Hello BROMO, the land of the Breath of God

Mount Bromo is located in the Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park which is part of Tengger massif, in East Java, Indonesia. At 2,329 meters height, it is not the highest peak of the massif, but is the most well known one in Indonesia.

Bromo comes from Javanese alphabet of "Phrom" which is the name of Hindu God. Besides, Mount Bromo is an active volcano with smoke constantly coming out. Therefore, it is also called "the land of god's breath".

We start our journey from Bangkok -> transit at Singapore -> go to Juanda Surabaya Airport and then our story begins

The view along the way from the car.

A small house on the hill ^^

Seeing the horse doesn't mean that we already arrive, not yet, haha.

And here is the vehicle we will take forward to Bromo, it's quite chic!

Here is the view along the way where this jeep is taking us up to Bromo.

I really enjoy the view along the way, I think it's really beautiful ^^

The jeep drops us here and now it's up to us whether to choose walking on the foot or riding a horse.

This area is quite sandy, please also bring a mask as it's very dusty.

She is my personal model so I asked her to work quite hard by posing under the bright sun, haha.

Actually, it's not so difficult to walk but riding a horse is also quite nice.

Along the way...... I think someone might have craved it earlier. Well, if I see this at night, running away would be my first reaction, haha.

And that is our destination for walking today.

After walking half way through, I look back to see this so beautiful view of mountains. Today the sky is so open as well (the sun is very bright).

Keep on walking...cheers up everyone ^^

For horse riding, they will stop you here in order to walk up for the crater.

Let's get a group photo before continue walking.

P.S. A remote and a tripod is necessary when you don't have a personal photographer with you ^^

Here is the flowers for those who would like to worship Mount Bromo...by throwing into the crater.

It's quite steep up so we got a bit exhausted with our breathing :P

Here it is, the crater with a lot of smoke coming out and a smell of sulfur. Well, it smells quite good? You guys should also try it out, haha.

Yes, here is the flower we bought earlier. After making a wish, you can throw it in.

After taking this photo, we must hurry down, otherwise we could miss the view at the other viewpoint.

Let's take a group photo with our co-trip friends, everyone is so nice. After this shot, we rush to the viewpoint.

But but but....an unexpected thing happens, haha. We didn't get to the viewpoint yet...but the sun is already set. Anyhow, the view from here is quite beautiful and the Bromo is also in our sight ^^ Here is where we change the car and it's the resort territory (I can't remember the name of it).

After enjoying the beautiful twilight sunset, the guide takes us onto our next destination (which is a long journey of about 6 hours ride) to enjoy the blue frame at Kawah Ijen.

Once we reach here, we didn't have much time to prepare ourselves (with no shower, haha). The guide prepares a gas mask for everyone (we still need to prepare our own mask before wearing the gas mask as we wouldn't know how many faces it has gone through, haha).

Then...we just keep on walking. If you think you might not be able to make it, you can take a taxi (it's like you sit on a thing and being pulled up). From the starting point, the round trip taxi fare is 1,000,000 IDR (about 2,500 THB). Otherwise, you can walk first and take a taxi along the way and ask for the price again. The fare gets cheaper as you walk closer.

....The road up is steep and only has one shop along the way. I almost didn't take any photo as it's very dark. The way down to see the blue frame is also rocky and certain point is steep, so you must be very careful.

Once we are at the blue frame area, we will see this blue light. In fact, the actual scene is much more beautiful than this, haha, but I didn't walk too close but zoom in from afar. The closer we go in, the stronger smell of sulfur which is quite dangerous so we all must wear a gas mask.

When the light shines in, we will see a big portion of sulfur.

After taking enough photos, we go back up and there's this beautiful photo taking spot where looking back, you could see the emerald lake.

After that, we go back down to take a taxi. Along the way, we also get to capture some atmosphere.

After visiting the Kawah Ijen, we go to the homestay late morning for shower (it's our first shower since we left Thailand, haha). We then take some rest, and have breakfast at Catimor Homestay before going to the waterfall in the afternoon.

Here is the homestay that we go take some rest (for shower and food).

In the afternoon, we go out for Belawan Waterfall. But once we reach there....the water is relatively low, haha.

After having a great time at this waterfall, we take a 7 hours ride with one food break in order to stay at Sunshine Homestay Surabaya. This homestay is very close to Juanda Airport where we will take the flight back home.

Here is the end of our Bromo - Kawah Ijen trip. On the way back, we also transit at Singapore (8 hours transit time). So then, we also get to enjoy Singapore a bit. It is such a worthy trip, it's fun and we enjoy one another company a lot. We also come home with great friendship.

Thank you so much for reading until this line, although this is only my first review, I promise I will come back again for my next journey ^^

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Summary of Bromo - Kawah Ijen trip

- 15,000 THB includes tour guide, vehicle for pick up-drop off from the airport, Bromo, Kawah Ijen, Belawan Waterfall, jeep, Homestay service and breakfast, and a flight ticket (our round trip ticket is 7,xxx THB). Everything is included in our 15,000 THB budget ^^ (P.S. it excludes food, horse riding and taxi fare).

- Indonesia uses "Rupiah" as their currency. I exchange about 5,000 THB (or 1,980,000 IDR) which is more than enough. After paying taxi fare at Kawah Ijen and food, I still have some left because cost of living in Indonesia is not expensive.

- Food per meal is less than 100 THB or if you eat in the restaurant with friends and dividing the cost, it would be about 100-150 THB (FYI, I eat a lot).

- Horse riding fee at Bromo is set at 100,000 IDR (about 250 THB). But if you keep walking, horsemen will approach you along the way and you could negotiate the price, probably it'd cost about 70,000 IDR.

- Taxi fare up to see the blue frame (a sitting chair with three people pulling), the round trip fare is 1,000,000 IDR (about 2,500 THB) from the starting point. You can try to walk up first and if you really can't, you can always take a taxi which the price is also cheaper as you get closer to the blue frame. The road is steep but if you prepare yourself well, you'd have a great time walking up.

- The food here is mostly meat, fish, chicken, Indonesian fried noodles, and almost every meal, we will find a rice cracker to eat with as a side dish

***What you need to bring? You should bring some medicine for emergency case, a raincoat (just in case), winter jacket and wind-proof jacket, and a flashlight (when walking up to Kawah Ijen). For the trekking pole, do not bring it probably is a better idea because mine was seized on my return flight from Indonesia.

Let's end this trip with food , haha. They are taken from restaurants and homestay.

Indonesian Fried Noodle is covered with egg and rice cracker which the latter was already in my stomach, haha.

This is similar to our Thai Shrimp Paste but not as delicious.

This is my favorite meal. I like everything except the fried green bean which is salty and greasy, haha.

When seeing this fried rice with rice cracker, I almost cry because it's such a scary menu, haha.

Rick Cracker again.... ><

Finally, please follow my webpage here https://www.facebook.com/TravelChillChill I will try to update more details and more frequently, haha.