The apporaching road

We managed to leave Probolinggo rather early. This was recommended for a visit to the volcano Gunung Bromo as clouds tend to gather around the peak later in the day. Bromo is part of the Bromo-Tengger-Semeru National Park (who would have guessed) and thus cost us another round of entrance fees. We had looked up the prices on the internet before going which is why we avoided going yesterday as prices are higher on the weekend. One ticket for foreigners is 217k which is even more expensive. Too expensive for us, we decided. Going as far as we could, having a look around and then leaving before entering the national park was the plan.

As so many plans, it’s only good until its first contact with reality. 🙂 The road up to the caldera was beautiful already and the ride very enjoyable. I took many pictures…maybe too many as my camera later died.

Arriving at the entrance gate, it sure cost 217k per person. Still too much for us. But the moment we turned around, we felt really bad. We discussed it another time, turned around again and Flo went in to the ticket booth to get tickets. Coming out again, he smiled and said “we came to a mutually agreeable arrangement” that was kind to our budget. No need to ask any further. 😉

All three, Batok, Bromo and the last one barely visible

Ten meters into the park, you get the first view onto Bromo. The caldera is a massive ashen plane, 10km across with the smoldering Bromo in the distance and the volcano Batok next to it. The plane is actually called Laotian Pasir which translates to Sea of Sand. The whole thing looks amazing; the local horses only add to the picture even if we had to decline a horse ride across the plane multiple times.

Having our own iron steed, we tackled the approach through the volcanic ash. Rocinante did well, we only wobbled once during a stretch of deep sand. Past the temple was a little “parking lot” from where we hiked up to the crater of Bromo.

The sound from the crater was unnerving … a constant low rumble

Many, many steps lead up to a stone fence which is the only thing separating you from a drop into the bubbling lake releasing plume after plume of sulphur clouds. It is eerie up there (and smelly) but also amazing. We had the place to ourselves and enjoyed the vast view back over the plane for a while. Here, my camera started to cry for help. It hadn’t been charged last night.

Leaving, our only remaining plan was a vague direction towards Malang and a desire to take the road on the south coast. Still on the slope we stopped for lunch which is even cheaper on Java than on other islands. It was the first time, durian was hanging from the roof. Durian is also known as the smelliest fruit in the world…it even stinks when it is still in its husk. We had the bad fortune of having other customers there who ordered durian as a snack. That cut our break short, I think.

Only photo from the safety of our place for the night

Being only 60km from Malang now, we planned to go further today. However, we didn’t have a break from 2pm to 3pm which now should be known as “the time it rains” but only put on our waterproof jackets. Big mistake. A whole torrent came down, nothing the roadside gullies could deal with so the streets flooded within minutes. Serious flooding as the water stood higher here than on many river crossings we have done in the past. To make it worse, the traffic slowed to a stop as it narrowed down to only one lane. Passing the obstacle, we weren’t sure if it was an accident or a construction site.

Being completely soaked through from the hips downwards, including water standing in our boots, the decision to stay in Malang was easy. And we got very lucky: We found a super nice guest house that looks like something of an Ikea catalogue for 100k a night! That might be our cheapest night yet. Free tea and coffee was offered and we spent the afternoon lounging on the couches surfing the free wifi and enjoying being inside. And dry. Outside, there was a lightning storm directly above us with thunder so loud, I jumped each time.

Finally, the rain stopped so we went for dinner. Cities are just so convenient. Around two corners, a lovely place called “Noodles Inc” caught our eye. It was well frequented by posh young people and looked very modern. Hand-pulled noodles in a mie dish were yummy and quite spicy. I topped it off with a “chocolate cookie cream” drink which defeated my straw due to the cookie crumbles in it. 🙂