Mount Bromo - Probolinggo

Our next destination in Java was the famous and very active volcano Mount Bromo in the east of the island. To get there, we took the train to Probolinggo, a small town by Indonesian standards. Philip had scoured through all the websites beforehand to find out the best way to get to the volcano. Basically, you can start from several cities, but we decided on Probolinggo as it seemed to be the closest starting point. We read many horror stories about the city, from terrible accommodations to overcrowded jeep tours, to mafia-like bus companies that don't allow any other means of transportation to the volcano. But thanks to Philip's persistence and endurance in the Google-mobile, we found the perfect plan for us, which was a scooter tour on our own. Since the mountain is very touristy, the paths should be well-developed and we did not think it was necessary to take a guided tour. So we arrived at the train station, almost intercepted by one of these aforementioned bus companies, but politely declined and were welcomed by our host Budi. He had offered to pick us up by car, which we were very happy about after a 7-hour train ride. And this time, after the little setback in Yogyakarta, we had another great accommodation and a very interesting and friendly host in Budi. He has been running the homestay for a few years, had closed during the pandemic, and has now been open again for several months. Previously, he worked as a waiter for 26 years on a cruise ship of the "Holland-America-Line" and circled the world three times in 160 days each. He told stories about his life and work on the ship, he had been to Easter Island and sailed through the Antarctic. He described funny guests who came back repeatedly and took the same route, and even Oprah Winfrey once visited on board. Through his stories, you could tell how much he enjoyed working there and how enthusiastic he still spoke about "his shipping company". We were even more impressed when he revealed the reason for his resignation. During the pandemic, the sommeliers had been fired, so he, as a waiter, was now also expected to serve alcoholic beverages such as wine. As a devout Muslim, he did not want to do that and left his employer after such a long time to devote himself entirely to the homestay and small café next door. We also learned that Islam is very important and widespread here, as the next day, more prayers were heard through the speakers of the mosques as Ramadan began.

But now back to our super cool scooter tour to Bromo. Budi lent us his scooter and the next morning, just after 7 o'clock, we set off on the approximately 90-minute ride to Bromo-Tengger National Park. We deliberately decided against the usual nighttime tour for the sunrise, as we considered it too dangerous to ride with a scooter at night and the national park is apparently very crowded at that time - and apart from that, getting up at 2 o'clock in the morning just isn't our thing 😁 We drove through the beautiful nature along the serpentine road, always higher up to about 2300m, once again with surprisingly packed scooters driving next to us - it seems that there is nothing that cannot be somehow packed on a Honda scooter. With the exception of two average-weight Germans who had to get off at a certain incline at 50% (Jana), otherwise the scooter would die 😄 Colorful flowers grow at this altitude, which we had not seen in Java until now, and cabbage and other vegetables are grown a lot. We parked the scooter at a small parking lot and walked a bit to the viewpoint. And as it turned out, getting up later was worth it (höhöhö), because there was no soul there except us. We had an impressive view of the so-called "Sea of Sand", whose ground is covered with ash sand, and the three volcanoes, Bromo, Semeru (the highest mountain in Java and also very active, unfortunately hidden from us by the clouds), and Batok (inactive). Then we drove back to the village of Cemorolawang on the scooter, parked it next to a hotel, the cash register for the entrance fee was not manned, and we sneaked into the national park - the author wants to emphasize that this was against her moral and she was forced to do so by the thieving Philip ☝🏼 We walked into the Sea of Sand, through the fine black sand and in the end through the strange rock formations that the cooled lava had formed during previous eruptions. We were offered places on a motorbike or a horse everywhere, so to speak, 1 horsepower four-wheel drives that you can rent if you don't want to walk. As good German hikers, we did not let ourselves be discouraged and bravely trudged to the long staircase that led us to the edge of the crater. And then we looked into this huge, incredibly loud and steaming volcano crater. We were speechless at this simultaneously beautiful and threatening natural spectacle and watched the sulfur vapors for a long time. Again, there was hardly anything going on, the tourist crowds were already gone. At the foot of the staircase, we had let ourselves be convinced to buy a dried bouquet of flowers, which tradition dictates to throw into the crater, so we did that as well. In retrospect, we read that the word "Bromo" comes from the Hindu god of creation "Brahma" and the crater is considered a place of pilgrimage for the Tengger people living here, and there are apparently also sacrificial offerings once a year. There is also a temple at the foot of Bromo, which was closed when we arrived. After some time, the sulfur gradually irritated our throat and nose, and we made our way back home.

All in all, it was very impressive, and we will think of Bromo and Budi often. Next, we are heading to Banyuwangi, all the way on the east coast, from where we want to climb the Ijen volcano.