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.