Jakarta : July 8 was my birthday and I was doing what I enjoy doing the most. Travelling. That too with my son Shashank, daughter-in-law Arsh and grand daughter Mehar. We decided to head out for a three-day weekend to visit Mount Bromo (2329 meters), Java’s most popular and accessible live volcano.
We reached Surabaya, capital of East Java, after a 90-minute flight from Jakarta. A few kilometres after exiting Surabaya our attention was drawn to two massive mountains at a distance on our right. The first was Java’s highest mountain and live volcano Mount Semeru (3676 meters) and the second was the twin volcano, Mount Arjuno-Welirang. Locals refer to it as Arjun, one of the five sons of Pandu of the Mahabharata fame.
Road through villages and towns and grain kept for drying on roadsides.
With this introduction to the volcanic zone from our car we were on our way to Mount Bromo, about 145 km from Surabaya. After about 100 km on the flat toll highway we turned right towards the lush green mountain territory.
A well maintained two-lane road goes past beautiful village homes on both sides of the road, verdant farm land and couple of small towns. On this stretch many villagers dry their harvest of corn and paddy in the open on roadsides. This is what many farmers do in West Bengal, eastern Bihar and some parts of Assam in India.
Initially the terrain was similar to Kangra-Palampur highway of Himachal during the monsoons. After about 15 km of more or less flat but lush green territory it was uphill all the way. This drive reminded me of the road to Kalpa from Rikang Peo in Himachal Pradesh. Yet another similar road is from the Teesta river bridge to Darjeeling in West Bengal. While there were advisories on Teesta-Darjeeling road cautioning car drivers to stick to the first gear only, there were no such advisories on the steep road to Mt Bromo.
Lush green region and healthy spiders waiting for prey
We checked into a hotel about 16 km from the volcano—at Bromo Camp House in Kec. Sukapura, Kabupaten, Probolinggo. Although a sunny day we felt chilled to the bones. We were told temperature oscillates from O-3 degree Celsius (minimum) to 12-15 degrees Celsius (maximum) at Mt Bromo.
Mt Bromo is a favourite of Indonesians, Malaysians and South Koreans. Very few from other nationalities come this far, majority of them heading to Bali, lured by the promise of sun, sand and surfing.
We were asked to be ready by 3 am to reach the Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park to view the highly recommended sunrise. We moved around the park in a Toyota four-wheel jeep, the sole mode of transport in this region.
We were driven to Penanjakan. It is the base station for two hills—Love Hill and Kingkong Hill— famous for the sunrise view. Both are within 300 meters of each other.
When we alighted from our jeep in the pitch dark at 3.30, hundreds of Toyota jeeps were already parked on the roadside and a large number were stranded in a long jam. A sea of humanity, like a swarm of locusts, was moving in one direction—to the sunrise point. Dozens of stalls on the left side of the road were serving tea, coffee and hot fried soya bean pakodas and tofu.
Those who had arrived without proper warm clothing were seen shivering and buying woollen caps and picking up jackets on rent. Even shawls were available on rent. A flight of stairs led us to the top of Love Hill. People were sitting on stairs and the hill side on hired plastic mats and waiting for the golden moment.
Live wire electric atmosphere it was with people at their merry making best. Hundreds of them stood facing the sea of sand thousands of feet below. It is Indonesia’s one of its kind terrain.
As the dawn broke on our left in the horizon, we could see silhouettes of volcanoes jutting into the sky in conical form in front of us. One of this, Mt Bromo, was spewing white smoke of sulphur into the sky. Far away in the background on our right was Mount Semeru completing the picture. From a distance one could see a plume like smoke being released from Semeru’s mouth. This unique landscape, spread over 5,250 hectares of East Java at an altitude of 2100 meters, is called the Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park.
The sunrise from Love Hill
As the star-lit night sky started giving way to a fiery hue at a distance and slowly started turning crimson-golden, breath-taking beauty of volcanoes and a vast sea of grey-black sand surrounding them started unfolding in front of our eyes. An unseen hand was slowly pulling the black blanket off the magical landscape and each one of us present there was holding his or her breath, watching the scene without blinking. No one wanted to miss even a split second of the magic—the changing colours of the sky in the horizon and lifting of the shroud of blackness over the Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park.
The entire spectacle of the sunrise lasted 30 minutes. While we had been up since 2 am many had travelled hundreds of kilometres from neighbouring towns to watch this magic show. We all stood spell bound, mesmerised, by the play of colours in the sky during the sunrise. Its effect on the landscape was magical as it infused life into the terrain and we watched the national park come alive in front of our eyes in less than 30 minutes.
Feeding fish at the Bromo Camp & Resort
All sunrises and sunsets are beautiful. Almost all tourist destinations in the hills, plateaus and coastal areas are famous for this everyday occurrence. People are drawn to the play of colours in the sky in the morning and evening. Dusk and dawn are an integral part of everyday human existence. However, what makes this specific sunrise unique is its mesmerising effect on the terrain of sea of sand and volcanoes.
After a session of photographs, selfies and videos majority of spectators from here move on to the next destination on their itinerary—a visit to the sea of sand and Mount Bromo.
