Bromo..........perfect volcano in Java

Trip Start Mar 15, 2008

Trip End Jul 15, 2009

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Where I stayed

Lava View hostel

(Surabaya hotels)

Flag of Indonesia Surabaya, Java, Indonesia
Thursday, July 17, 2008

Holiday finished, back to traveling. 17 hour bus ride from Lombok to Probolingo then a 2 hour bus ride up to the volcano. The bus ride included two ferry crossings, the buses drive right on to the ferry and cross with you on the boat, passengers either stay on the bus or get off depending on the length of the ferry. Indonesia is connected by these ferry points that run 24 hours a day. The buses idle whenever you stop, wait or ride a short ferry so they can run the AC. I'm not joking, but our bus idled for over 4 hours on this journey, drove for only 6. The rest was ferries, this is Indonesia.

This volcano is supposed to be amazing, unbelievable, a highlight of all of SE Asia, that it is not. It wasn't as disappointing as the Terracotta Warriors, that will always be the benchmark for over hyped. It was a perfectly shaped volcano in the middle of a volcano valley with other smoking volcanoes in the distance

. The lava that flawed from it formed some "moon like" surfaces in the valley and it was quite beautiful at sunrise. Sunrise only lasts about 15 minutes since we are on the equator. You can also look down inside Bromo and get a great view of the conical structure with smoke spewing out from the bottom. Overall, it was quite stunning, but not worth the hype, Only check it out if you are passing through Java on the way to Bali or from Bali back to Jakarta. I guess it is also great because it is so accessible. It was less than an hour walk from our hotel to the top of the volcano, it doesn't involve a 2 or 3 day hike like most of Indonesia's other volcanoes.

Driving in Java is hard to describe, but for the first time in my life I was actually scared to be on the road. My friends Scott Sandor and Esther can only truly appreciate this as I used to sleep through long bus journeys in central America to awake to their shrieks and screams as Esther would get off the bus cursing in Dutch at the bus driver. I can't adequately describe the absurdness of driving in Java. Lots of trucks, buses, bikes, motorcycles, pedestrians, bicycle food carts and a few cars jostling for position, playing a game of leap from to death on one lane roads. Each bus and truck is weaving around each other in traffic fighting each other and oncoming traffic as well like a swarm of insects dancing among each other amongst a dizzying array of bright blinding lights, fumes and volcanic smoke

. The best thing to do is put your head down and hope your driver has yours and his best interests at heart. Indonesians seem to not have an aversion to uncertainty, they just go for it. Scooters always pull out without checking for oncoming cars in traffic.

    Somehow we made it to our hotel in Yogyakarta after about 9 hours of insanity. Furthermore, we had our own van, a surprise to us since we thought we would be on a giant bus. Of course, we were worried because they couldn't have made any money off of us. We only paid about 16 dollars each for the trip. I guess either the driver or car had to make the journey anyways. The travel agent said we were lucky, but I'm sure if he could have made more money putting us on a larger bus he would have done that.

    Next we visit the amazing ruins of Borobodur and Pramabanan in Java then off to the Tea plains of Java before we fly out of Jakarta to KL in Malaysia to meet up with Eugene and Sue again...

http://www.buddhanet.net/boro.htm