It seemed like we've spent the day in and out of transports. Leaving Batu, we first went to see the Cuban Rondo waterfall, a park infested by monkeys. After seeing Iguazu and being on top of the devil's garganta, no waterfall could be spectacular to me anymore. It was a good fall though with enough water streaming down and good spray but not too impressive. Next we drove to Malang but I skipped the local meat and bird market. seeing too many markets and they were all too crowded, dirty and no longer interesting to me. Lunch was at the Tukut posh hotel whose owner traveled the world extensively, and had all his travel memorabilia on display in his hotel, expensive dinning table and dinning sets, his family rich photos, statues he collected, and even an entire room with fake statues of angkor wat and giant faces from the temples of siem reap. the hotel staff gave us a tour and it was quite interesting. The hotel dinning menu was extensive and the food luxuriously prepared and tasty. At Sukapura, we switched to jeeps to climb up the hill to the tengger caldera. The air thinned out and it became cool and foggy. Once up on the caldera rim, it was clear as we're now above the clouds. To my disappointment, we didnt stay at the lava view hotel, but its sister hotel, the lava cafe, which was lower on the other side of the crater, with no views of the smoking volcanoes. the lava cafe was actually a hostel, with lots of backpackers but we were given the superior rooms with views of the town below. the one and only restaurant was adjacent to the hostel and the food was terrible. Nothing to do after supper, only a short sleep before our 4AM drive to the viewpoint to see the sunrise over Mtn Bromo.
Malang photos:
8-10
Up and bundled up for the summit cold, we took our jeeps again for the short ride up the caldera. Multitude of people and jeep everywhere and after a short walk, we found a spot on Mtn Pandangan for the viewing. Among the hordes of tourists, we waited 2 hrs in the cold and dark for the sun to rise. The sunrise itself wasnt spectacular but once the rays hit the cluster of the volcanoes inside the Tengger massif caldera, the smoking bromo, the smoking massive and tall Semeru, the lesser Batok and Widodaren, was a view to remember. Snowie took quite a few photos posing in front of the smoking craters. Arinto offered us hot coffee and fried bananas and tempes. We took the jeeps again to drive down to the center of the caldera and then a hike on the sea of sand, dodging horses that carried people and avoiding the horse droppings, then a gentle slope climb and then the 200 some steps up to Mtn Bromo smoking crater. Tons of people and we had to wait to get up the steps, reminiscing of the wait at the base of half dome in yosemite. Once up on the Mtn Bromo rim, we had to fight people to get a view of the smoking crater. quite a site to finally see a smoking caldera, but the crowds put me off so I didnt linger. I remember reading about sunrise over Mtn Bromo and the moonlike landscape of the sea of sands online. The author didnt enjoy the sunrise but after seeing the sea of sands, he declared the early morning rise and all the trouble of getting there worthwhile. The sea of sands was nothing spectacular. Just dust everywhere. Breakfast was at the lava view hotel. finally there, so much anticipated, but the view disappointed me. although the view of the cluster of volcanoes was there and the day was fine and brilliant, i felt sorely cheated for not spending the night there. The buffet breakfast included a chocolate pudding, much like the one made by Faty's late Mom, the pudding I loved so much but could not find anywhere. that was such an unexpected delight and so delicious, I had 3 servings. After breakfast, back on the jeeps to get down to Supakura and back on the bus for a long drive to Kalibaru for our next volcano hike.
Mtn Bromo photos:
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