Mt.Bromo - Alien Landscapes Part 2

Every once in a while in jam packed trains of Singapore's subway, one can hear of an 'amazing' place that people have just returned from. Some wide-eyed Caucasian or local dressed up to start his/her day excitedly saying about their travel over the long weekend and shaking their head with utmost conviction that they had been to heaven & back. It was one such day when i got to hear about Mt.Bromo eves-dropping over a extremely cute animated caucasian girl trying to use all the adjectives she could to describe this place.

Continued from here    As we packed our things after a light lunch towards our next stop to mt.bromo. After a 6 hour long bumpy drive through the varying terrain from everything green to nothingness and back to green winding mountainous stretch we reached the small town filled with tourist resorts and tour agents.   The hotel we stayed was nestled on a  small cliff on the shadows of mt.bromo and aptly named "lava view resort". As we walked along the cliff in the evening we heard a weird sound apparently the winds gushing out of a nearby tunnel from the "Sea of Sand" yes the plain surrounding Mt.Bromo is flat and filled with volcanic ash & sand. The only thing separating us & Mt.Bromo was this sea of sand, as we walked the moon rose behind Mt.Bromo & with the weird sound it was almost a scene from Mt.Doom with the moon very similar to "Eye of Sauron". 

We started early the next day by 3.30Am to watch the sun rise over Mt.Bromo from Mt.Penanjakan. As we left the lodge , i could see hundreds of 4X4 jeeps like ant trails on the sea of sand heading towards Mt.Penanjakan. Though crowded and not the best sunrise day it was the best view point i have been to till date. with an entire view of the Terrain i didn't even mind frost bites on my fingers staring at the view. The view just brings chills down your spine in terms of temperature too :P. (Since i didnot have the best of camera, i found a pic on Wiki which was almost like the view )


Pic from my mobile, on the left u see a small white dotted portion on the cliff - Thats the village with lava lodge (Just to put into comparison the size of things in front of you.

Zooming into left cliff one can see the village on the cliff & the sea of sand on the right.
Pic from Wiki  - Sea of sand on the left, Small broken top volcanic mountain is mt.bromo & the tallest one behind is Mt.Semeru. P.S all are active volcanoes.
As the sun rose, temperatures got better so did my frost bite. After some local tea & corn breakfast we drove to the base of Mt.Bromo. It takes 30 mins to climb up Mt.Bromo from the Balinese Hindu Temple at the base point. It was almost a short trek with 200 stairs at the end to climb up the volcano. Kaboom we were walking along the rim of an active volcano, Simply mind-blowing and diverse terrains on all side, For a minute it does made me wonder if i was on Mars.


Short trek from the base to the rim

On top of Mt bromo

Terrain around Mt.Bromo


Mt.Peranjakan in the backdrop & hindu Temple at the base of Mt.Bromo.

 We spent time until lunch in & around bromo, finished our lunch in Lava lodge with the view & headed towards City of Malang. As we went through the winding roads again i was still not able to digest the thing we had done in past 48hrs. As i kept day dreaming through the route, we reached a drive in zoo to feed some llamas, giraffes & ostriches. The best was we got to see a black Panther & a White tiger named Mr.Mohan (donated by India).





Mr.Mohan


As we headed towards our airport the next day from malang, we still got to see a 70 foot water fall & a 1000 year old temple like icing on the cake for the trip.
 ~ As i sat on my flight back to Singapore, All the thoughts from the girl in train to my last night in Surabaya were flashing through my mind. I realized escape through travel does work. Life in Singapore would have been meaningless if not for such travels, Though Surabaya felt like 'Utopia' , it didn't have my everyday conveniences, especially when i saw the sulphur miners working for 10$ a day , it gave a different sense and made me more alert to accept what i had in front in the present and how it might not be available as long as there was a concept of change. Visiting surabaya was much more than enjoying a distant place - it changed my experience of travel and the person i had left behind. ~


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