bromo on foot

It was a quarter before 3am when I stepped out of the door of the house we were staying in. It was cool, but not as cold as I expected it to be. We didn’t have dinner so my stomach was rumbling. But at least I managed to get some sleep despite the noise from the garage which was just outside our room.

The same guy who had been bugging us since we got there late in the night was outside, waiting for us, still trying to convince us to take the ojek to Penanjakan. I told him we really prefer to walk.

“But it’s 21 kilometers!” He declared, hoping that we would finally give in. I smiled at him and said that no, it’s just a two-hour walk. It couldn't be that far.

Kris came out as the guy left. She asked which direction we were going. I really didn't know. Although we had a map, it was so crude we couldn't make anything assuring out of it. Luckily, an old man passed by and showed us the right way.

We were on our way to a viewpoint where we could see the sunrise and the landscape of the Tengger caldera. The famous Gunung Bromo lies within this caldera, among with other volcanoes and the cone-shaped Gunung Batok. Most people goes on a jeep tour to visit the crater and the volcano. In fact, hundreds of people take these jeeps everyday. Wanting to avoid the crowd, we chose to approach it on foot.

The whole time we were walking along the road, we were thinking if we were taking the right one. We expected that it would be a trail, but it wasn't. We heard a jeep going our way and when it passed us, I wondered if it was one of those used in the tour. If it was, we were doomed. It could only mean that the road we were following would stretch for 21km.

We had been walking for about half an hour by then. There were no other people. There weren't even signs saying that it was the way to Penanjakan. We contemplated on going back to ask for directions but that would mean we might not be able to catch the sunrise. Undecided, we continued walking, hoping that the road would take us to the place we wanted to go before it gets light.

The road started to climb steeply, winding on the slope. After scaling Merapi, it should be very easy for us. But we were drained. Our last food was our lunch the previous day. After the long journey from Yogyakarta, all we really wanted was to lie down when we got there.

Gunung Batok, Bromo and Semeru at the far end.

Since we didn't want to take the jeep tour, we just paid for the transportation from Yogyakarta to Cemoro Lawang. It was comfortable enough but still tiring due to the long drive. It took us more than 12 hours to get there. We stopped at the office of the tour agency when we got to Probolinggo and changed a van. They also explained the itinerary of the jeep tour and told us that if we want to join, we should buy there because it would be more expensive if we buy the tour in Cemoro Lawang. But we still stuck to our plan.

Our search for a place to spend the night took us to the checkpoint where tickets are also issued. We were taken aback when we found out that we had to pay 213,000 IDR. We didn't expect that amount, because while doing research, it was never mentioned so we thought it wouldn't be significant. (Later on I found out that the government raised the entrance fees to several sites just a couple of months before we visited Indonesia.)

Eye-catching Gunung Batok amidst the Sea of Sand. Patches of golden-brown grass make the plain interesting.

After unwillingly paying the said amount, we turned back and went to Cafe Lava Guesthouse to see if they could still accommodate us. They couldn't, but one man volunteered to take us to a nearby homestay. Upon realizing that we weren't joining a tour, he gave us a map and explained to us how we could get to the viewpoint. From him, we found out that tickets aren’t needed if we don’t enter the national park. And the viewpoint in Penanjakan wasn't part of the park.

Upon the man's suggestion, I went back to the checkpoint and asked if we could get our money back since we really just wanted to hike up to the viewpoint and not to Bromo. They said they wouldn't do that. I insisted, begged a little, but to no avail. One man added that there would be rangers on the way to the viewpoint to check if we have tickets and that even Cemoro Lawang is part of the national park and we need tickets just to be in the village. That couldn't be. But there was nothing I could do. So once we got to our room, I went to the guesthouse where the other people in our van checked in to sell them our tickets. But all of them have theirs. I was a little too late.

The crater of Gunung Bromo.

Still climbing the steep road, we saw people in food stalls by the road. We finally confirmed that we were on the right track. We came across some men on horses which we thought were the rangers referred to until they asked us if we wanted to take a ride. We continued climbing until we reached a set of stairs which led to Seruni Point. There were already a few people. Without words, we unconsciously agreed that that is where we would watch the sunrise. (The peak of Penanjakan a.k.a. the viewpoint was still 30-45 minutes away. The trail is found to the right, just before entering the deck of Seruni Point.)

Watching as the sky magically gets painted, the astounding landscape that was obscured by the darkness starting to present itself to us, and the sun slowly creeping up the horizon, we knew that we made the right decision of sticking to our plan. They were the reward waiting for us. We made an effort and it felt that we deserved what we were witnessing.

What we thought would be a boring walk back to the homestay turned out to be as interesting (at least for us) as the volcanic landscape we just saw. With the cool breeze and the gentle sunlight both touching our skin and illuminating the tranquil beauty of the countryside, we both concluded that it didn't feel like Indonesia.

Since it was still early when we reached the village center and since we already have the tickets, we decided to just make use of them. As we descended to the Sea of Sand, we noticed the jeeps parked near the foot of Gunung Batok and the hundreds of people climbing the 250 steps to the rim of Bromo. Thank god we didn’t have to share to sunrise view with that very huge crowd.

At the foot of Bromo, there were men with horses offering rides from the jeep to the bottom of the stairs. By the time we got there, the crowd had thinned out. We climbed the stairs, stopping once or twice. There are side decks along the stairs for those who wanted a little rest so as not to slow down human traffic.

Bromo was constantly spewing out smoke and unfortunately, the wind was blowing to our direction so we didn't spend a long time at the rim. Beside Bromo is the eye-catching Batok, which all the time I supposed was Bromo. I only found out when I saw that people were climbing 'the other volcano' instead of that beautiful one.

We opted to take the ojek on the way back. Surprisingly, the first ojek driver that we saw (and who noticed us) was the same guy who was waiting when I stepped out of the homestay. He was there when we left the ticketing office, offering to take us to a homestay but we had to decline, twice. He followed us on the road to the viewpoint, saying with a worried look that the place is very far. He only left after a number of no’s. And then finally, he got what he wanted from us. Persistence pays.