The morning started really early for us, we opened eyes probably around 3.30am. Most of the other travellers would be up an hour or two later to get motorbikes and jeeps to the top to watch their Bromo sunrise - but not us!
We planned to do the 3 hour trek up the mountain to see it. Partly, to avoid the extortionate fees for a trip by jeeps but also because we felt that the experience would be all the more rewarding for the hard work. It was tough little climb in total darkness, done under the light of our head torches before any breakfast or even a coffee! Several sections required a bit of scrambling which added to the sense of adventure.
In due time we reached our chosen viewpoint just the dawn was breaking and we were treated to one of the best sunrises I have ever seen! It was dramatic and beautiful and the view was spectacular. It was the start of an amazing day filled with adventure and probably the most bizarre weather I have ever witnessed.
The descent from our vantage point was naturally much quicker then way up and as it was getting brighter there was lots to see. The local agriculture seemed to be based on three crops which grew in abundance here: potatoes, onions and cabbages which all seemed to be growing extraordinarily well. Some of the fields were on very steep slopes many of which must have been at an angle over 45 degrees, I was suitably impressed. There were also lovely butterflies, birds and plants life vying for the attention of our eyes.
We finally got our first coffee of the day from a lovely lady at the side of the path and it tasted truly exquisite even though it was just a 3in1 sachet. Feeling refreshed we set off through the onion fields, heading down to a beautiful green valley at the edge of the sand sea. This was obviously the place where all the rain that falls onto the plain drains to and as a result it was a little green paradise.
After admiring the wealth of plant life growing there we then set out across the sand sea towards the smouldering inner crater of Bromo itself. As we walked through this expanse of volcanic sand we began to see strange tendrils of mist rising from the ground beneath our feet like the ground itself was smoking. This ‘I imagined’ was caused by large amounts of water under the black sand being heated up by the very strong sunshine and steaming up. By this time it was staring to get very hot and as I was later to find out- I was starting to get quite burnt.
Eventually we reached the Hindu temple at the base of Bromo and began a pretty tough hike up through the ruined and weathered landscape to the final set of stairs that lead up to the smoking crater edge. When we got there we were dripping with sweat and panting for breath in the sulphur scented air. The view was amazing and the huge plumes of smoke and vapour rising out of the volcano were magical to watch.
From the top we began to see that the mists we had seen before was rising from the ground and was turning into huge fog banks, quickly amassing and heading towards us. By the time we had descended back down to the sand sea and began out journey back visibility had dropped to just 30 meters or so. It was one of the most strange weather phenomenon’s I have ever seen!
We emerged for the mist which then quickly dissipated and I was very pleased to find a beautiful butterfly feeding on the flowers from the only plant growing for hundreds of meter around us.
We then had another hard climb back up the escarpment and into Cemoro Lawang and just as we reached our hostel the rain began to poor down! We were very tired but it had been an amazing day. After a well-deserved rest and food we headed back down the mountains to continue our travels.