The Remarkable Mount Bromo, Indonesia

The Remarkable Mount Bromo, Indonesia

August 26, 2015 | Adiek Sarah

I was lucky to have to a friend who also can be the best companion or travel partner. Thanks to Mbk Tika for her hospitality and willingness to spend her time to travel with me to Mt. Bromo. The idea suddenly came across my mind to travel during Chinese New Year break, but end up the date was changed to Thaipusam break on 17th Jan 2014 because she will be free on that weekend. This plan was proposed to another good friend of mine, Ain and she agreed to join since Mbk Tika is actually her close friend during their study time.

Here we go. We flew to Juanda International Airport, Surabaya on 17th Jan 2014 at 9.35 am. The flight was delayed, but we managed to reach the around 11.40 am. Mbk Tika has already arrived and ready to fetch us. She still had another class (Mbk Tika is a Master Student at Airlangga University, Surabaya) after lunch and she dropped us at Galaxy Mall to have a walk and lunch while waiting for her.

Our lunch at Qua-Li

Surabaya was the second largest city after Jakarta in Indonesia. As a big city, it was common to have malls everywhere. Galaxy Mall was one them, but it was located away from the city centre. We didn't do many things, but looking for a place to have lunch. After walked around, we chose Qua-Li, a Chinese cuisine restaurant at the food court. I had doubt to eat at the food court when I saw one of the stalls is selling Babi Guling. After that, we performed the prayer and depart to Mount Bromo around 3.30 pm after Mbk Tika fetch us at the mall.

With some foods prepared for the journey, we drove to Mount Bromo via Probolinggo. Other than Probolinggo, Mt. Bromo can be accessed through Malang. However, the road condition was not really good and it was not advisable to drive especially when we were driving a personal car.

I was the big boss (hahahaa) and that was the reasons that I always sat at the back while these two friends talk about most of the things that I didn't understand. It was Friday and the traffic were not really smooth when we left Surabaya city.

Yoschi Hotel

We stayed overnight at Yoschi Hotel and arrived around 7.30 pm. This hotel was owned by a Danish and located about 2.5 km away from Mount Bromo. The decoration was a bit traditional and very pleasant to stay. Our room rate was IDR420,000 including service tax. It was a room for four people with attached bathroom without hot shower. It was very cold up there, so we didn't take a shower that night.

During the check in and registration process, we also had to make the reservation for jeep to Mount Bromo on the next morning. We wanted to go to four locations (sunrise, Kawah Bromo, Pasir Berbisik and Savannah (Teletubbies)). The fare was IDR650,00 per jeep for the whole trip. Unfortunately, there were no other people going to the same location and we had to share only among three of us.

We went to the room to keep our bags and went out again for dinner. We hang out at the restaurant and bought some Sate Kambing from the local man who sold it on a motorbike. There were also few other residents from other locations. We’ve met a Malaysian, Dutch, Canadian and the rest are local Indonesian, but mainly from Jakarta.

It was time to sleep because we have to wake up at 3.00 am on the next. We had nice sleep because the room is prepared with thick blanket. No fan, no aircond, but for me, it was extremely cold. We didn't notice that we've made some noises and our neighbour suddenly knock the door and asked us to keep silence as everybody wanted to have their rest.

Sunrise at Mount Bromo

The hotel staff woke us up at 3.00 am. Take away breakfast was prepared for the trip, but it was only bread, butter and jam, and mineral water.

The whole area called Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park. It was not free but the entrance fees were paid at the hotel before our departure. The fees were IDR12,000 per person for local and IDR70,000 for foreigners. Since Mbk Tika was a local Indonesian, we managed to get the same price as hers. Just keep our mouth shut and they will not know that we were undercover. We made our move around 3.30 am and it took about 30 minutes to reach the viewpoint. The jeep parked at the road site and we had to walk about 15 minutes. Many motorbike riders offering for Ojek (ride with them) with IDR10,000 per person. No drinks, no energy in the morning, but I forced myself to walk until we really reach the destination.

While waiting for the sunrise, Subuh prayer has to be performed first. There were also Musolla (prayer rooms) provided at that area. Also, there were a lot of shops selling souvenir, foods and drinks along the road site to go to the viewpoint. It was nice to have a hot coffee when it was really cold up there. It is advisable to bring warm jacket and gloves because something the weather is really unpredictable.

I guess the sun was too shy to come out on that day. We unable to see the sunrise, but I really enjoyed the morning view of the whole Mount Bromo. Nothing could describe my feeling that time to see such a great Allah’s creation.

Kawah Bromo

We went down to get to the jeep. The next destination is Kawah Bromo (Bromo Crater). It took only 15 minutes to go down. This crater was actually the one that we saw from the viewpoint. Soon after the jeep had parked, we walk up to the hill. There were some local people offering horse riding with IDR100,000 for 2 ways. I had no regret to pay for the horse riding because it was quite tiring to hike the hill. The horse could only reach at the stairs foot of the crater and we had to climb the stairs on our own. It was really exhausted. These two ladies reluctant to ride it at the first time, but finally agreed that I was taking the right decision.

The smell of sulfur was really strong when we reached at the peak. We could see the crater of volcano and it was still active. The local people also sold surgical mask and luckily I had a dentist friend and who already brought the mask from her workplace.

And now, photo session time!

We went down and had some Bakso for breakfast. Ain really wanted to have it since yesterday, and I had it with an instant Cappuccino to make it a complete meal. Yummy!

Bakso

Pasir Berbisik

The third destination was Pasir Berbisik, and it was only pasir (sand). Nothing was there except for other jeeps and I think there was a family day or company event held at one of the area. The view is also very nice and great for another photo session.

Savannah (Teletubbies)

This area was totally hills view. They called it Teletubbies hills because it was similar with the Teletubbies kids show a long time ago. I remember I used to watch this show when I was a kid, but I couldn’t recall everything. Since Mbk Tika taught me how to take panoramic view using my handphone, I think I did take some good pictures as below.