I have been waiting for this event for 7 months. For 7 months I have been excited to travel to Indonesia, but not to laze on Bali's beaches, but to see volcanoes like Mount Bromo. I flew from Colombo to Jakarta and the next day directly to Yogyakarta. I spent 3 days there and met some girls from the Netherlands, but that's not the point now. The journey took me further to Malang, because from there you can visit Bromo. I drove there by minivan for 12 hours through the night and explored the colorful city of Malang during the day. It's a poor district that lies on the river.
When tourism grew here, the city wanted to drive people away because it didn't make a good impression. Students then came up with the idea of painting all the houses in colorful and got really creative. It looks super cool!I got a bit lost there, but was directed to the right way by a group of small children who were there :)Now let's talk about the volcano. The matter was a bit complicated... there are many tours offered to go there, because you have to drive 2 hours on unlit roads with huge potholes. You are taken to the Sunrise Viewpoint and at 6 o'clock all Jeeps then drive to the crater. And that is just a pure mass event. I actually didn't want that... There is still the possibility to drive there yourself with a scooter, but I have been told that it is an absolute nightmare. Hmm... ok, now what? I didn't really meet anyone in my hostel to join. I was about to book such a tour on my own, but then I heard 2 girls speaking German and I thought I'd try my luck...Jackpot! The 2 of them not only planned to visit Bromo tonight, but they also didn't want to be victims of such a stupid tour:D In addition, their plan was to go directly to Banyuwangi afterwards to visit Mount Ijen from there. Exactly my plan! Without hesitation, they offered me to join them. We rented a car/jeep with a driver who will take us to Bromo and then from the crater to the nearby village, where we will continue by bus.I can tell you, the following days are among my highlights and it's not just because of the volcanoes!On the same evening, I walked towards the city with Julia and Tami (that's what the two are called) to have another look at the colorful city. Luckily, because when I was there at noon, I only looked at the colorful city (somehow). But no, on the other side of the bridge there is another blue city!I was completely confused, but fascinated. It looks so crazy :) After that, we went to a delicious local place to eat. And we only paid about 1€ for a fully loaded plate. You just have to know how and where. And thanks to Julia, who did a semester abroad in Yogyakarta, we knew how and where.Before we went back to the hostel, we stocked up on delicious food for our breakfast tomorrow. We were picked up at midnight and driven to Mount Bromo for 2 hours. The plan was actually for the driver to drop us off at a certain spot and then we would hike to the viewpoint. But he didn't quite get it and drove us directly to the viewpoint. And there we were, freezing at 2 o'clock in the morning in the car and annoyed that 1. we couldn't hike now and 2. we could have slept for another 2 hours because the sun only rises at half past five. An Italian girl who shared the car with us didn't really understand why we wanted to hike and especially not at night. At around four o'clock, we set out to find a cool viewpoint. Because we were not the only ones. Hundreds of other jeeps arrived at the same time. And after some time, we had a little hill all to ourselves! And then it started...I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. Tami, Larissa, JuliaWe puzzled for a long time which one could be Mount Bromo. At first we thought it was the big one in the background. Hmm, the ascent should only take 45 minutes. But that one looks quite big. Later we found out that THAT volcano takes 4 hours. But it erupts from time to time (see picture above). The one in front on the right? Yes, that must be it. But where is the staircase up to the crater...?But actually, the little crater next to it on the left is the famous Mount Bromo. Where it's a bit smoky. I have to say, I imagined it a bit bigger/more volcanic-looking, in terms of appearance. Like the others :)After sunrise, at 6 o'clock, everyone then drove down to the crater of Mount Bromo with the jeeps. But we first made our way to the famous King Kong Hill viewpoint and had a hearty breakfast there. Delicious fruits with yogurt 'with a view'.It was so funny, because a few locals were still there and watched us prepare our food with great enthusiasm.They were not used to that at all. After our extensive breakfast, we hiked down, through the sandy desert, and up to the crater.This landscape was like from another planet...Without my neck tube, this hike would have been almost impossible, because it was super, ultra dusty :DWe found dust in all sorts of corners for days afterwards.Arriving at the top, then this sightThe crater really blew us away. It is such a force of nature that I have never seen before. I knew it was quite loud from videos of this volcano, but with us it was completely silent. That was almost more terrifying, how secretly and quietly it emitted those big, white clouds. Without a break. And then there was this "barrier".That was a joke. Something like that (like so many things) wouldn't exist in Germany :DAnd here again in full. My magical girls*.*Now a big checkmark on my bucket list! It was such a breathtaking experience that I will never forget!! Fulfilling dreams is fun :D And sharing them with such great people is even more fun :))See you at my next highlight, Mount Ijen!
