Living Life Dangerously...Mt Bromo

Not my pic...but this is what it should look like.  Bromo is on the left

I arrived in Surabaya really excited for my trip to Mount Bromo.  Just one of many active volcanoes in Indonesia.  I was told by passport control that I needed a visa and to go back upstairs to obtain one.  I had no local money on me so they had to escort me out of the arrivals hall to the ATM to get some.  When I finally got through passport control they asked me to accompany them....NOT AGAIN!!!!  It was ok though, all I got was 20 questions.  Here's how it went.....

''Where did you come from?''.......''Singapore, the flight that had just arrived!''

''How long did you stay there?''.......''3, no, 4 days...whoops''

''How long are you staying here?''.......''By here do you mean Surabaya or Indonesia on the whole?''

''What? How long you stay here?''.......''In Indonesia?''

''Yes''......''I don't know yet.''

''What?''.......''no more than 30 days because thats what my visa I just got says''

''You have been to Thailand?''......''well YES because your looking at the visa stamps in my passport'' (you fool!!!) (He was asking because I was there 6 weeks)

'What is your next destination?''......''Borneo''

''Where?''.......''Borneo''

''Where?''.....''.B.O.R.N.E.O''

''When?''....... ''I don't know?''

''Why? How long you stay here?''.......''Oh not this again! 2 weeks, i'm staying 2 weeks then leaving for Borneo''

''Where?''......''Bloody hell!'' 

After a few more questions he let me out of the airport.

I waited an hour for the guy to pick me up for my tour.  I was on and off the phone with the company and I was directing him so he could call his driver and tell him where I was...'Look, i'm the only white western girl in the entire airport. How can he not find me?!'

It took 4 hours to drive to Bromo.  By the time we arrived it was dark and we were 2329m above sea level.  Its safe to say I had my fair share of ear popping on the way up.  So much so that when I held my nose to pop my ears he kept asking if I had a cold and must have thought I was silent sneezing. 
When we stepped out of the car he pointed Mt Bromo out to me.  A few feet away was a huge crater and in the middle I could make out the shape of the volcano.  I shit myself!  I didn't think I would be staying THAT close the to bloody thing!

This is how close the hotel was!

After changing into my warm comfy's (because it was freezing up here) I had dinner and an early night.  I had to be up for 3:30am.  The room was nice on first view until I discovered I had no heating, the blanket was covered in mould and the bed sheets and pillows were stained.  Good job I had my own cover and pillowcase for times like this.  I went to bed fully clothed and after a 'baby wipe' wash the next morning, I headed out....in the same clothes haha!  What?!  It was freezing and they were my only warm clothes I had.

I woke at 3am (after a sleepless night of thinking the thing was gonna erupt) and headed for reception.  It was an hour, standing in the freezing cold and wind, before my driver turned up.  I got in his jeep and headed off.  The jeep kept stalling on the way and my first thought was 'we are never getting of the mountain in thing if Bromo decided to have a bellyache!'.

We parked up with a load more jeeps and started to climb the hill to view the sunrise.  I was never gonna make it so I paid for a horse to take me up.  So there I was on a hill trying to mount a horse when I realised I'd not ridden one since I was about 10 yrs old.  The next thing I know the bloody animal did a u-turn and I was sliding.  It was like slow motion...I slid down sideways saddle an all and eventually fell off the bleedin thing.  Luckily, because it was so slow I was a few inches off the ground but I landed on a stoney mountainside with a bang and cracked my coxis...OUCH!!!!!  After a few minutes I got up and he told me to get back on, after he'd tightened the saddle and agreed to hold me until I was steady.  I felt like a right numpty but I was never getting up that hill before the sun came up by walking.

Sorry...not a pretty picture.  My ass bruise from falling off the horse lol!

Ten minutes later we reached the view point.  By view I mean cloud.  Eddie (my guide) and I grabbed a coffee and waited.  As the sun came up, by that I mean, as the clouds got lighter, I realised we weren't going to see a sunrise so I suggested we make our way to the crater (which was planned for afterwards).  He asked me if I wanted to take the horse down and this was my response..''Bloody hell Eddie, if I can fall of a horse going up hill, what do you think my chances are going downhill?!''  So we walked.

The 'view'

Eerie eh?

Half an hour later we arrived in the giant crater, to head to the top of Mt Bromo.  He told me it was a steeper hill, 2km away and did I want a horse?.  NO I did not want a horse but I was never getting up there with out one.  So off I went.  The horse (which I managed to stay on this time) could only drop me as far as the 297 steps I had to climb to the crater.  It only took me 3 attempts to make it to the top which was good and when I arrived I saw it........more bloody cloud!!!  I was so disappointed but then I realised I'd just climbed an ACTIVE volcano and was standing on the crater.  I was meters away from the belly of this beast!  I felt better instantly as how many people can say they've done this!

Horse no.2

Yep...297 of them!

I didn't stay up there long as the wind was strong and not only was I scared of being blown into the thing, but  I also didn't fancy risking it in case a rumbling started.  I walked down and met Eddie (did he know something I didn't???) and went back to the hotel.  I gathered my stuff and had breakfast while I waited for the cloud to hopefully clear so I could get some good pictures before we left, and it did.

The crater.....somewhere down there

At the top

A lava river was once here...

Three hours later I was back at the airport and ready to hit Bali (by way of Tiger Airlines).  I just want to thank the child in front screaming blue murder at having her seatbelt on for the 'memorable' 30 minute flight.

You can see the steps if you look closely

What I should have seen on a clear day

BROMO FACTS
* The last eruption was 26th November 2010
* The eruption in 2004 killed 2 tourists and injured 17 whilst visiting the Bromo crater.

The eruption of 2004

* On the fourteenth day of the Hindu festival of Yadnya Kasada, the Tenggerese people of Probolinggo, East Java, travel up the mountain in order to make offerings of fruit, rice, vegetables, flowers and sacrifices of livestock to the mountain gods by throwing them into the caldera of the volcano.