… my style of traveling is rather simple but fun and not too commercial. I like it that way because it makes me travel with some detailed experiences which lead me to get to know more people, cultures and encounter new friendships along the way, from every corner.

“[…] get to know more people, cultures and encounter new friendships along the way, from every corner.”

Bromo volcano Adventure leaves some good feeling on me. Well, I was not directly going to Malang, but I was spending some days in Bogor and Bandung, West Java, prior to my trip to the east part of the Java Island. Spent some days with heavy rain in Bogor and continued my journey to further south: Bandung. A bigger nice city located near Jakarta. Here I met new people, which later became very good friends. As an example: Charismawan, he is a young photographer from Malang who loves to hike the volcano and he did it obviously very often up to now (funny thing about him was he is actually afraid of height – acrophobia). He claimed that he knew Bromo very well since he was making this trip for all the new friends he is meeting up with, well the person like me then :D. And, that was how I started my journey to Malang.

Arrived in Malang by next week after Bandung trip, I had a good impression about this little city. Charismawan showed me the city with its city parks and the famous ‘Jodipan Village’, a colourful village indeed. At the end of the day we arranged a meet up to start to the volcano trip by the midnight.

ON THE WAY TO MOUNT BROMO FROM MALANG

I wear a long sleeve and a hoodie which was enough, well, I thought it was. I also had a 30-litre backpack with me filled with my Gimbal, some snacks and drinks for the hike. We ride on a motocross bike and it was a new experience to me. Riding motocross was recommended and more adventurous for the rough route to the volcano. We arrived around 2 am at the peak, which let theoretically way enough time to capture the night sky. And that is till now definitely one of my highlights, which I froze into my memories during that adventure trip!! The experience was definitely an unforgettable one: incredibly clearest night sky with millions of stars right above! I stretched out my hand and could almost touch them. It was really breathtaking.

Breathtaking yet trembling experience, too, since it was damn freezing up there. I admit: If I had a proper jacket with a thermal long-sleeve shirt underneath I would not too suffer. That was the most challenging part of the hike. When I started my journey, it was actually my decision to step out of ‘Good (C)Old Germany’ right into the sun. I landed in Southeast Asia with its all-year-above-26-degrees, for that reason. And for the very same reason why I only have one light Jacket with me, and it was not even windproof (yeey). Lesson learnt, I am travelling lightweight but definitely I need to have a thinner wind-and-rainproof jacket with me. Be properly equipped with a good jacket, else, you can rent one for IDR 20K on the mountain. But maybe good to know that the rentals and the food stalls only open by 3:30am.

Since it was too cold and I couldn’t figure out the settings of my camera for shooting a picture of the stunning Milky Way stars above me, we both went a few meters down the hill to buy soups to warm up. The vendors at the stand saw us trembling and right away set up a fireplace. Maaaaan that helped!!! Haha. Happy and heated up again, I finally got my rental coat and we went along a path until we reached the viewpoint. And guys, I tell you that, it was an incredible sight when the sun is rising and right in front of you appearing mountains and volcanoes within the misty clouds. I had seen Bromo on pictures surrounded by cloud carpets but on our Bromo Volcano Adventure the ground in front of the volcano was not covered as you can see on my image above. But still a surreal view – a must for landscape lovers! The sunrise reveals a wonderful world in many dreamy shades. I am definitely going to repeat this experience and I invite you cordially to join in!

Later we went down the hill and I hiked up the crater – another surreal experience. Smelly sulphur smoke was rising up whereas loud rumbling filling the air coming out of the crater’s core. There was a walkable thin path on top of the crater, too, for those who want to have a surreal hike on the edge. My shoes have been quite slippery, thus I decided not to challenge it. I was quite happy with what I had achieved until then, but next time I definitely want to walk on and around the crater.

And finally, the descend: it was, of course, much easier heading back down in full daylight and passing by green and wide valleys, rice basins built down the steepest hills, made the descend beautiful and all the way down quite impressive. Not to forget the gorgeous view on top of the cloud carpet, into which we have been riding.

Hot Tips:

… you can spare some money if you are not counted as a ‘bule’ (foreigner). My friend Charismawan managed the fees at the entry so that I have paid only the regular amount for Indonesian Citizen (weekdays 30k / weekend 40k = 2,51€) instead of the tourist version (weekdays 220k / weekend 350k = 22€ – editorial time). Unfortunately, I couldn’t make Ijen Crater (Blue Fire Volcano) in one go and right after the Bromo Volcano Adventure but I am glad to spare a lot of money compared to other tourists who have paid 1,5 Mio. to 2,5 Mio. for the same hike. Oh, and we are talking about IDR, which means Indonesian Rupie, of course.

Additionally…

… I had full time control without depending on others like in a group tour.
Do you want to hike Mount Bromo and need support or you are planning to make this wonderful Volcano Trip to watch the incredible night sky with millions of stars and later the stunning sunrise? Please leave a comment below or use the regular contact form to get in touch with me. I will help out the best I can. And also let me know how you like my first blogpost … thank you!

Have a great time while following my travel adventures…

❤️

EFE