Pictures from the last Blog entry finally added because the internet is finally working. finally.

The main waterfall from around the corner

Stolen Picture From a Friend. Bromo Horse

The waterfall I mentioned (right before the main part) with Ruth.

Mt. Bromo 

Mt. Bromo

A couple weeks back, I was lucky enough to go with some friends in a rented car to Mt. Bromo.  It's actually 3 separate volcanoes, but Bromo is the most active of them, still spewing out sulfuric smoke into the air all day, every day.  The town we stayed in for the trip was nestled in the mountains, and crisp cool air and with some stunning scenery of mountainous ridges on either side.

The trip to Bromo starts with a 3 am wake up, followed by a 330 am drive in a jeep up the mountain.  As points the fog is so thick, our guide would get out of his car to see where we were, and we followed tons of other 4-wheel drive jeeps up the windy path to the viewpoint for sunrise.  As the sun was rising, you can start to make out the three distinct volcanoes, and see the steam rising from Bromo.  Luckily we were only 7 of 400 people who happened to go to the sinrise that morning, so we had to fight our way for views of the volcano.

The next part of the trip involved a drive down the mountain and across the sea of sand, a huge flat area surrounding the volcanoes that you slide and slip through on your jeep as he speeds along.  We even saw a couple motorcycles eat dirt, as they too were fighting against the sand.  You reach the bottom of the mountain to horses chasing your cars, and people asking if you want a ride up to the stairs of the mountain.  We walked, as it's not a hard or far walk...

You walk up the side for a while, and then go up 250 steps straight to the top of the crater, and you can look right down into the steam billowing out.  It's a pretty cool site.  The weekend ended with a stop at an unbelievably beautiful waterfall, one of the best I've ever seen, and a fun drive home.  It was a great weekend, and it's nice to know that there are good weekend trips available...

Mt. Bromo

This past weekend, I went to visit a famous sight on eastern Java. It is Mt. Bromo, a still active volcano, which spews out tons of sulfuric gas (or acid) into the air, kind of like a big steam vent. Next two it are two other equally beautiful, granted non-active volcanoes.

We left Saturday morning at 9 am, packed 7 of us into a rented car (with driver) and did a road trip into the mountains of eastern Java, where it's cool and crisp. Such a nice relief from the heat and humidity of Surabaya. We spent the afternoon offering cookies to gas station attendents, hanging out the window and waving and women walking on the road, and challenging children to volleyball games. It was fun.

When you drive up to the viewpoint at 4 am, you dont know what to expect, its dark and cold, and everyone is bundled up and huddled together for warmth. You get in a cue of 40+ cars, all offroad jeeps, and herd together with the other hundred tourists there that morning. We got to the top, and found it just as crowded, so we stopped to get some tea and coffee to warm up. We then spent over an hour taking in the sunrise, and how the colors changed when watching the volcanoes. There was also an amazing cloud cover that sat in the valley like trapped water.

After the viewing of sunrise, re drove along the ridges of the mountains, down the valley and into the "sea of sand," which is an absurdly flat area in such a mountainous region. You stop at the base of Bromo, where horses chase your cars offering roundtrip voyages via horseback. We decided to walk. You walk up bromo, and end with 250 stairs to the top, where you can look down into the crater. It was interesting, and in all honesty, I just wanted to jump in.

On the drive back to the guesthouse, i made the driver stop and pick up a girl walking alone, who I swear was familiar, but I couldn't remember how. It ended up we shared a bus and stayed at the same place in Brunei. Small world! It's been over a month and a half, and we run into each other on East Java. Pretty cool. We drove her back into town, and then we all packed up and headed off to see a waterfall we heard was in the area before heading home.

It was easily among the top 3 waterfalls I have ever seen in my life. You have to walk along a trail, crossing the small river a couple times until you walk in an area that has ledges of cliffs hanging over you. The water is sort of cascading down everywhere, so it's like it is raining as you continue to follow the river a little further. When you get to the main waterfall it's a 200+ meter straight drop down into a teal colored pool of water. It was not only the waterfall, but the surrounding rain-falls and the walk there that combined to make it so cool. Pictures won't do it justice, but here's a shot anyway.

We ended up driving back home and spending the evening eating Italian food, before crashing by 10 pm. It was a great weekend, and so nice to finally get out of the city. I expect to be doing more weekend trips whenever I can plan them out!