Jalan-jalan di Bromo

So YD came from Jakarta today, Jan 27th and we decide to go to Bromo this weekend. I have Monday and Tuesday off, which means that I can stay longer in Bromo. So we left Saturday after my class. The bus was supposed to leave at 4, but we left at 5! I was in good company so it passed rather quickly. It cost me 17,000IDR, which is exactly $2CAD for a 3 hour ride that leaves from Malang and goes to Probolinggo!!!! For $2CAD, you can't do much in Canada, other than watch dollar movies....I love the fact that everything is cheap!!!! :D

Arrived in Probolinggo, it was night time. There was a dude there greeting tourists. So we decide to go on a tour with a Jeep, leaving the hotel at 4am. We then decide to take the private transport to reach the hotels. So we saw one, Cemara Inday Hotel. It was night so we couldn't see how the landscape looked like. We took a look at different places and finally decided to stay at Cemara Indah. They had a room with 2 rooms, one foot between and that is it. Being a girl, I wanted hot water, the reason being that it was really cold up here too (ok, not as cold as I am used to, but cold in terms of Indonesian weather!), and YD wanted his throne...hahaha!!!! So we both decided to take a better room. We got what we wanted...Of course more expensive due to the touristic area, but whatever! Then, we had to hurry to grab food at the restaurant before they closed, but we chilled until 11pm, and then decide to go to bed.

Waking up at 3:20am. We (2 English girls, 2 French girls and 1 American girl, YD and me) left for the PHKA Post in a Jeep. There were lotsa other jeeps and people walking too! Anyways, got at the post and everyone tries to sell you something, of course! But we went to the post and waited...it was like a comfortable autumn day! Anyways, DISAPPOINTMENT! We didn't see ANYTHING from the top. I took a picture just for fun and it is like you stand before a white wall...too much fog! Here is how it looked like:


Disappointed, we took the jeep back down to go to Bromo, the crater! The whole area was a volcanic area!!!! And then, there it was! BEAUTIFUL cone shaped mini-volcanoes!!!! The Austrian girls mentioned to me that they look like plum pudding cones...hehehe!

Further we went with the Jeep and to Bromo. It was an active volcano. We could have taken the easy way and went up with a horse. A lot of people did that, but we used our legs...need exercise with all the fried food I eat!!!! :S Anyways, halfway, we had to climb 253 stairs! Once you reach the last 10 stairs at the top, it hits you. Sulfur fumes! The volcano is active and it is mainly sulfur. It hurts the lungs, the eyes, the skin and there is less air. The mountain is only about 2,300 meters, but still! The view was gorgeous and really worth climbing up there. (I'll post pics soon!) Then we left to go back to the hotel. The view from the hotel was AWESOME. Of course not from our room, but still. You could see all the mountains, or almost! We had breakfast with the girls and we went to bed. It was like 8/8:30am at this point!

I met the American and English girls at noonish, while YD was still sleeping. We talked and decided to grab food. The English girls had been travelling for a couple of months now, going to India and in Asia. They were all heading to Bali, incl. YD. They made good use of my lonely planet. :) After food, we went back to the hotel.

At 2pm, YD and myself decided to go atop Bromo once again and walk around the edge of the crater and go to the mountain between Bromo and Batok...Our own little adventure! You'll see in the picture. It was really cool. Halfway around, it started to rain...then poured. Imagine this: stuck on top of a volcano while it was raining and thundering (lightning!). We stayed there for a while and then decided to 'rebrousser chemin'. So at this point we were wet and decided to leave and go to the hotel. It took us a while to go home and let's just say that the warm/hot water was pretty useful! I slept with my tuque and a scarf cuz the place was freezing and my body too!

Then, the Monday, Jan 30th, we went our separate ways. We took the public transport and man was it crowded! I think that a vehicle a little bit bigger than a van had 20-25 people. It was crowded but fun. We really got to see the scenery since we didn't on our way to Bromo. Arrived at the station, someone was there to show me the way to the bus to go to Malang. He asked for 55,000IDR. WHAT!!!!!!!! I took a A/C bus for 17,000 and u want me to take a shitty bus with NO A/C for 55,000IDR???? Is loser written on my forehead? Anyways, that was my first encounter with negotiation! (I used to hate it!) I somehow managed to pay 30,000IDR, but I KNOW I got ripped off. I felt disappointed, but whatever, I am on the bus, right! I am going to be a bit more aggressive in my next negotiation encounters! :)

YD gave/lend me a book: The Da Vinci Code....Too bad I didn't get a chance to read Angles and Demons before, but MAN it is good. Like we say in French, 'je l'ai devore!'. I have almost 100 pages to go and it is hard to teach knowing I have a great book in my bag...hehehe! I read a good chunk in the bus and I am finishing it soon!

Anyways, Bromo was great but I hope I'll be able to go once more to see it better! :)