Mount Bromo and bloody tourists
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Cemoro Lawang,
Indonesia
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Day 147 - It was a gift catching the bemo to Batubulan, spending no time negotiating fees or waiting for more passengers. Once we arrived however, it was a different story, as once again I ended up waiting in that God forsaken terminal for well over an hour this time. One driver, with lots of tattoos on his face, recognised me from last time I was sat on the pavement, on the way to Ubud, and came and joined me for a bit, before parking his bemo up so we could listen to the radio. Eventually, a lady turned up, and a little later two men and so we climbed in the bemo ready to go, when all of a sudden, the two men got up and left! Nooo! So myself and the lady got back out and I resumed my position on the curb! When we finally had enough of a crowd (I had to presuade the driver that four was adequate as I really needed to be getting on my way to Java) we finally made the mere half hour journey to Ubung terminal, where a large bus going direct to Probolinggo was waiting.
When I climbed aboard I got a seat to myself and sat behind me were the two men who left me stranded in the bemo in Batubulan, waving and smiling! It took almost 2 hours to reach Gillimanuk and at one point the ticket man came and sat next to me until I noticed on the ticket he gave me that it costs 85,000IDR to travel from Denpasar to Probolinggo, and since I had paid 100,000IDR to him earlier I asked for my change, and there his english skills left him and he went and sat back next to the driver! It's no big deal!
On the ferry I went and sat upstairs in the fresh air, and not only was I the only tourist on the bus, but also the only one on the entire boat. So I sat and endured the looks and comments. In the meantime a tourist driver came and chatted to me and was determined to 'help' me (not that I asked for or needed any) by asking ym bus driver to drop me off at his friends tourist office in Probolinggo! Just as we reached Ketaping jetty in Java, I went down to the bus and ended up with an entire ring of men around me, being particularly cheeky (a 'quality' of most Indonesian men). One of them proceeded to sit by me on the bus when we realighted, but realising I wasn't going to cooperate he soon returned back to his chair.
The road to Probolinggo is very busy in both directions, packed with slow moving trucks and motorcycles. This was no problem for our bus driver however, who charged down the middle past all of them, spending as much time on the right side of the road as on the left. The speed he was going was quite insane, and this was soon proven when we hit something! I woke up from a doze to the screams of everyone sat in the front rows of th bus, as the bus braked and I felt the thud of whatever it was hit us and slide down the side of the bus. Now I never found out what it was that we hit, but there were no dogs on this road... only lots and lots of motorcyclists (mostly without helmets) and people on bicycles - and at the speed we were going, it would have been serious. The bus did stop and one of the helpers got out, but almost immediately jumped back in shouting something as the bus took off like a joyrider. I'd like to think that if somebody was injured, nobody would let the bus drive off, but I am aware how corrupt the police are and I wouldn't be surprised if this was the norm. Maybe I am just thinking the worst, but the bus tore out of there like a bat out of hell and barely ground to a halt when dropping off passengers. A little bit later I saw a number of emergency vehicles going the other way. Later on, when the ticket man came and sat by me again, I asked him what it was that we hit, and all he said was "no problem, no problem"!
Unsurprisngly it took 3 hours instead of 5 to reach Probolinggo from Ketaping, and as the helper walked down the aisle with my rucksack on his back, I was summoned to the front of the bus. As I got up I put my hand on the head rest of one of the seats for balance and the man sat in the seat behind put his hand on mine! I turned around in shock and in doing so, ht my head on a bag hanging out of the overhead compartment. At the front I had the company of the helper, ticket man and driver - each one as cheeky as the last - and when I got off all three of them blew me a kiss!
At Mahkota (the tourist office), Mr Anto, the owner was waiting for me and went straight into the hard sell of a jeep trip to see Mt Bromo at sunrise. Feeling hungry and unwell I told him I needed some space and went to a local restaurant nearby where, with the help of hand gestures and the few words of bahasar Indonesia I know - "nasi goreng" (fried rice), I had some really tasty food. On the way back I met Alex (from England) who had also been subject to Mr Anto's proposal and we decided it was a good strategy to see the Tenggar crater at sunrise and climb Mt Bromo, plus he could arrange a night bus for me to Yogkakarta the following day. By now it was dark and we sat outside the office waiting for some more tourists to be dropped off before getting in a beat up, old minivan to Cemoro Lawang - the Tenggar crater base town.
In the dark, the hotel seems as though its on its own in the middle of nowhere. Due to the altitude, the air temperature is absolutely freezing (not literally), and came as quite a shock after spending 5 months in a tropical climate. As a result I decided on a 'midrange' room as the thought of the budget options cold shower conjured up notions of hypothermia! Midrange is a little optimistic however, as the bed in one of the worst yet, the single blanket really dusty and because of an absence of proper walls (only bamboo wicker), it was really cold. Even with 4 jumpers, woolly hat and a scarf round my face I did not sleep that night!
Day 148 - Despite no sleep I was enthusiastic when I got a wake up call at 3:15am, as arriving in the dark meant that sunrise would be the first time I get to see our surroundings and the volcanic scenery. Layered up, I got in a jeep and joined the convoy (as there were a lot) going to Gunung Penanjakan - one of the highest peaks - to see the sunrise from there. There were hundreds of people doing the same and the viewpoint was crowded with people tripping over steps in the dark. I bought a corn on the cob for breakfast and sat and ate it waiting for the sun to appear. The crowds however, lined the front of the viewpoint and furthermore, stood on top of the two foot wall supporting the outer fence, creating an 8 foot wall that nobody behind could see through! I tried to ask a lady if she could move over slightly so I could just take a quick picture and she said "no"! To which I replied "I'm sorry? no?!" and she repeated herself declaring that she was staying there the whole hour! Absolutely flabberghasted I sat back down and tried to reassure myself that karma will have its way - and it did I think... because as she was stood facing the sunrise, the real view was on the other side of the view point - of smoking Mt Bromo, Batok (which is a perfect cone), Kursi and Gunung Semeru in the distance (which is the highest mountain in Java and blows smoke every 20 minutes), all coming alive with the morning light. The view of the clouds amongst the Tenggar crater was possibly the most beautiful sight I've ever seen... and that nasty woman was looking the other way!
Once the sun was up we drove the jeeps to the base of Mt Bromo in the main outer crater, where a congregation of locals offered a horseride part way. Instead, Alex and I walked to the top, over the thick volcanic dust and up 253 steps. Despite the crater being quite squat, the sulphur from the volcano was absolutely stifling and made walking to the top quite a challenge. Most people who climbed to the top stayed near the steps, but Alex and I walked further around the crater to a higher point, and were rewarded with magnificant views of the bellowing crater itself (away from the direction of the smoke) and of the lava fields and outer crater surrounding the volcano - and we had it all to ourselves! We sat at the top for a while and enjoyed the view, the quiet and the sun - it felt in the middle of nowhere it was so barren, but beautiful. The crater was smoking so much I felt quite powerless compared to its scale, like it could errupt at any time... and I'm sat on top of it!
We made it back to the jeeps dead on 8am - as Alex had been told to get back to his jeep by then, I assumed the same. However, as I approached I saw my entire jeep crew leaning against the bonnet with their arms crossed, looking very annoyed. Turns out WE should have been back at 7:30, and I was very frankly informed that the rest of them had a bus to get! Woops! I felt like a naughty child as I was quite rudely told off by some french people and hung my head in shame - even the driver said something to me in bahasar Indonesia - to which they all cruelly laughed as if to embarass me... I don't care - it was worth it, besides it's not like I did it on purpose!
So told off twice by 8:30 in the morning! We came back to the hotel and for the first time saw the magnificant view of Bromo over the fence! It's hard to believe this view was here yesterday when we arrived and we had no idea! I only have one day in this breathtaking landscape and decided not to spend it in bed, but to enjoy it. Alex and I spent most of the day sat out in the sun next to the view and being harassed by flies. We walked into town also, and stopped for lunch at the lava cafe - described as the most buzzing place in town, and we were the only peopl in there... which pretty much sums up the town! It was delightful though, really small and out of the way and the locals all wore sarongs as scarves/blankets and were really nice - nicer than the tourists anyway!
The public bus to Probolinggo arrived early and by the time we had picked everybody up - locals and tourists - there were 27 people in the minibus. This included a possy of little old ladies and basket fulls of produce, two people in the drivers seat (he was basically sat on the other guys lap and driving) and one guy hanging on to the ladder on the side of the bus. The driver was quite miffed that us bandy tourists could only fir 3 on a seat, whereas they comfortabley seated more than 4 in a row!
We got dropped off at the bus station out of town, but as it turns out I needed to get my bus from the Mahkota office, so Alex and I caught a becak (rickshaw) for the 1km ride, which was quite pleasant. Since my bus wasn't for a few hours I dropped my bag off and went with Alex into the city centre where he was staying for the night. We looked for a restaurant and had eyes on us the whole time - I don't think they see so many tourists here. With the aid of some very helpful locals, we found a padang restaurant and managed to point to something that might look nice! I ended up with beef curry and it was so good I went up for seconds, much to the joy of the owner! After this we went in search of the internet, but having walked a fair way and concious that I needed to get back to the office for my bus, I left Alex and caught a yellow angkot (Javas equivalent to a bemo) back to Mahkota.
I had an hour to wait so sat on the bench outside and within minutes all the drivers and men from across the road were sat around me talking about football and the moto gp! Koko even told me he loved me, before hassling for a kiss! Even Mr Anto was suggesting I should stay another night and leave in the morning! At 8pm my bus turned up - a minibus - and I'm the only passenger! Despite sitting in the back, the driver Joe, asked me to sit in the front with him and keep him company. I did so, because I was worried he might fall asleep since he had driven from Yogja to Probolinggo earlier in the day. However I wasn't much good as after a few hours I was asleep. I woke at one point and saw Joe struggling, so told him to have a few minutes sleep in the petrol station and took this opprtunity to lie across the three seats in the back. Had a lovely sleep for one hour until we arrived at 4:20am.
