From Juanda Airport the bus that picks up is waiting. After dinner in Sidoarjo, the bus departed that same night to Mount Bromo through several districts such as Sidoarjo and Pasuruan. Exactly midnight bus to hotel transit in Pananjakan. This means we have reached the area of Mount Bromo. Precisely we are in the Tengger mountain region. Mount Bromo is one of the mountain peaks in the Tengger Mountains.
Heard the word Tengger we must remember the tribe who live around Mount Bromo. Tengger people are generally Hindus. FYI, historically, the Tenggerese are the remnants of the ancient Majapahit Kingdom who rejected Islam. When Islam developed on the island of Java through the Wali Songo, its spread reached the Majapahit kingdom. Most of the people of Majapahit who refused to convert to Islam fled to two places, the first to the Tengger Mountains became the Tengger tribe, some crossed over to Bali Island, assimilated with the natives there, and spread the Hindu religion on the island of Bali. Similarly flashback history I remember, CMIIW. If we pass Tenggerese houses, we see similarities with villages in Bali. In front of Tengger house there is a small temple where putting offerings.
Jalanan menuju kawasan Bromo sangat padat malam itu. Mungkin karena malam minggu sehingga banyak wisatawan yang ingin mengejar sunrise di Bromo. Bus tidak bisa sampai ke puncak Pananjakan karena sudah susah untuk parkir dan melaju ke atas. Akhirnya kami para penumpang jip berjalan kaki. Banyaknya wisatawan yang berjalan kaki menuju Pananjakan adalah rezeki bagi tukang ojeg. Puluhan tukang ojeg menawarkan jasa ke puncak Pananjakan, mereka berkali-kali mengatakan “masih jauh ke atas, Pak/Bu”. Tarif yang diminta adalah Rp15.000 per orang. Jika dua orang berboncengan maka tarifnya tetap dihitung Rp15.00/orang. Saya dan teman mengira puncak Pananjakan masih jauh, maka saya menyerah dengan tawaran tukang ojeg. Saya pun naik ojeg ke puncak Panajakan. Rupanya saudara-saudara… puncak Pananjakan itu hanya dekat saja, nggak sampai dua ratus meter dari tempat kami turun dari mobil jip. He..he..sedikit tertipu ya, tapi ya sudahlah, diikhlaskan saja Rp15.000 untuk jarak 200 meter itu.