From Bad to Amazing!!! Why We Had to Go to Bromo on the Day the Volcano Erupted "Bromo Mt.-Kawah Ijen" Dec 2015

A Story Told Through Pictures



Hello everyone... I would like to share my experience of a popular tourist destination in ASEAN, "Bromo-Kawa Ijen", in a limited time. We went on a trip from December 10th to 13th, 2015. We agreed with the team that we only wanted to visit 2 major spots: Mount Bromo and the Kawa Ijen Crater.

We then started looking for a local guide and contacted a guide from Surabaya using English without auxiliary verbs Is Am Are. But we understood each other well. "Please tell me about the Bromo trip" << The desire to do so made us brave and we agreed to hire the very kind guide, Mr. Andreas.

(I will not mention the small details, as there are many posts reviewing travel methods and destinations.)

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Around October 2015, I planned the trip meticulously. I had already purchased the plane tickets and consulted with the guide.

"Where do you want to take me? Take me anywhere you want." I've been to Bali, Indonesia once before, four years ago. But I wasn't as crazy about traveling back then. This time, I'm going to make sure I have a blast.

----The first time I was excited even before I went (December 5, 2015)

As December approached, everyone was excited and eager to go. However, the most important thing when traveling in nature is to follow weather forecasts and disaster warnings. Our dream almost fell apart when the Indonesian weather forecast announced that Mount Bromo on the island of Java was erupting within a radius of 1-1.5 km. The volcano had been inactive for many years, but this time it was erupting at level 3 out of 4 (huh, level 3!!!!). The park did not allow tourists to go up to the crater. What should we do? Our dream trip was falling apart. We talked to the trip team and they said they would see what they could do. The biggest fear was that the flights would be canceled. Fortunately, the volcano did not erupt further.

Worried, she asked Andreas,

Me: "Hey, will I get to go or not?"

Andreas: "Come on, no problem. I'll take you there myself."

It's time to get down to business.


The Great Fin (Fin 2): The Wonders of Mount Bromo Active (December 11, 2015)

We arrived in Surabaya on the night of December 10, 2015 at 11:30 PM. We set a goal to watch the sunrise at the Bromo viewpoint on the morning of December 11, 2015. Andreas drove us there, and it was quite a ride! We had to reach Bromo by 4:00 AM and start hiking to the viewpoint before 5:00 AM (the sun rises at 5:00 AM). Everyone slept on the car to save energy, as we were going to be on the road for a long time. 70% of this trip would be spent in the car (no one complained, which made me happy!).

As the initiator of this trip, I was quite worried that my friends would be disappointed, as Andreas had already confirmed that "we would not be able to go up to the crater, all the savanna grass, and the temple below." (Shocking, right?)

The jeep took us to the starting point of our hike. We had gotten off the van wearing only thin t-shirts, so we had to find some thick clothes to put on. It was quite cold.

The guide told us not to be disappointed, as few people get to see Bromo on a day like this when it's active. It hasn't been active for many years.

When I finally saw it with my own eyes, my legs were shaking (I was tired from the climb, haha). "It's so beautiful, it's truly a dream trip."

The picture shows around 5:00 AM in Indonesia. Although the time zone of Java Island is +7 like Bangkok, the sun rises about 1 hour earlier than us. If you are going, please allow extra time.

The caption for this photo is "So beautiful, I have to bow down." The smoke from the Bromo crater and the thick fog, combined with the beautiful morning sunlight, is truly stunning. I have to say, even with the smoke, it's still beautiful in its own way. (Thinking positive 55)

On this trip, no one is more romantic than my brother and sister. They call it a couple's bliss, and those who come alone can enjoy themselves. 555

A quality team, there are 6 of us in total. (3 of us were tricked into coming. When we were asked to go to Bromo, we agreed without even knowing what it was.)

Although we didn't climb to the top of the volcano's crater, we still saw panoramic views from several viewpoints, which were just as beautiful. Plus, the day we went, there was no rain and no clouds blocking the mountaintop. The weather when we went up was great, early morning, probably around 10 degrees Celsius.

This old man is like the brand ambassador of Bromo, you could say. Just as I raised my camera and said, "Sorry sir…(I can't think of the word yet)"

The old man is already waiting for you. If you go to Bromo, please greet him and support his food stall.

--If I had to say what impressed me the most about Bromo, I would say everything. From what we thought would be a failed trip after buying our plane tickets, it turned out to be an amazing "nature tourism" experience. Today, the sky is overcast, so we have to accept it. Today, it's raining, so we have to understand. And even if Mount Bromo erupts today, we have to go. Nature is always unpredictable. "Everything is always the most beautiful."---


The third time we had a blast was at Madakaripura Waterfall, a waterfall that we tried to pronounce in the Bahasa language, which made Andreas laugh (actually, he was annoyed 555) (December 11, 2015).

After we had enjoyed the beauty of Bromo, around 9 am, we set off for our destination, the Kawa Ijen accommodation, which is about 5 hours away from Bromo. However, the guide told us that there was a beautiful waterfall on the way, called Madakaripura Waterfall (I forgot what it means). When we arrived, we walked from the entrance to the waterfall and saw a brown waterfall. Everyone said in unison,

"Hey, the brown waterfall in Thailand means there's forest water, you know." It's starting to sound strange, but the local guide (not Andreas) told us to walk there and we'd enjoy it. It's about a 20-minute walk on a paved path. The guide told us that the locals believe this is a sacred waterfall, "Holy water".

Upon arrival, it was truly as amazing as the guide had described. It's a waterfall with few visitors and no shops cluttering the camera frame.

Do you guys see the waterfall behind me? My friends and I thought, "Did we walk all this way just to see this small waterfall?" But then it turned out that it wasn't the case. It was just the top of the waterfall. When we went down through the trees, it became the curtain waterfall as you can see in the picture.


The water in the waterfall is brown. The source of the water at the end of the stream that we thought was a flash flood, the guide said that this is a characteristic of the waterfall here. Some periods will be clear, some periods will be cloudy brown. But it is not caused by flash floods. You can see that other nearby waterfalls are very clean and clear.


The villagers told me that this waterfall is sacred. I couldn't wait to make a wish, but I didn't dare to drink the water. It was so cold that I was shivering!


Actually, this wasn't our intended destination. Given our limited time, we were content to see the Bosphorus and the Blue Flame in the Aegean.


The path to the waterfall is quite dangerous in some places where there is water. Some parts are muddy and some are slippery rocks. It is recommended to follow the guide's instructions. ---


The 4th Kawaii-ness: Blue Flame Sulfur Mine (December 12, 2015)

After visiting the waterfall, we headed to the resort in the middle of the valley to go up to the Kawah Ijen sulfur mine. The condition to go up to Kawah Ijen is that we have to wake up at 00.00 am to take the car to the starting point at the top of the hill at 01.30 am. And if anyone wants to see the blue flame, they have to hurry to the top of the crater, a distance of 3 km, and then go down another 900 meters.

By the time we arrived at the resort, it was already 6:00 p.m. So we all went to shower and eat before 8:00 p.m. and had to go to bed early to wake up at midnight (I mean, it's not even 8 p.m. on a workday yet). But because we were tired, we had to sleep.

The highlight of the sulfur mine is the blue flame. My personal goal was to take a picture of the blue flame, so I hurried off, leaving my friends behind. 555 But it's okay, my friends understand.

The 3 km climb to the crater rim and the 900 meter descent are quite dangerous. However, I didn't feel scared on the way down because it was so dark. But as soon as there was light, I realized that the path we were walking on was made of rocks and sulfur. And don't expect there to be any handrails.


Shocked! "Only 70 kg of sulfur," the local workers here carry sulfur like this from the deepest part, walking up stone stairs that could collapse at any moment, 900 meters deep, and walking back to the village another 3 km. This does not include the uphill climb, just walking empty-handed is tiring. They sell sulfur for 100 rupees per kg, which means they have to work very hard (70 kg = 7000 rupees) in exchange for about 19 Thai baht, while a piece of bread on the side of the road costs 7500 rupees. //Respect their hearts.

Due to the extreme fatigue and frustration, I have accumulated a large collection of photos that I will be uploading to Facebook over the next year. Please feel free to browse through them. I hope these photos will inspire your future travels.

Picture of the peak of the Kawah Ijen crater

The central ridge of the crater stretches as far as the eye can see.

This photo is of Fin, who is very happy amidst the sulfur smoke.

The lowest point of the Kavaiian mine, the sulfur lake of blue.

The path back to the village that is the starting point

Here are some photos that we were able to collect. There may be a lot of people in the photos, but as I mentioned before, it's about sharing the happiness that we experienced on this trip. Finally, I would like to thank the guide, my fellow travelers, and everyone who has viewed my post.

Let's go out and explore the world together.

Surabaya: Sura = Shark Baya = Crocodile

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