The adventure...: Mount Bromo...

After a long journey across Java, we eventually arrived late at night to Mount Bromo. As we where staying in a homestay, we where ferried up the volcano chugging away in a bus that remarkably resembled the Scooby-Doo Bus! As we chugged along, we ventured further into the clouds, quite high up that you instantly felt the cold chill in the air as looked down into the white mist. Once we reached our basic cabin, we went to the local village hall for a nice cup of tea before bed, then went over what was going to happen once we woke up.

The coldness in the air was something new to us, it instantly caught your body and you felt the chill from your nose all the way to your toes. In a way, this is the closest feeling of home I have felt, in terms of weather. As we where so high up in altitude, it was difficult to get warm, therefore, I became five sizes bigger as I piled on the layer upon layer to insulate myself. We even opted to buy two wooley hats from a local seller. We justified the buy, as saying to ourselves it will be good to use in future for when we head to NZ. Plus, we needed it on the trek and the early morning journey to keep ourselves warm. We settled into bed around 10am, I felt bad as I hadn't had the chance to actually buy John anything for his birthday. So while he got ready for bed, I composed a small poem and created a little birthday card for him to open in the morning. Once we where snuggled in the tiny cot of a bed, it was still super cold, I even slept with two pairs on socks on! As the alarm clock buzzed at 3am, I sleepily dragged myself up and sang 'Happy Birthday' to John. Then, we had to get ourselves ready and the jeep collected us just before 4am, this was the start of the trek.

The jeep rummaged upwards on the volcano, then it stops at a base level, the rest you have to trek up, at this time we are still in darkness. It was a great experience, the lovely cold air smothering you as you trudge up the hill and await the sunrise to follow. Once at the top of the viewpoint, reaching 2770m in the sky, there are only a small number of people and a couple local villagers who have somehow managed to set up a shop selling fruit and hot tea and coffee. The viewpoint overlooks three volcano's, Mount Bromo, Tengger and the last and most spectacular Semeru. The Semeru is still smoking and displays a spellbinding picture bursting through above the clouds. Everybody waits and the feeling of anticipation that filters through the air is electric. I felt calm, relaxed and happy, this was an amazing place to be at sunrise and one that I will never forget. As the sun began to rise slowly, the sky grew lighter in colour and the presence of the landscape began to appear. We took some pictures, then spent most of the time enjoying a local cup of tea, sitting and just watching the volcano's in the distance. Everywhere you look the landscape is beautiful and I ensured I spent the time taking it all in.

As the time rode on, we headed back down towards the jeep just before 7am, then we ventured across the land over to Mount Bromo. At the base the jeep drops you off, then you hike across the elevating hill and hike up the crater of Bromo itself. This was a tough walk up the crater but most definitely worth it. As I reached the top of the steps climbing up the crater, the sight of the inside of the volcano and the wide circumference of the volcano was mesmerising. The inside of the volcano almost looks like a round green lake, when you look closely you can see small whispers of smoke lifting through. The land is a sullen blackish brown colour and when you look across the landscape you almost feel as though you are on Mars. There is quietness that surrounds the land, everything is calm and seems untouched. The baron colour and whisps of smoke and sands makes it almost eerie in ambiance. You have to be really careful with your footing, as the edges of the crater is quite narrow and one false move and I may be sizzling in that luscious green lake below. We spent some time sitting on the edge of the crater, looking down into the ibis of the lava hiding underground, thinking about this natural feature growing from our earth. After reflecting on the whole experience of Mount Bromo, we felt content, happy and truly inspired by this natural active volcano. We then headed back to base and the jeep ferried us back to the homestay.

Here we enjoyed breakfast, more tea and had time to take in the last sights of Mount Bromo. Then, it was time to pack and get ourselves ready for the journey to Bali. Feeling happy and fulfilled by the magical sights we had seen, we now looked forward to exploring Bali and taking our time to get to know the island and enjoy the 'Balinese' culture. So, for John's birthday, he expressed it was one of the best things to wake up and do, something I know both of us will always remember and cherish when thinking back to the smoldering landscape across the famous 'Mount Bromo'...