Breathtaking Bromo


Advertisement
Indonesia's flag
Asia » Indonesia » Java » Mount Bromo
June 30th 2011
Published: June 30th 2011
Edit Blog Post

I ended up booking an organised tour to Bromo because I thought it would save me a lot of time and hassle. It took about 12 hours to get to my hotel and after having dinner and a little read I had an early night because I had to wake up at 3.30am to catch my jeep to the viewpoint. Next morning after a short jeep ride and a 15 minute walk I reached the viewpoint where there were about another hundred or so tourists eagerly waiting for the sunrise. We could already see the outline of Mount Batok and Mount Bromo and as the sun came up the view just kept getting better and better. Every 10 to 15 minutes Mount Bromo would let out some more smoke and ash which meant that the view was always changing. Just after 6am we headed back down the hill to our jeep, dodging all the tourists on horses on the way.

We then drove down onto the sandy plain where we parked and then headed towards Mount Bromo on foot. On the way we passed a temple and a lot of locals trying to sell us horse rides up towards the crater. Towards the crater the scenery was stunning and the whole area has a moonlike look to it. As we got closer the ash started falling on us and I started to get short of breath which I wasn't sure if it was due to the ash or the uphill climb. The last section was quite steep and hard because of the soft volcanic sand but eventually I reached the top where I could look into the crater. Luckily the volcano was only blowing a little smoke so the ash had stopped. After hanging around for 10 minutes I headed back down to the plain and to our jeep. From there it was back to the hotel for breakfast.

Around lunch time I decided to go back to Cemoro Lawang, the town on the edge of the outer crater to have a look around and then walk the 5km back to my hotel. Unfortunately the weather was cloudy most of the time so I didn't take any photos but village life was quite interesting with a lot of old women walking around with firewood on their back and working in the vegetable plots. That night I developed a pretty bad flu, so I went to bed as early as possible and just watched a movie and slept in the next morning.

On wednesday I checked out of my hotel and caught the minibus up to Cemoro Lawang where I had booked a homestay so I could wake up early and see some different views of Bromo. After this I have booked a 9am trip to the Ijen Plateau which I hope will be great as well.


Additional photos below
Photos: 43, Displayed: 23


Advertisement



19th January 2012

WOW...WOW...LUCKY...LUCKY YOU
You were at Bromo at a magic time...we were at Bromo for 4 nights late December 2011...the volcanoes there sleeping peacefully...absolutely loved it....but to see what you saw...excellent photos from a man on the spot...fantastic..!
19th January 2012

Thanks Dave
I guess I was very lucky. It was one of the most fantastic sights I have ever seen. I always wondered if it was the same every day. Sorry to hear you didn't have the same conditions. Jason
1st June 2013

Great pictures
I guess that you knew there was an ongoing eruption when you planned your trip. Lucky. Your pictures are excellent. What camera did you use?
14th June 2013

Thanks Roger
I believe the volcano had erupted a few months before, but was still blowing smoke out every half hour or so. I just used a 5 year old sony cybershot, I think the model was a W50. Any camera would have taken good shots. The conditions were perfect. Thanks for viewing my blog.

Tot: 0.195s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 20; qc: 89; dbt: 0.1304s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1; ; mem: 1.3mb