You may have heard of Mount Bromo, you may not. Either way, it is one of the most amazing places on earth to see the sunrise (2km above sea level) - so if you are able, stick this on your travel 'to-do' list!
WHERE IS IT?
Mount Bromo is on the highest mountain of Java (Semeru) on the eastern side of the island of Java, in Indonesia. It is within a national park, known for it’s flora, wildlife, ecosystem and amazing volcanoes.
HOW DO I GET THERE?
You can reach Bromo by travelling from Jakarta, the capital of Java, or coming from the opposite direction, Bali. You can also fly to Jakarta from most places and then get the train or a bus from there eastward bound to Bromo. There is an excellent train running through the middle of Java practically from end to end. Alternatively, get a bus from Bali, they will drop you off near Mount Bromo as they know most tourists want to see the spectacular site (& sight - sorry, cheesy I know).
WHAT IS MOUNT BROMO? Mount Bromo is a volcanic mountain in East Java, famous for it’s spectacular views of sunrise and vast ‘sand sea’ (covering 10 km) across the caldera of the ancient Tengger volcano. (Note - This sandy caldera has been protected since 1919, and it is believed to be the only conservation area in Indonesia, maybe even in the world to have such a unique ‘ocean of sand’ at an altitude of about 2000m above sea level.) Long, long ago the Tenneger volcano exploded. In it’s wake, it left a huge crater, lacking in life and reeling from the explosion. This would have been an amazing display of nature’s power as it completely blew off the top of this mammoth formation. In the barren 10km crater that was left, over time, 4 smaller volcanoes were formed. Nearly all of these erupted at a point, so now the site is safe to visit (Note: Around a week ago there was some smoking and an eruption reported on Bromo, but this has since stopped and assessed as an extreme rarity.)
You will have to visit the place to appreciate the beauty of this display of such force of nature – the original crater is of a size you will find hard to believe without seeing it for yourself and it’s hard to imagine the sheer proportions of ‘mummy’ volcano to start with! Now visitors flock here to stand on the edge of the original crater and gaze across to see the smaller volcanoes, one of which is ‘Bromo’.
(For another crater-based review, see my review on ‘Lake Toba’, Sumatra, Indonesia)
WHY SHOULD I GO?
Well, the main reason to visit Bromo is to watch the sunrise from a unique place on the planet. Mount Bromo is one of them and is visited daily by travellers and tourists alike seeking a memorable experience, which is definitely what you will have if you make it to Bromo.
WHAT IS THERE TO DO HERE?
Your main item on the itinerary will be to see the sunrise, but you can stay here longer than 1 day. Normally people come up to the crater the night before, stay in one of the many hotels, then at 4 in the morning go and watch the sun come up. You can also vvisit other areas and do trekking and similar activities, as well as climb the volcano behind the crater but recently this erupted so it would be on my list personally...
THE BROMO SUNRISE
You will have 2 main choices where watching the sunrise is concerned:
1 – You can walk down the crater side and across the crater floor, to visit the 2 smaller volcanoes yourself and watch the sun come up. Leave at 3:30am to make sure you get a good spot on Bromo and also make sure you take warm clothes, food and a really good flashlight. Once you get to Bromo, you neeed to climb some 100 steps and be very careful along the edge of the volcano, you will not want to fall in here (just in case you were unsure).
2. – You can go on an organised tour, which for first-timers I would highly recommend. On this tour, you get a jeep ride down the side of the crater, crossing the sandy crater floor and then ascending to a magnificent viewpoint on the other side of the crater. From here you can see the sun rise over the entire crater, also seeing the smaller volcanoes inside, as well as a larger volcano that acts as a backdrop to the big crater. This impressive sight is made even better by the fact that this outer volcano puffs smoke every 15 minutes (when we went we’re talking a really small puff, so don’t fear). Once you have seen this, you are then taken back down into the main 10km crater to visit Bromo, get a donkey ride up to it’s baseif you choose and then climb the steps to look into the volcano itself.
OUR EXPERIENCE
We got a veeery long bus ride from Bali to Bromo and were very excited about visiting the volcano as we had heard so many people praise the experience and describe is as unforgettable.
Our bus dropped us off at a tourist depot at the foot of the mountain, because we had asked the bus driver to let us know where we could get off for Bromo. Do not underestimate the friendliness of bus drivers – they want to help and will always do their best if you smile and are polite. From here we booked a ticket in a booth for the next bus up to Bromo. We had to wait some time as they were expecting 6 tourists from another destination, but this gave us the chance to stock up on supermarket bits and pieces, just in case Bromo was going to try and sting us food-wise (always expect this at touristy spots just in case).
Once the van was ready, 8 of us piled in and began the ascent at around 8 at night. This took around 1 hour and I can say it was one of the scariest moments in our entire travels (well, apart from huge black spiders in Sumatra) because not only was it a misty night due to the altitude, but we discovered to our horror that our driver was only 17 and had not done this trip up the mountain more than once. Suitably frozen with fear, we all sat in silence watching each misty curve with intense scrutiny for oncoming cars or people… I must admit closing my eyes at some point, not that this is a lucid thing to do!
WHERE TO STAY
We managed to get to the top of the mountain in one piece, having had one more moment of horror driving up, when the boot of the van opened up in mid journey, luckily we stopped and nothing had been lost. We treaded Terra Firme with relief and booked into our hotel – I forget the name now - it’s situated in the centre right on the edge of the crater so you can’t really miss it, and many visitors stay here. After all, if you’re only staying one night, you want the place with the best view and it’s own restaurant!
We had an amazing meal in the restaurant, fried potatoes with eggs mixed in, tomatoes, beef and other stuff, really heart warming at these temperatures at the time of night we arrived and much needed, as we’d been travelling from Bali since 9am.
Our room was basic, benefiting from 1 double bed and a ‘shower’ – not quite what we’d call it, not just because it was very basic but because the water temperature from it never rose above –15°c. We were, after all on a very lofty spot in the earths’ atmosphere! But had kind of hoped for hot water… The bed, incredibly had one sheet and one thin blanket, resulting in our coldest night’s sleep ever had we not resorted to some basic *survival* tactics… Next morning, a few hours from then, we’d decided to take option 2 for viewing Bromo because we knew we we’re not prepared to do it on our own!
THE CRATER
We got picked up early at 4am after having had only a few hours sleep. Our hotel was right on the rim of the outer crater and offered one of the most stunning views you can wake up to, almost undescribable – pitch black sky with thousands of stars twinkling through in the crisp night air and some eerie mist on the crater floor. We all rubbed hands and tried to keep warm, wearing almost every item of clothing in our bags!
Then after getting into the jeep, drove down to the crater. This was fantastic – driving through mystical mist along the craters’ sand, King Arthur could have appeared and we wouldn’t have been surprised! Well, apart from him being in Indonesia… it really was strange to see and unforgettable. We then began the ascent up the other side of the crater and after many twists and turns reached the viewpoint high above the crater and all the volcanoes. Here you could look out and also see the surrounding area of Java itself for miles. We grabbed some hot drinks and rented a couple of warm coats (no we didn’t have any, we’d been counting on warm destinations when packing!).
We then joined around 20 others to stand at the viewpoint, cameras ready, waiting for the big moment, and we were not disappointed. I can only write words like ‘amazing’, ‘stunning’, ‘unforgettable’ so many times and they won’t mean anything much if you haven’t seen a sunrise like this. To watch it emerge over this impressive crater and volcanoes and not be moved would be inhuman - the hues go from black to deep purple, to blood red to orange, and orange to golden hues before the sun uncovers the stunning view beneath the viewpoint and suddenly people are quieter and just look on and take photos. The backdrop of the volcano puffing smoke every 15 minutes finishes it off beautifully and we returned to the jeep to see Bromo iself down in the crater.
Once we’d reached the crater floor again and driven to the foot of Bromo, we had the chance to ascend Bromo on a donkey, which I loved the idea of. My other half didn’t fancy it much so walked behind snapping a few shots! Then when you reach the base you climb up around 100 steps to gaze down into Bromo itself and this is very scary as you don’t want to lose your footing… We threw in a coin and heard a satisfying ‘plop’ somewhere deep proving our point nicely. After walking round the rim we sat for some snacks and absorbed the surrounding view and craggy marks all down the side of Bromo, as well as noticing what the whole 10km crater looks like from the inside in daylight. Impressive.
We then joined our small group and returned to the hotel on a high, seeing people walking back who had clearly walked down at 4am to watch the sunrise from Bromo.
After a healthy breakfast we got some well-needed sleep and then sunbathed for a bit outside our room on the grass, breathing in the fresh air and writing notes in our diary about the day. Taking in the view for the last time, we headed for the restaurant and waited for the local bus, cheaper than the bus that had brought us up by the way.
Our next destination from here was Yogyakarta in the centre of Java, but that’s a whole ‘nother story.
HOW LONG TO STAY
Minimum of 1 night, maximum of 3 nights. There is only the sunrise to see really, although the surrounding area is stunning. There is also a volcano you can climb beyond the crater itself, too big (and too smoking) for our liking.
COSTS
You should allow £4 each for acommodation and food will cost you a measly £2.50 per person in the restaurant - it's hearty stuff that you will love and it'll keep you warm at the low temperatures. The sunrise jeep tour itself was around £7 per person if I recall correctly, a bit steep in Indonesian terms but well worth it, as you can see by my never ending hapring on about it above!
SUMMARY
Come here once in your lifetime at least. We plan to go back to walk the crater ourselves one day.
I found out a few months after I nearly got proposed to at the sunrise of Bromo, but he’d though it would be just us, so it happened in Koh Samui a month after the Bromo visit!
Hope you enjoyed, comments most welcome ;o)
PS: Activities/Nightlife has been rated as 'excellent' on Bromo, by this I mean the activities, not really the nightlife unless the sunrise can be classed as that... well, we got up at night to see it!
