Java has not got that many attractions given its size, but one of the must see things is Bromo-Tengger-Semeru national park. Situated in the East Java, it is a 12 hours intense bus ride away from Yogyakarta. The entry point to the national park is Cemoro Lawang, a sleepy village with not much to offer. Half of the village population is focused on farming potatoes and onions, while the other half caters tourists. It was windy and cold, especially in the night-time. Made us forget sometimes that we were in fact in a tropical country and not Lapland in the summertime. Here I experienced for the first time an altitude sickness with head-aches and fever. Any kind of exercise like walking uphill made me feel very out of shape. That took place at the altitude of 2500m. I shudder to think what it feels like at higher altitudes.
The volcano itself and the surrounding Moon-like landscape is simply stunning. Numerous travel agencies organise sunrise tours to one of the viewpoints, but we skipped that and opted for a day-trip to the crater and back. A wise choice in the retrospect as there was nothing to see in the morning due to heavy clouds. The crater itself is shrouded with sulphur vapours (read: the intense smell of rotten eggs everywhere). Although there is nothing much to see inside the crater apart from the vapour, the view over the valley was well-worth the exhausting walk through a dust-storm and almost a ruined camera. Note for the future dust storms and cameras do not mix, no matter how stunning scenery is.
Cemoro Lawang, a village closest to Bromo. Cool climate and highland lifestyle.
At times it feels like Russian countryside with crumbling infrastructure
And potato fields
Except that locals carry things on their heads
The entrance to the Bromo valley
Bromo on the left, Batok on the right
The mighty Batok. I have never realized that a volcano can look like in cartoons
There was a dust storm so we had to improvise with the gear
The river bed that flowing lava made back in the day
Local teenagers come here with their scooters for a day-trip
A view over the valley from the top of the crater. There is something beautiful that they built a temple in a place like this. If the volcano erupts, it will be most definitely destroyed.
Local teenagers insisted to take a picture of them.
And this is what walking through a dust/ash storm does to you.