Wednesday 10th August
In Malang, I met Isabelle at the dutch cafe and we got a bemo out to the bus station and we were soon on another bus, 2 hours, to Probolinggo. At Probolinggo bus station, Toli came to meet us; Toli is organising our trip to Bromo and to Ijen. We took cycle rickshaws to the hotel, whereby the passenger sits in the front and the driver cycles from behind, it was fun. Probolinggo is a one-long-road town.
Had a lazy cat nap in the afternoon and only woke up at dusk when the mozzie bites started to sting. Toli came by and told us the plan for the next couple of days and we paid him 750,000 rupiah each (about $85 each). We went out to the supermarket to get some fruit and snacks. The female shop assistants soon gathered around and made a fuss of us and two of them insisted on escorting us around the shop, carrying our shopping baskets for us, it was sweet, and funny; maybe they do that for every customer?
We got our small backpacks ready for the morning......
Thursday 11th August
At 2:30am we were picked up by our driver in a snazzy Toyota 4x4, for our trip to Bromo. Bromo is one of 3 volcanos within the 10km wide crater of another volcano, and a popular tourist destination for itself and for watching the sunrise. I did not do too much research beforehand as I prefer not to know exactly what to expect. After a couple of hours drive we arrived at a village near Bromo and after a short wait in an alpine style restaurant we piled into another 4x4 with a french couple and a Bavarian guy. Another 30 minute drive uphill and then we got out and started to walk up to the viewpoint, with a quite a few other tourists (mainly Dutch and French), a half hour dusty walk, but not as cold as we expected even at around 2300m.
We got to the viewpoint before 5am and it was still dark so we were not sure which way to look but soon there was some light on the horizon so people started to gather together and we managed to be kind of at the front of the crowd of about 100 people. The increasing light in the distance ahead of us was cool but I also started to notice that to my right and below there was a desolate grey space and beyond that I could just make out the volcano in the crater, beginning to emerge in the light, it was ash grey. This was far more interesting than the sunrise and I was captivated as I hadn't known it was there.
Over the next hour more light gradually shone on the crater revealing the 3 volcanos: the closest and most striking volcano, Bromo smoking to the left and another volcano behind; the scene definitely looked like it was from another planet. Mars? It looked like the front cover of a sci-fi fantasy novel except it was right there, for real. Definitely a trip highlight.
We stayed at the viewpoint until the sun had come up over the distant hill and then we walked back down to the 4x4. We were then driven down into the crater and hopped out again. With the other tourists we walked across the crater floor about 800 metres and then up some improvised steps, up the side of Bromo volcano. When we reached the lip of the volcano we were able to look down into the crater and see bellowing gas coming from within. This was pretty spectacular too, although I preferred the volcano in Sumatra since we had conquered that by ourselves and without other tourists around.
The 4x4 took us back down to the village and our driver took us back to Probolinggo where we had late breakfast and packed our bags. At 11:30am a different driver, Herman, picked us up in the same car, for our journey to Ijen Plateau. Herman was a great guy, with good English and we had some interesting conversations with him. He has worked for Toli for 4 years, they were at school together, but inbetween Herman has worked in a hotel, got married, had a child and lived in Kalimantan. His son lives in Bali, his wife lives in Surabaya but Herman lives in Probolinggo because that is where he can earn money. He says his Grandmother is 115 years old, but we are not convinced! He fasts only on the first and last day of Ramadan: "better than not all", he said! He also told us that Toli has 2 wives and that it is still fairly common for men to have more than one wife.
The journey took us to the north coast of East Java and then inland along some very bumpy broken roads. A good road passed through the forests and hills and we arrived at Hotel Aribika in the Kebun Kalisat coffee plantation at about 5pm. The room was nice but the only choice of meal was a 'buffet' which was well over-priced and not much food so I had a bit of a whinge about that. I was asleep by 10pm......
Friday 12th August
And at 3:30am we packed our stuff up, had bread, boiled egg, jam and coffee for breakfast then Herman drove us to the Ijen Plateau. We arrived at the start of the hiking trail at about 5am and didn't see any other tourists at that point. Herman pointed us towards the path and off we went into the darkness, with just a head torch. The path was a bit slippery with dust and gravel and a bit steep. We soon came across a sulphur collector. These men collect huge slabs of sulphur from the Ijen volcano and it is used in products such as medicine and cosmetics. They carry about 80kgs in each load.
As we walked up, daylight emerged and we could see some hills and we looked down on the clouds. There were a few monkeys in the trees. As we got closer we could smell the sulphur from the volcano and I coughed a bit and you can feel it up your nose and in your throat. About 6am we could see the the ridge of the crater; it looked lunaresque but when we got to it we could not see down into the crater because of the cloud. We walked a little way down into the crater to the viewpoint and I could just make out through the clouds, some of the workers down below.
A local guy said we would have to be patient and wait for maybe a couple of hours for the cloud to disappear. So in the meantime we walked back up to the lip of the crater and further along the ridge. After only about 20 minutes we stopped, the clouds had disappeared and we were able to see right down into the turquiouse crater lake, with the yellow sulpur rock and the gas spewing from one side. And beyond the crater we could see forest and hills. Then the sun came up and lit up the lake, it was a beautiful sight and we just sat there and enjoyed the scenery with only a few other people around.
At about 8am we walked back down the slippery path and to the car park and met up with Herman. He drove us away from Ijen along more broken roads, and through some lovely little villages and rice fields. We stopped briefly to look at some coffee plants and beans in a coffee plantation, all of which are government owned. We were a bit sleepy in the back seat and woke up when the car stopped in Ketapang, the port town for the ferry to Bali.
we had lunch, said goodbye to Herman, and after a longer than expected wait, a bus picked us up and drove us across the road to the car/passenger ferry. The ferry took us from Java to Bali and we put our clocks forward by one hour; it only took about an hour on the ferry but it seemed longer since I was a bit tired and impatient as well as looking forward to getting to Bali. Our understanding with Toli was that our tour included the bus to Lovina, here on Bali's north coast, but upon arrival in Lovina the money collector said we had to pay. I think he was honest and the mixup was elsewhere so we paid up. So except for that small hitch, Toli's tour was very successful and he provided what he had promised.
Before the trip, I hadn't wanted to take a tour to Bromo and Ijen since I prefer to work things out for myself but the accommodation at both places was booked out when I called last week (booked by the tour companies of course). I imagined that the tour would mean being cramped into a minibus with 10 other tourists, but it was just Isabelle and I in a comfortable Toyota with our own driver for 36 hours and we never felt rushed or obliged to head back to the car. It wasn't so much of a tour, more the case of hiring our own driver.
Watching the volcanos at Bromo emerge into the daylight, and sitting perched over lake Ijen were two unforgettable times.
In Malang, I met Isabelle at the dutch cafe and we got a bemo out to the bus station and we were soon on another bus, 2 hours, to Probolinggo. At Probolinggo bus station, Toli came to meet us; Toli is organising our trip to Bromo and to Ijen. We took cycle rickshaws to the hotel, whereby the passenger sits in the front and the driver cycles from behind, it was fun. Probolinggo is a one-long-road town.
Had a lazy cat nap in the afternoon and only woke up at dusk when the mozzie bites started to sting. Toli came by and told us the plan for the next couple of days and we paid him 750,000 rupiah each (about $85 each). We went out to the supermarket to get some fruit and snacks. The female shop assistants soon gathered around and made a fuss of us and two of them insisted on escorting us around the shop, carrying our shopping baskets for us, it was sweet, and funny; maybe they do that for every customer?
We got our small backpacks ready for the morning......
Thursday 11th August
At 2:30am we were picked up by our driver in a snazzy Toyota 4x4, for our trip to Bromo. Bromo is one of 3 volcanos within the 10km wide crater of another volcano, and a popular tourist destination for itself and for watching the sunrise. I did not do too much research beforehand as I prefer not to know exactly what to expect. After a couple of hours drive we arrived at a village near Bromo and after a short wait in an alpine style restaurant we piled into another 4x4 with a french couple and a Bavarian guy. Another 30 minute drive uphill and then we got out and started to walk up to the viewpoint, with a quite a few other tourists (mainly Dutch and French), a half hour dusty walk, but not as cold as we expected even at around 2300m.
We got to the viewpoint before 5am and it was still dark so we were not sure which way to look but soon there was some light on the horizon so people started to gather together and we managed to be kind of at the front of the crowd of about 100 people. The increasing light in the distance ahead of us was cool but I also started to notice that to my right and below there was a desolate grey space and beyond that I could just make out the volcano in the crater, beginning to emerge in the light, it was ash grey. This was far more interesting than the sunrise and I was captivated as I hadn't known it was there.
Over the next hour more light gradually shone on the crater revealing the 3 volcanos: the closest and most striking volcano, Bromo smoking to the left and another volcano behind; the scene definitely looked like it was from another planet. Mars? It looked like the front cover of a sci-fi fantasy novel except it was right there, for real. Definitely a trip highlight.
We stayed at the viewpoint until the sun had come up over the distant hill and then we walked back down to the 4x4. We were then driven down into the crater and hopped out again. With the other tourists we walked across the crater floor about 800 metres and then up some improvised steps, up the side of Bromo volcano. When we reached the lip of the volcano we were able to look down into the crater and see bellowing gas coming from within. This was pretty spectacular too, although I preferred the volcano in Sumatra since we had conquered that by ourselves and without other tourists around.
The 4x4 took us back down to the village and our driver took us back to Probolinggo where we had late breakfast and packed our bags. At 11:30am a different driver, Herman, picked us up in the same car, for our journey to Ijen Plateau. Herman was a great guy, with good English and we had some interesting conversations with him. He has worked for Toli for 4 years, they were at school together, but inbetween Herman has worked in a hotel, got married, had a child and lived in Kalimantan. His son lives in Bali, his wife lives in Surabaya but Herman lives in Probolinggo because that is where he can earn money. He says his Grandmother is 115 years old, but we are not convinced! He fasts only on the first and last day of Ramadan: "better than not all", he said! He also told us that Toli has 2 wives and that it is still fairly common for men to have more than one wife.
The journey took us to the north coast of East Java and then inland along some very bumpy broken roads. A good road passed through the forests and hills and we arrived at Hotel Aribika in the Kebun Kalisat coffee plantation at about 5pm. The room was nice but the only choice of meal was a 'buffet' which was well over-priced and not much food so I had a bit of a whinge about that. I was asleep by 10pm......
Friday 12th August
And at 3:30am we packed our stuff up, had bread, boiled egg, jam and coffee for breakfast then Herman drove us to the Ijen Plateau. We arrived at the start of the hiking trail at about 5am and didn't see any other tourists at that point. Herman pointed us towards the path and off we went into the darkness, with just a head torch. The path was a bit slippery with dust and gravel and a bit steep. We soon came across a sulphur collector. These men collect huge slabs of sulphur from the Ijen volcano and it is used in products such as medicine and cosmetics. They carry about 80kgs in each load.
As we walked up, daylight emerged and we could see some hills and we looked down on the clouds. There were a few monkeys in the trees. As we got closer we could smell the sulphur from the volcano and I coughed a bit and you can feel it up your nose and in your throat. About 6am we could see the the ridge of the crater; it looked lunaresque but when we got to it we could not see down into the crater because of the cloud. We walked a little way down into the crater to the viewpoint and I could just make out through the clouds, some of the workers down below.
A local guy said we would have to be patient and wait for maybe a couple of hours for the cloud to disappear. So in the meantime we walked back up to the lip of the crater and further along the ridge. After only about 20 minutes we stopped, the clouds had disappeared and we were able to see right down into the turquiouse crater lake, with the yellow sulpur rock and the gas spewing from one side. And beyond the crater we could see forest and hills. Then the sun came up and lit up the lake, it was a beautiful sight and we just sat there and enjoyed the scenery with only a few other people around.
At about 8am we walked back down the slippery path and to the car park and met up with Herman. He drove us away from Ijen along more broken roads, and through some lovely little villages and rice fields. We stopped briefly to look at some coffee plants and beans in a coffee plantation, all of which are government owned. We were a bit sleepy in the back seat and woke up when the car stopped in Ketapang, the port town for the ferry to Bali.
we had lunch, said goodbye to Herman, and after a longer than expected wait, a bus picked us up and drove us across the road to the car/passenger ferry. The ferry took us from Java to Bali and we put our clocks forward by one hour; it only took about an hour on the ferry but it seemed longer since I was a bit tired and impatient as well as looking forward to getting to Bali. Our understanding with Toli was that our tour included the bus to Lovina, here on Bali's north coast, but upon arrival in Lovina the money collector said we had to pay. I think he was honest and the mixup was elsewhere so we paid up. So except for that small hitch, Toli's tour was very successful and he provided what he had promised.
Before the trip, I hadn't wanted to take a tour to Bromo and Ijen since I prefer to work things out for myself but the accommodation at both places was booked out when I called last week (booked by the tour companies of course). I imagined that the tour would mean being cramped into a minibus with 10 other tourists, but it was just Isabelle and I in a comfortable Toyota with our own driver for 36 hours and we never felt rushed or obliged to head back to the car. It wasn't so much of a tour, more the case of hiring our own driver.
Watching the volcanos at Bromo emerge into the daylight, and sitting perched over lake Ijen were two unforgettable times.
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