide. Thennnnn we stopped on the side of the road and fed the wild monkeys bananas and nuts. These monkeys were pretty smart because they must know that tourists stop at that spot all the time and the monkeys were all fat haha and they were very well behaved, gently taking the food out of our hands and not jumping on us like before on our jungle walk.
We went to a waterfall next, 500 meters walk off the side of the road, and ive never seen a waterfall quite like it. It Was a huge drop but all the water fell into it's own little pool and the rest was totally shallow and we could walk everywhere.
We went to the natural hot springs which I had been looking forward to most. It didn't smell to strong of sulfur luckily. The water spewed out of dragon heads carved out of stone which was really pretty.

For dinner we went to a local woman, Ibu's, house and had a whole sorts of satay, potatoes, vegetables, fish, cucumbers, pineapple, etc. Afterwards this jeweler came and tried to sell us his crafts, which were actually gorgeous. He made it very clear he only wanted us to buy if we liked, not because we felt badly. He also gave me a free ring, which is beautiful!! It's made of "mother of pearl" and a few other stones - that glimmer! He told me the meaning was that I would travel a lot but always have a strong center. *fingers crossed!* Ibu then told is about when tsunami came and threw away her house and having 5 kids and trying to figure out how to salvage a life. It reminded me of hearing stories from New Orleans about Katrina.

July 28

Earlier on the beach today that jeweler guy came over, not remembering who we were, sat down, and showed us his jewelry again. Last night part of his long speech was about how he didn't like to walk along the beach and sell his crafts, yet that's exactly what he was doing... He was wearing the same clothes and I noticed there were a little ripped. I judged, and sighed about how his genuineness of last night was disillusioned, and then decided that it wasn't fair for me to judge.

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Photos

The night before Mt. Bromo
At the cool hotel!

Sunrise at Mt. Bromo 5
Legion