If you peruse most travel itineraries to the island of Java, you will find three major tourist attractions: the temples of Yogyakarta, sunrise at Mount Bromo and a night hike to the blue flame/sunrise at Mount Ijen. Unfortunately, the latter was off the table for us due to a July eruption so we settled on Bromo for our volcanic adventure-o-the-month.
But, after our not-so “off the beaten path” excursion to Tumpak Sewu waterfall, we seriously questioned if we wanted to do Mount Bromo at all, particularly with hoards of people at sunrise, which is the “thing” to do from Malang. We contemplated doing it independently and avoiding the sunrise part completely, but it was quite involved and would have cost us a bit of money due to changing accommodation plans.
So, after a pep talk to prepare for the chaos and a mostly unsuccessful attempt to nap from 7 pm-11:30, we rolled into a Jeep at midnight for the 3-hour journey up a volcano.
Was it worth it? Yep. Absolutely.
This surreal panorama could easily be on another planet. The incessantly belching Mount Bromo (the one in the back) is a stereotypical conical peak when you see it from a distance. Up close and personal, you can better observe its evolution over the millennia as part of an ever growing chain of volcanic eruptions to form new peaks within a massive crater. Wow. Talk about Mother Earth in action.
This is our third close-range active volcanic experience. The other two were Volcan Masaya in Nicaragua and Volcanoes National Park on Hawaii. We were also both fortunate to see the sunrise on Maui’s (dormant) Haleakala as Junior Explorer Genes before we met with our families.* Nicaragua was by far the most intense because of the chance to gaze into oozing and fiery molten lava. But, witnessing the wonder of Bromo at sunrise was a solid second place. It’s a “pinch me” moment when you’re constantly uttering to yourself, “DAMN…now THIS is Indonesia.”
Side Note: 14-year-old Mandy kind of saw the sunrise on Haleakala. She, her friend, and her mom embarrassingly stayed in the heated car while dad and sis watched the gorgeous sunrise from the viewing platform while also making comedic memories which would last a lifetime.
The sunrise peeking over the horizon.
Of course, before all this reward came…the lesser magical logistics part. As mentioned, we revived ourselves to be ready for our midnight Jeep pick-up by an agency called “Bromo Tour Comfortable Cheap.” Perhaps it wasn’t the most catchy name, but certainly spoke our love language with its positive reviews and $34/person price tag. (Most other agencies seemed to be $5-10 more.)
We were fortunate to be the first picked up, which meant we got placed in the more comfortable front seats, whereas the stuffy French family of four who joined us appropriately got stuffed more sardine-like into the back. Not sure they’d agree with the “Comfortable” part of agency’s namesake, but the front was good enough for a small snooze.
That is, until we started veering and lurching over an absurdly rocky road (with no marshmallow or chocolate swirl bonuses)…which turned out to be a Jeep-free-for-all as we all (oh, there’s others?!) competed to be first across the crater!
After parking the Jeep at 3:17 am and informing us he’d be sleeping in the car, the driver told us to take a photo of the license plate or we’d never see him again.
He was probably right as the side of the road of the road where we parked looked like a Jeep manufacturing plant. From here, we walked uphill, where we found our first viewpoint under the sight of a flawlessly luminescent moon.
It had been six months since we’d had an excuse to don our puffy coats, and due to the 2782 meter/9127 foot elevation, we were quite gleeful to have them as we wrapped our mitts around the first order of business…cheap, sugar-laden coffee. Not the java that Java should be proud of.
Naturally, being a mega tourist trap, there were also plenty of breakfast options (who eats breakfast at 3:30?), souvenir stands, and ladies walking around touting blankets and raincoats, insisting it was going to rain, even though the star-splashed sky clearly declared otherwise. Oh, there were also squatty options to evacuate all that fake coffee out of your system every few meters for about $.30.
After buying the crappy coffee, we of course found the good stuff. So, since it was still 3:55 and the first one did nothing to bring any energy whatsoever into our veins, we settled in for a second $.75 cup.
At about 4:15, we followed the herd to the top and arrived to the peak of Mount Pananjakan 15 minutes later. It was still utterly dark, so we determined which direction was east and permanently wedged ourselves against the railing between Bromo and the sunrise, which was unfortunately also windward facing. And we waited. And waited. And waited. At around 4:55, the show began…
…but it didn’t take long to realize the sun was only a supporting character. The real star that day was this mesmerizing westward wonder which was already stewing over a sea of sand. But every head there was bobbing and weaving between the two, taking in the full panorama.
Despite the crowds, we still got to take it in unobstructed because we stood right at the rails rather than grabbing a seat with the masses. Not sure you’d have the same feeling if you sat in this section.
Also, a couple words to the wise: we know you’re in Indonesia, but don’t be a bonehead and wear shorts. It’s really cold. Secondly, we brought our fillo pillows to sit on which was a fantastic barrier between the frosty concrete and our bums while waiting. We definitely got a few looks of envy for bringing those along.
Absolutely otherworldly.
We were there too! Mandy was happy we had masks in our bag, to be used as a wind, not sick barrier.
Around 5:35, the show was over and everyone began plodding back to the jeeps. But. Wait! Greg noticed that a new flurry of smoke was beginning to roll off the top. Wow! Just magnificent!! So glad we got to witness this multiple times.
Now…time to hunt for our ride! Like little ants, the jeeps lined the hill for miles.
Heading back down, we reentered the 10-kilometer wide Tengger Caldera which was the rocky expanse we’d unknowingly crossed earlier that morning. Our driver paused in front of the iconic Gunung Widodarnen to let us feel like adventuring badasses. We’re now ready for our Jeep commercial.
Our next stop would be near Gunung Batok, where we got to wade through a tide pool of jeeps, refuse the highly backpackable souvenirs, and, also the barrage of pushers who try to convince you that you need a horse to walk the maybe 1.5 miles across the barren “Sea of Sand” to the edge of Bromo Junior, which you’d soon ascend.
OMG. Please don’t support this ridiculousness unless you’re truly not able-bodied. Or, at least pick one that doesn’t look like My Little Pony. It was also the unfortunate case that the horses obliviously kicked up even more volcanic dust than the wind, which went straight into everyone’s lungs. Thus, make sure you have a mask for this part. Funnily, no one was selling these….
Once you trod across the sand sea, you can climb 220 stairs where you constantly hear your fellow tourists grumbling about the sulfur smell…
…because, surprise! Live fissures in the earth don’t breathe out fragrances of roses or buttered popcorn.
Another mini volcano looks like a zit prepping to be popped. The rides wait…waterless as they breathe in the blowing dust.
After another swim across the Sea of Sand, it was 8:00 and time to indulge in our buffet breakfast, included in the rate. All in all, after napping for a few hours upon our return, we reflected that it was a fantastic experience. Truly so glad we did it!
