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Published: February 4th 2011
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Midway up Bromo
It's just beautifulToday's distance: 40km
Time on bike: 4 hrs
Yesterday's distance 35km
Time on bike: 5 hrs
Total distance: 825km
First off, the news: "Mount Bromo's eruption in Indonesia's East Java province on paralyzed tourism industry as hotels were closed due to thick ashes, detikcom online news reported on Friday. Hotels of Lava View, Cemara and Bukit Cemara have not received any guest in the past couple of days as ash on the streets was as thick as 15-40 centimeters."
I had no idea about this reality until about halfway up the volcano on a bicycle, while stopping off to chat with locals over a coffee. At that point, since there were only another 10 steep kilometers to go, I wasn't about to turn around. As it happened, there was one hotel still in operation: Yoschis Hotel. God bless them.
It was almost a case of me having the whole place to myself, but a few German guests showed up later at night. Next morning we got chatting about the volcano conditions. The place where we were staying was covered in ash, and it was literally raining ash on the street. Face masks and toques

Approaching Mist
Beyond the tree line nowto the rescue!!!!! These German guys were riding offroad motorcycles and told me that the ash stopped raining about 3km up the road. Going against the advice of practically everyone there, including my own advice, I set off up the mountain in the middle of the melee.
My mode of transport was a folding bicycle.
Sure enough, things did improve at the top, but not before I was covered in black muck as the ash combined with a rain shower. It was just brutal, but I had to keep going.
The viewpoint was worth all the trouble, and I'll let the video speak for itself. It was just magnificent up there. Coming back to the hotel, they would have prefered I stay another night, but the ash clouds were raining thicker and thicker, and the street was covered in fresh black muck from only a few hours worth. At that point, the only sensible thing to do was check out and skedaddle down the mountain as fast as possible.
At this point, the bicycle was the best choice because all other motorized transport had long since stopped running for the day. The most frustrating thing is

Crater View
Obviously the crater is closed off now, so no cycling across to the other side :-(that everything operates super early in the morning around here. By around noon, it has all shut down.
The ash raining lasted almost until the bottom, and now it's a matter of cleaning up. Thankfully some guys at the snow wash place did a marvelous job at that. Supposed to be a car wash, but it's actually a bike wash.
Interestingly enough, I had the best sleep in years at the top of that mountain. This was the same night as the Lunar New Year in China where they blow off fireworks and purposely deprive themselves of sleep. No thanks. I'll take my quiet mountain retreat besides an erupting volcano any day.
In terms of safety hazards, there's not much to worry about. Comparing this volcano eruption with the recent Mt Merapi eruption in Central Java (I also climbed it) is like comparing apples and oranges. As the guesthouse owner explained, Merapi is pyramid shaped and poses a big threat with gas clouds. Bromo, on the other hand, is an inverted crater shape. As it erupts, everything goes back inside the crater and doesn't spill down the mountain. The only hazard is that damn ash. It really

Crater View 2
Part of it is submerged in waterstings after awhile.
Today was a remarkable experience in getting local prices!! I figured this would happen while the locals would take pity on a nutcase bicycle rider who was dumb enough to ride through ash clouds. As a reward, I got the local prices. It was actually rather shocking just how cheap they really were. Or to put it the other way, it's easy to get ripped off in Indonesia if the following local price sampling holds:
Bread snacks: 2000 rupiah
Coke bottle: 5000 rupiah
Huge 2L water: 5000
Internet: 2-3000 per hour
Nasi Goreng: 6000
Bicycle wash: 3000
The exchange rate is about 1 US dollar ---> 9000 rupiah
Hotels are running anywhere between 150,000 to 200,000 so this is where the real crunch lies. However, the quality of the hotels is well worth the rupiah and I've had the best sleeps in this country. I suppose with enough hunting, you could get cheaper. You get free breakfast, swimming pool, massage services, air-con, hot shower, and other benefits. Plus if you show up during low season (such as now) you'll be treated like a celebrity. In general, that's how foreigners get treated here. The

Bike Wash
These guys are awesome!constant barrage of "Hello Mister" can be annoying, but I've never had this much attention in a foreign country before.
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