Mount Bromo, Indonesia
There aren’t many reasons tourists take the road south from Surabaya.
To be fair, there aren’t many reasons tourists would even be in Surabaya in the first place, but let’s overlook that for now. Because the city is the staging point for the 120 kilometre journey down East Java to one of Indonesia’s most beautiful natural attractions.
I’m talking about Mount Bromo, the active volcano that lies in the middle of a large valley. With its top blown off, it appears more crater than mountain, while putrid sulphurous gas and smoke billow out from within.
One of the reasons it has become such a popular site for visitors is that Mount Bromo doesn’t exist in isolation.
The valley is actually a ‘caldera’ – an enormous cauldron-like pit created by the ground collapsing after a major eruption. And all through and around this caldera are the remnants of volcanic action of the past… and the ominous signs of more to come.
Most people start their visit well before the sun is up, in preparation for the sunrise. In a convoy of jeeps (the road is too bad for anything else, so the jeep cartel owners tell me), we head towards a nearby mountain, Mount Penanjakan.
From the end of the road, it’s a twenty minute climb to the viewing area, although dozens of locals with horses will gladly accept some money for a ride up.
I had been warned that it would be cold at the top, but I think that must have been by Indonesian standards because, although the rays are yet to reach out across the terrain, it is far from chilly.
Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park
As the sun rises, the clouds are the first to catch the colour. Red. Pink. Orange. Then the valley starts to glow.
The shadowy outline of the mountains come into the focus and vista across the whole area is suddenly bathed in light. It is a good way to start the morning, indeed.
An hour later, down at the base of Mount Bromo itself, I am confronted with the ‘sand sea’. It was hard to get perspective from the viewpoint but now, as I am forced to quickly shield my face as a wind gust tries to blast grains into my eyes, it feels like something from Africa or the Middle East.
The only vegetation is up on the cliffs around the caldera, watching fearfully down at this barren landscape. These are the wastelands of East Java, the plains poisoned for eons by volcanoes, a dangerous ghetto of sulphuric solitude.
But again, there are horsemen here. While many visitors choose to walk the 30 minutes or so to the top of Mount Bromo, there is once more the option of going on horseback.
The riders, covered up to protect themselves from the sandstorms, have an eerie and romantic ruggedness to their appearance. A Hindu temple set against the grey landscape demonstrates their connection to this region.
At the top itself, there’s only so much to do. The gases coming from the crater are quite overpowering and at times it’s a bit uncomfortable to stand at the edge and look down.
Sudden bursts of strong wind blow a concoction of smoke and sand right into my face. But to look down into the volcano makes me feel a bit insignificant.
This is a unique part of the country. It’s more than just a volcano – it is a whole tract of land which has evolved over the millennia from the geological activity beneath it. It’s created a natural phenomenon much larger than any tour can do justice.
It just feels… special… to be here.
Time Travel Turtle was a guest of the Indonesian Ministry of Tourism but the opinions, over-written descriptions and bad jokes are his own.
That reminds me of a place (I think it was in Indonesia) I saw on a documentary, they were mining sulphur, certainly not the healthiest career but they made good money by local standards.
I believe the place you mention is Kawah Ijen, there are a lot of sulphur miner over there and even if the pay is good they still living life barely above the poverty line. But still Kawah Ijen is also one of the main tourist destination in East Java.
Sounds interesting. Would you recommend people visit there as well as Mount Bromo? Or are they similar enough if you only have time for one?
I would recommend you to visit both Bromo and Ijen. I guess both of them are pretty similar if you’re talking about volcanoes, sulfur and crater but the feeling and the experience are different, mainly because of the sulfur miner. You gotta talk to them to understand why are they doing such dangerous work, I think they have a story or two to tell you. Also you can go further into the crater to see the turquoise-colored-sulfuric-acid-lake in the middle of it,
Some nice photos there mate, especially that eerie one looking down into the crater at the end.
Thanks, Chris. You wouldn’t want to have stayed up there too long, though. It was pretty uncomfortable with all the smoke and sand. And, after such an early morning, I was ready for some coffee by this point! 🙂
Very interesting story and fantastic photos of your experience at Mount Bromo. I can understand how you’d feel special to be there.
It’s hard not to feel special when you’re surrounded by the enormity of nature. And I really didn’t expect the sand sea to look like that so it kind of took me by surprise a bit.
Terrifying place to find yourself in should the ground start shaking & the heat start spiraling up. But, I’d have stood next to you all the same with views like that to oggle at.
Ha, thanks mate. Yeah, if there had started to be a little bit of ground shaking, I would’ve been out of there as fast as possible!!
Great photos, not the usual landscape that comes to mind thinking of Indonesia!
I know – it was quite a strange area in the middle of Java, which is normally quite green. But that’s what made the experience so surreal, I think.
Great post and pictures as always…Love the one looking into the crater. Plus, my absolute favorite time of any day are the minutes before the sun comes over the horizon…
I very rarely see the minutes before the sun comes up (unless I’m on my way home) 🙂 So, yes, it was quite a treat to see sunrise from such a beautiful location!
Very poetic piece, both in words and images. Lovely!
Thanks. It was a really pretty place. Especially with the contrast to the rest of the countryside.
Such a stunning, varied and dangerous place all in one! Your photos are stunning and it is a great story. I can only imagine what it would be like to climb a volcano.
Thankfully this was a relatively easy one to climb. If you really want hear about a difficult time to get up, then check out my story from Chile about the ice-covered one!! 🙂
Incredible photos! Now i want to go 🙂
Put it on the list!! 🙂
Looks amazing. Love the dawn photography of the volcano.
It’s such a beautiful time of day.
Active volcanoes fascinate me! This will be one to add to my bucket list.
If you like volcanoes, this is a good one. I’ve climbed a few and this had the most smoke and stuff coming out of it, I think.
talking about mountain, you should try Mahameru in Indonesia too!
Seriously epic photos. Indonesia clearly has a lot going for it!
Oh man, it has SO much going for it. I can’t wait to get back there and explore even more. But imagine what you could do with your camera skills there!!
I climbed up to the viewpoint at dawn to watch sunrise here…spectacular! Did you learn about the temple on the ground? When Bromo last erupted it caused much devastation, but somehow not one drop of lava touched the temple at its foot! Amazing place
Oh wow, I didn’t know that about the temple. It seemed like a really special building and looked so impressive with that backdrop!
Love the photos! What type of camera do you use?
Thanks, Ally. I use a Canon 600D… it’s a nice camera but I just use the standard kit lens (and don’t really take it off automatic too often…)
oh ha ha I’m not quite past the automatic settings myself
You must try to climb Semeru Mountain 🙂
So when you back to this mountain again michael.
Since eruption last 2105, now its open for public.
thank you for the info, i just wondering whether anyone ever use this bromo tour guide? it seem promising.
hi,
nice information, very helpful
maybe you can read this malang tourism, about malangan masked dance
thanks 🙂
Wonderful place..
Does Bromo close on 4-5 june 2023
I am not definitely sure what they are planning to do this year, but Mount Bromo is normally open on public holidays. (Be warned, though, it is usually much busier – and tours can be more expensive – on public holidays.)