We depart from Surabaya city by car at about 12.00am for an overnight trip to Mount Bromo. We were joined by our 2 new friends from Germany, Lara & Annika and also Anang, the guy from Da Rifi guesthouse. The journey from Surabaya city to Mount Bromo takes about 4 hours but due to some sort of traffic congestion at the nearby town of Probolinggo, we arrived at the foot of Mount Bromo nearly 5.00am.
early morning jeep ride
There are lots of touts that try to lure us to take their jeep but Anang help us to get directly to the checkpoint counter area. The jeep ride costs us 275,000 rupiah and the entrance fee is 25,000 rupiah per person.
sunrise view
With Anang, Padil, Poey, Lara & Annika
Since it was already late, we didn’t take the trail to Penanjakan, a popular sunrise spot in the area. Instead, the jeep driver brings us to another area which we could also get a great view of Mount Bromo during sunrise. The spot was said to be less crowded plus we do not have to do any hiking.
another lovely view of the crater
The locals there
We took our time enjoying the scenic view there. We also encounter some locals carrying grass which they collected from the area nearby. Probably for the usage of their livestock.
desert & horses
After about an hour there, we moved back to the jeep and it brings us to another checkpoint nearby the foot of the crater where all the jeeps will stop there. It was a desert-like area without any trees around and a large flock of horsemen are mingling around in the area. With all the fog which is still visible and lots of horses around, I felt like I wasn’t in Indonesia. It’s more like I’m in the middle of desert area in Afghanistan or some other places in the Middle East like we normally seen on tv.
desert & horses
From the checkpoint, one has to walk for about 1.5km to get to the top of the crater. You can opt to ride the horse for a certain fee. The horsemen would normally offer a 100,000 rupiah price tag but if you bargain well, you might even get it down to 30,000 rupiah.
hike hike hike
another scenic view
Halfway through, with all the fog still around, the view was even more stunning! Alas after about an hour of slow hike while taking photographs, we finally reach the top to get a close view of the crater. Supposedly at the crater they were fences for the safety of tourist but since last year’s minor eruption, they are now covered in sand and dust.
nearly reach the top
at the summit.. clear view of the crater
With lots of people up there, the situation is a little bit dangerous without any fences around. One might easily fall down to the crater. Since it’s getting more crowded up there, we didn’t spent much time there. After about 10-15 minutes there we quickly took some pictures and make our way down the mountain.
no fences around!
The view throughout the journey was really worth all the overnight ride and hiking up there.
Hi Dan!
Came across your website looking for travel agency/driver recommendations in Surabaya. Lovely photos and always good to hear recent prices on goods and services. It seems like you recommend your driver. Can I get the contact info?
hey Marg,
you can try to contact Anang via email at da_rifi@yahoo.co.id .. they’re actually running a hostel there but he can help you to get the car+driver.
thanks!
Were there a lot of tourists there? How crowded was the area on a whole?
I visited bromo on one of the weekends so there were lots of tourist at that time. By the time I reach the peak of the crater, yes it was quite crowded up there but I still manage to find a spot to sit down up there. Maybe if you go during weekdays there will be less people.
I visited Bromo last year with my family on our holiday to Indonesia. My friends who had visited that mountain before us said that it was really great. So we did give a try to visit there. Not to mention it was really cold at the peak, it’s also had a very great view! I reach the peak about at dawn, and when the sun’s rising,it was really an awesome view! I’d love to visit it again.
hye Gail.. good to know you had a great time there.. yeah it was really cold when we arrived at Bromo.. the view was absolutely stunning.. I’d also love to visit it again 🙂
wah!! seronoknya..nice place, nice pic..salah satu tempat dalam list untuk dilawati…haishh…bila nak pegi nie…huhu
yes mmg terbaik tempat nie.. apa lagi, kan skarang Now Everyone Can Fly.. last time pegi dpt RM90 jer one way ke Surabaya
Mount Bromo! I’m so going to be there soon (hoping we are going to make it this year).
The views look so breathtakingly beautiful and I really can’t wait to see it for myself.My ‘kaki-gunung’ gang have been dreaming about this place since we made it to Mount Kinabalu two years back.
Great post too and will be sharing this link over to my friends in FB! Glad I found you commenting over at Amer’s Tend To Travel blog. 🙂
Hi Yaszmin!.. yes the views are totally awesome there!.. u can hike Ijen too after Bromo.. just a few hours away by car.. nice blog u have there too… will add links to ur blog 🙂
Hike to Ijen too eh? Sounds like a good idea but then again, I better start jogging again now to get back my stamina. Hehe.
That’s really nice of you to add links to my blog. Appreciate it very much. Thank you 🙂
p.s: I posted this post over at my FB and my gunung kakis went ‘ooo…ahhh.’ and super excited about our Bromo trip. Just in case if I needed help about this Bromo trip, I’ll get back to you on it yeah.Thanks!
Wow~~ I’m pumped now in going to Mt bromo this Sept 2012. Thanks for this post!
Was there Sept last year.. but I x naik ke penanjakan coz I arrived there late.. enjoy ur trip 🙂
Great post. Awesome pictures and very informative. May I know which flight did u take? I mean which airline and to where? thanx.
nice Picture……
Bromo – Ijen Crater Vacation with special price