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Published: April 17th 2008
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We left Lovina the next day on another night bus, because the dolphins were seemingly the main attraction and their was very little else to do. The journey to probbolingo went smoothly and we arrived there at 3am!!
their was only one place open to arrange our further transport to mount bromo and he did slightly rip us off but it equated to about 75p so we wern't to fussed.our transport was a small minivan with around 30 people either in it or on it for the 2 hour trip to bromo (luckily we were in the front where there was just 4 of us). At about 6am we arrived in cemero lawang (the gateway to bromo) and hunted out some accommodation before having breakfast and then going to bed. We both felt pretty rough from the journey up and along with the sudden gain in altitude and drop in temperature felt pretty tired, so we spent the rest of the day in bed. The next day we were up at sunrise (5.30am) and walking out to the crater rim with a light mist hanging in the air, it took us about an hour to get there and climb the steps.
Looking down into the crater of a still active volcano was amazing, there wasn't any lava but the steam and gases were impressive enough. We walked all the way around the crater and it was nice to get away from the crowds,there were lots of coloured rocks of different minerals etc and you could see sections of cooled lava, it wasn't hard to imagine the forces needed to create the landscape that surrounded us. THere was also another volcano called Mt Semeru in the distance which kept erupting large amounts of black smoke. We were back at the hostel eating brekkie for about 10am and spent another day in or around oure room.
Our last day in Bromo we were up at 3am in order to walk to a viewpoint for the sunrise, it was obviously dark and the path had been partially wrecked by landslides so on the way up we by-passed what we thought was a drainage channel for a much smaller path. we ended up climbing a very steep and precarious hillside right on the edge of the outer crater which is a remnant of the super volcano which used to stand here. Luckily we did finally
find the steps (which were the same coluor as the drainage channel??) and followed them up to the viewpoint, it was still pretty early so we climbed a bit higher and found an amazing vantage point.
As the sun rose you could see more volcanoes in the distance and the whole outer crater filled with mist and mount bromo stood in the middle of it all, rising out the mist smoking away. You could also see Mt semeru much better from here "poofing" away as helly put it.
We left bromo at 9 am that day for the 11hr journey to Yogyakarta. We had big plans for yogya but the next day helly was pretty flued up and over the next few days i went down with it as well and we spent a few days reluctantly in bed ,you never really stop though because if your feeling slightly better you try and be abit stronger for the other.We had booked our flight to singapore for the 13th so by the 11th we decided we ought to do something so we went to the rather uninspiring Kraton then caught the bus out to Prambanan.
Prambanan is a massive hindu
temple with Mt Merapi in the background, it's enrtirely carved with stories of hindu faith, they were very impressive and they wern't too crowded because most people visit in the morning.there was scaffolding up around one of the towers because a massive earthquake devastated them a few years ago and there still restoring them. There were also some smaller temples which you could walk around and we were the only ones there so you could really get a feel for them. Feeling pretty wacked we did very little else once we got back.
the following day we took it pretty steady before heading out to a rainy borobudur in the afternoon. Supposedly the largest buddhist monument in existence it was an awe inspiring place and a fitting monument to the religion. Their was a long line of umbrellas heading upto the top and i feared it would be very touristy but you just had to dissapear into one of the many layers and you had it to yourself. The carvings were even better than at prambanan and they were everywhere, there were also lots of buddhas (most without heads) and it was a very peacefull place to be. it was
Borobudur
Theres a buddha in each bell. pretty crowded at the top but you could still find a place to yourself if you stayed there a while. In the end we scarpered due to incoming rain and did get a little moist on the journey back but it was worth it .
sorry its a long one again
Paul n Helly xx
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dave
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that looks dead good i like all your pictures im rather enveyous. word x