Bali, finally

The minivan sped around the serpentine tar road out of the volcanic area of Ijen and soon we were in the midst of civilisation again. Our last stop in Java island would be the port city of Ketapang where we will be ferried across the channel to Bali, in a bus, on a ferry. The ferry ride seemed to take forever, as I was already craving for a comforting hot water bath and laze my sore asses onto my soft bed. After almost 2 hours of rocking on a boat, we finally touched ground and landed ourselves in Bali.

The moment you land in Bali, you can feel the difference - the ambience and the culture permeating the air. It is not surprising to see Hindu shrines erected outside each and every house, as the majority of Balinese are Hindus. In other words, yeah, pork, finally after almost 5 days of being deprive of it!

Nonetheless, Bali is also notorious for its horrendous traffic standstill, due to its narrow roads and heavy traffic. Hence, not surprisingly, the journey from Gilimanuk to Denpasar took us 4 bloody hours!

By the time we reached our hotel, it was already almost 5pm. Sore, exhausted, and run down with sweat, I was never so delighted before to be in a hotel! Delightfully  Yulia Village Inn in Ubud was just splendid. Located centrally in Ubud just beside one of the main streets, it is a stone's throw away from all the locations. 

Well, the first day in Bali was spent relaxing - we grabbed dinner, went for massage, took a short stroll, and dozed off in our hotel early. It's time to eat, pray and love. 

Ijen Kawah

We headed eastwards, as the van swerved around the serpentine roads, flanked by dense lush tropical trees. I knew we were going deeper and deeper into the interiors of Java, as my cellphone's signal plummeted to nil. Oh well, that is what an adventure should be, isn't it?

It was already nightfall by the time we reached our hostel, so we just cleaned and prepared ourselves for an early rest. Dinner was well spent with our new group of friends - 2 French couples, whom we would be hiking Ijen Kawah together.

In the early wee hours the next day, we set out in the darkness in our sturdy mini van towards Ijen Kawah, 30 minutes away. By 2.30am, we arrived at the base of this dead volcano crater, together with zounds of tourists already gathering there awaiting to climb up to see the legendary blue flames! 

The hike was tough for someone who has been so used to a sedentary lifestyle like me! 2km of up slanting terrain got me huffing and puffing and I swear that I almost given up, if not for my loyal travel mate who threatened to whack me if I quitted! Upon completing the hellish 2km of torment uphill, we were left with the 1km relatively-flat terrain until we reached the edge of the crater. It wasn't hard to know that you have reached the crater; the brackish sulphuric fumes got stronger as we approached the precipitous steps that lead us down the base of the crater.

After another 800 meters of descent, we finally reached the base at around 4.30am and were welcomed by the legendary blue flames. Well, since dawn was imminent, and most of the sulphur extraction activity was coming to a halt, the blue flames that we beheld wasn't as dramatic as the promotional photos. 

Instead, it's just like this.

As dawn broke, we realized we were in the middle of a barren terrain with just rocks and sands and nothing else aside the swarms of tourists. 

I presumed that the sulphur here existed as a different compound, where the miners where would purify it by lighting it in flames, and the chemical reaction emitted the legendary blue flames. Consequently, the liquid hot sulphur would flow out into a container unit and later solidifies into these yellow chunks, which the miners would then carry down the mountain to sell. So that's how we get our sulphur!

And in the middle of the crater lies the infamous turquoise lake.

Actually, despite the fumes from the lake surface, it wasn't really that boiling hot, as evident by my surviving pair of hands. Some say the lake water does have medicinal properties, but I'm not gonna risk my feet just to try that out! 

And that was when my travel buddy revealed his hidden murderous intent by trying to push me into the deadly lake!

Before leaving the crater, the bunch of us and our guide had a group photo. 

So, after another 800 meters of thigh breaking climb up the base of the crater, 1km of flat terrain and 2 km of down slanting hilly road, we hopped onto our minivan for our final destination in Indonesia - Bali!

Mount Bromo

We bid Yogyakarta farewell the following early morning as we embarked on a 12 hour journey to Cemoro Lawang, the nearest town to Mt Bromo. The journey was uneventful and mundane as we passed through towns and villages, having made a few pitstops for lunch and toilet breaks. Eventually we arrived in Probolinggo, switched to another different minivan, and headed towards Comoro Lawang.

The scent of sulphur permeated into our van as we ascended gradually in the darkness to reach our hotel - Bromo Permai Hotel, which is like nearest to the crater. We settled down, took a quick shower, had our dinner and dozed off rather early since we had to wake up by 3am for our first itinerary in Mt Bromo.

By 3 am, the hotel was nearly empty, as jeeps swooshed in one after another, picking up eager tourists awaiting to witness the amazing sunrise over Mt Bromo. We had to squeeze in a small jeep - all five of us - and endured the 30 minutes journey up to a nearby look out post of Mt Penanjakan. 

The jeep stopped halfway around 500m away from the peak as the road ahead was already packed with jeeps parked along side the main road and pedlars assaulting hikers of all race and creed. We hopped off and started climbing up the road till we reach the peak, where, as expected, where hordes of tourists had already fill up every single spot in the lookout post.

As the distant horizon started to brighten up with rays from the rising sun, everyone roared with anticipation and started flashing their cameras, with awes echoing in the background. 

And the faint light reveals us the majestic Mount Bromo, with its siblings Mt Batak and Mt Semeru. All I could do is just gasped with marvel. I was plain speechless with the beauty. 

  

 Looking downwards at  Comoro Lawang, where we stayed for a night.

From the distant, smoke puffing out from Mt Semeru. Hope it stays dead for the day.

  

Once the astonishment had waned, we headed back downhill, searching for the jeep that brought us here. Now, which one is ours again?

Another 20 minutes of ride and we reached the Sea of Sands, which is a flat land covered with volcanic ashes, and we started wading through the sandy terrain, heading for the crater.

 

Oh my, another 200 steps before we reach the peak!

And finally, here we were, at the edge of Mt Bromo's crater!

Yup, we made it! One more struck off the bucket list. We strolled down Mt Bromo merrily, headed back to our jeep, returned to our hotel to check out, and headed for the next destination.

Prambanan

Our next itinerary for the day would be Prambanan's Hindu temple complex, which is around 30 minutes away from Yogyakarta. Somehow Prambanan did remind me of Angkor Wat, especially of it's distinct corn like shape.

There are actually 6 temples here, each belonging to the 3 main gods of Hinduism, namely Brahma, Vishnu and Siva, with their chariots. Sadly, the temples are now empty. 

Well, since we were already here, so we just strolled along around this temple complex while burning time.

And here's my faithful photographer! LOL.

The intricate carvings around the temples.

And we walked out from Prambanan, back to the hustle and bustle of Yogyakarta.