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Published: August 28th 2008
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Sunrise: Bromo and Friends
Bromo is the small smoking crater. There's one in the background that's obscured that belched out dark black ash every 15 minutes or so. Let's see. When last I left off, we were passing the time in Lovina bar, enjoying some Bintang and the sunset. It was easily the prettiest sunset we saw in Indonesia, so I've included a picture here.
Around 6:30 we harassed our waitress for our bill, and made our way back back to the hotel to pick up our bags. We learned that the tourist agent who had booked our bus to Probolinggo was frantically searching for us. Apparently the 7 pm bus actually left at 6:45 and they were waiting on us to leave. We raced to the bus, enduring a scolding from the driver (she actually hit Wes!) and settled into our seats for the 7 1/2 hour ride to Probolinggo on the island of Java. A half hour into our ride we made the first of two stops to pick up packages of an undetermined nature. While the driver had fretted over our ON TIME arrival at the bus, she did not hesitate to wait around for 30 minutes while a group of men tried to fit no less than 20 large boxes on the already crammed bus. The bus toilet had been a bit of a
disaster to begin with (Asian style toilets on a bus are NOT fun), but now you couldn't even get to it. We resolved to hold out for rest stops.
We napped a little on the way to the ferry terminal, and once there, Ronn and Wes disembarked in search of food and the bathroom while our bus waited to board the ferry. Ronn returned, and we were just starting to discuss what would happen if Wes didn't make it back in time when
the bus started moving. Hence, we found out the answer to our question. Luckily Ronn convinced the driver to stop, and Wes made a mad dash for the bus, climbing on board just before we pulled onto the ferry boat. The remainder of our ride was fairly uneventful. About an hour out of Probolinggo we stopped for the long promised "buffet dinner" (at 1 am I might add). It wasn't really worth the wait.
Around 2:30 am we arrived in Probolinggo, and the bus dropped the three of us off in front of an all night travel agency. We were not terribly surprised by this turn of events, as all the guidebooks warn that this
will happen. We agreed to pay 325,000 Rupiah each in exchange for a ride to and from Bromo, park entrance fees, and minibus to Solo (a mere 7 hours further down the road). Our ride to Bromo left immediately (aka 3 am), and we were due to arrive in Solo around 5 pm that night.
We only made it 10 minutes out of town in a rickety and very uncomfortable van before our ride turned around to pick up two more tourists who had been left by their bus at the same travel agency. The five of us drove toward Cemoro Lawang, the giant crater rim from which Bromo and a few other volcanoes rose. We picked up a 14 year old guide along the way as well.
We arrived at the crater rim around 5 am, and our guide led us the 20 minutes up a footpath and some stairs to a viewing point where we could watch the sunrise. In actuality, you couldn't see the sun, as it was hidden behind another mountain, but we did watch some gorgeous colors in the sky while checking out Bromo and a few other volcanic peaks in various stages
More sunrise Bromo.
You can see the smoke from the other active volcano in this one. of activity. Our guide was intent on ruining the moment, insisting that Wes and I climb to a higher viewing point where the others were. No matter how many times we said no (and in Indonesian no less!) he wouldn't leave us alone. Thank goodness the view was pretty enough to overcome the annoyance.
Next we drove to the town of Cemoro Lawang, where our driver left us at a hole in the fence and instructed us to hike about an hour to Bromo. We made our way down a steep and sand filled hill, crossed the "Sea of Sand" and arrived at a parking lot. Apparently our driver had pocketed our park entrance fee, sending us on a long hike rather than driving us to the bottom. The park itself was gorgeous, and we were really frustrated that it did not receive any money from us. But more on that later. We shook off numerous touts who offered us pony rides to a set of stairs leading up to Bromo's summit, and began the climb up the 250+ stairs to the top. I nearly choked once I reached the summit, as the wind shifted and blew sulfur fumes
More sunrise
The sun was hiding just behind the hill to the left. The clouds were great though. right into my face. Wes and I lingered at the top for a while, checking out the large fissure in the base of the crater from which all the gases were escaping. Then we headed back down the stairs and into the insanity of the pony wranglers. 50,000 Rupiah seemed to high for a ride back, so we started walking. By the time we reached the parking lot the price had dropped to 20k, and Wes, Ronn and I each hired our own horse. The ride was fun and far easier on the legs than hiking. The only hiccup was when Ronn's horse decided my bag looked like food, attempting to take a bite out of the bag, my leg, and my horse simultaneously.
Back at the top our guides assured us that we should eat at a local hotel where the food was both
murah and
enak (cheap and tasty). It was neither. Cold eggs, toast and terrible coffee. We escaped down the street to a small cafe for second breakfast. By this time we were growing rather annoyed with our hired driver and guide. It got worse when we got ready to depart and learned that 6
other people would be joining us in our already cramped van. We'd only slept for a few hours, but I couldn't let myself sleep, as the motion of nodding my head forward would cause me to smash my head on the window. Good times. Back at the tour agency in Probolinggo we complained about the park fees, but both driver and agent insisted that we hadn't had to pay them so we shouldn't care, arguing until we finally gave up and boarded the minibus to Solo. That trip came with its own set of hassles. We had to mutiny to get the driver to stop for lunch at 1 (we hadn't eaten since 8:30 and were starving). He dropped us in the middle of nowhere with barely any options in order to prove his point that we should wait 2 more hours for the special restaurant where he clearly got a commission. The food there was fine, but overpriced and certainly not worth the wait! A half hour out of Solo, the driver's excess use of the emergency brake to stop the bus caused us to break down. We waited at a gas station for an hour while the driver
Bromo's Stairs
There seemed to be many more of them during the actual climb. utilized a pen knife, some scissors, and a headlamp to perform minor surgery.
We finally arrived in Solo around 8, taking the first hotel we found (at least it had a nice bed and A/C!) and sampled some of the famous Solo street food for dinner. Finally full and with nowhere to go, we all passed out for a well deserved rest a full 36 hours after our last night of sleep.
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