Postcards from BROMO, Surabaya

Amik guna Sony Z3 ye. No filter, no edit. Just as is. Lawa kan. Btw, that's Gunung Batok. Sebelah je dgn Gunung Bromo. Gunung Batok is an inactive volcano.

Cart selling food. Indonesian street food.

Ok, I don't intend to write much. 

As in previous post, I will let the photos do the talking. But of course, there'll be few descriptions, tips, secrets and trades here and there. 

Jadi, selain tengok gambau, haruslah membaca jugak. I promise, it's not gonna be lengthy ya. 

The 5 of us; fazli, me, mail, azrol, and yai

Basically, there were 5 of us in this backpack adventure. All my good friends way back from high school and MMU. Three of 'em reached Surabaya a day earlier while Fazli and I came the day of the trip.

TIPS: 

"TO SAVE COST, BOOK EVENING FLIGHT (PREFERABLY 2PM - 5PM FLIGHT). THIS IS BECAUSE THE TRAVEL TO BROMO WOULD BE IN THE EVENING AT ABOUT 10PM. SO, YOU'LL SAVE MONEY ON 1 DAY STAY AT THE HOTEL. INSTEAD OF CHECKING IN, THE DRIVER WOULD PICK YOU AT THE AIRPORT AND DRIVE STRAIGHT TO BROMO. YOU CAN KEEP YOUR LUGGAGE IN THE VEHICLE. IT'S SAFE (well, at least with my driver). YOU WILL ONLY CHECK IN AT THE HOSTEL / HOTEL ETC ONCE COMING DOWN FROM BROMO. JIMAT DUIT!"

So, my journey starts here. We flew via Airasia. The tix cost us RM410 for return trip. Ok la, considering last minute purchased. We reached the newly refurbished Juanda International Airport at about 6-ish pm. The last time I was at Juanda, the airport was old and you get the 80s vibe with it. I was told the old airport is still in used and it's just next door. 

Sampai2, supir dah standby. Perkara pertama: MAKAN. We requested for makanan asli Surabaya and the supir took us to PADIN - Fame for its nasi bebek (it's duck rice or itik in BM). 

they grilled it near the customer. dok jauh2 kalo xnak kene asap.

Ni la nasi bebek. With sambal - boleh pilih type of pedas - kurang, pedas, sgt pedas, sampai la ke level setan

the pre-cooked bebek and chicken. they grilled or deep fried according to your request

same goes with the vege here.

The dinner is delicious and it cost us about RM8 ringgit inclusive drink (teh botol la apa lagi. but there are juices too). 

TIPS: 

"If you have weak stomach, be extra careful consuming iced drinks. Wise, request chilled drinks with no ice cubes. There's nothing worst than enduring painful stomach ache when traveling!"

1. The evening ride took about 3 hours from Surabaya. We left at about 9.45pm after fetching 3 three that arrived a day earlier at the hotel.

2. First stop was Sukapura, it was about 12.50am Thick fog welcomed us. I slept the whole journey, needed the energy for the activities later.

3. After light snack and coffee, the journey continued and we braved through Desa Jetak in the wee hours in pursue of majestic view of the sun shedding it's first light.

4. To get the best view of the sunrise over Bromo, we have to go through another peak; Penanjakan. Oh yeah, at Desa Jetak we changed vehicle to Jeep for the steep ascending to Bromo. The supir from Bromo waited for us at Desa Jetak with his Innova. 

5. The steep and treacherous road could easily make one puke. It was a helluva roller coaster ride.

 

6. You gotta give your hats off to the driver of Bromo for their ability maneuvering through this small and bumpy road. The ascending to Penanjakan is super crazy with 60 degree climb and if that's not challenging enough, the turn and swivel is 360 degree. GILA!

7. We finally get the reason why the supir insisted on arriving early at Penanjakan; THE SEAS OF HUMAN. If you arrive early, the Jeep could park near to the Penanjakan steps. If not, you will have to walk with ascending of about 35-45 degree. Masak oi. We managed to park very near, so no need to walk that far.

the walk.

jagung bakar!

the map of bromo and its surrounding at one of the cafe near Penanjakan

It's quite expensive here. But hey, dah dekat puncak, what do you expect kan.

And if you are too lazy to walk, there's Ojek (motorcyclist to take you up) with cost of about IDR35-50k one trip.

Tah apa yg si Fazli buat tu. Btw, tu la Ojek --- brader2 yg atas motor tu yg offer servis

TIPS:

"YOU GOTTA BUY THE BROMO TSHIRTS AND SOUVENIRS AT PENANJAKAN AS IT'S NOT AVAILABLE IN SURABAYA. WELL, I TRIED TO FIND IT AND TO NO AVAIL. BE SURE TO BARGAIN COS THE PRICES ARE EXPENSIVE HERE. TAK BELI NANTI MENYESAL."

8. When we reached the top of Penanjakan, there were plenty of people already. Yup, in Indonesia if they say not many people; trust me it's a lot in Malaysia term. 

Ni just a few ye. Ada lagi right and left and bawah belah sana. Bertabah lah.

Gua main redah and panjat the brick fences to get clear view.

9. The weather here at 2-3-4 am is very cold. Wear thick layer of clothes if you are not cold-friendly people. It's about 1-2 degree Celsius. 

10. Mail didn't wear enough layer I guessed that he resorted to rent the jacket from the curbside rental.The rental cost him IDR50k as opposed to IDR10k when we were at the parking area.

TIPS:

"IF YOU WANT TO RENT JACKET, RENT IT AT THE PARKING AREA, ON THE WAY UP. DO NOT RENT IT WHEN YOU ARE AT THE STEP OF PENANJAKAN. IT'LL BE TWICE OR THRICE EXPENSIVE FROM THE ONE OFFERED AT THE PARKING AREA"

11. We were unlucky that day because the sun is shy and the fog is very thick. Sedih.

Yup, that's just about it. It came out for a while and disappeared.

12. Nevertheless, all is not lost. We were compensated with majestic view of Bromo and Batok over Penanjakan when the sun shone and create this luminescent effect. (mcm photos kat bawah) Vain alert! heh.

Suka Mail. Nampak Bromo kt blkg. Time aku, ilang abis Bromo tu. Haih!

Yup, bkn aku je jakun. Everyone is!

Fazli acah2 natgeo photog. Bangga nau dengan Samsung tu!

The five of us

Dengan Fazli. Yang duduk kanan sekali tu tak kurang jelita. Eh.

13.  We spent about 2-3 hours at Penanjakan for sunrise and getting all hype about seeing Bromo-Batok-Tengger for the very first time. Bawah ni pulak, view coming down from Penanjakan... Aihhh every corner is so beautiful.

14. Next, the driver drove us down and we headed to Gunung Batok-Bromo. It's 20-25 minutes drive from Penanjakan that we finally saw how dangerous the road was. Masa naik gelap tak nampak kanan kiri. Gila lah.

15. The driver parked right in front of Batok and it's 1.5km walk through the dune from here. We were a bit lucky as it rained the night before and its a bit damped thus making our walk easier as no sands affecting our vision.

Jeep2 yang sedia berkhidmat

yang belakang tu la Penanjakan

16. If you do not want to walk, there are horses for rent. 

TIPS:

"TO RIDE HORSE, YOU GOTTA DEAL VERY CAREFULLY. THE RATES ARE DIFFERENT FROM ONE OPERATOR TO ANOTHER, DEPEND ON THE DISTANCE AT THE POINT YOU RENT. IT RANGE FROM IDR50K TO IDR250K. AND, DO NOT PAY IN ADVANCE. PAY ONLY WHEN YOU ARE RETURNED BECAUSE THE RENT IS FOR RETURN TRIP, NOT ONE WAY. OTHERWISE, YOU WILL END UP WALKING DOWN. SO, HATI-HATI."

 17. Nevertheless, semalas mana pun korang, the horse will only take you as far as the step of Bromo. Kat situ, TETAP kena daki ye. It's about 55 degree climb. With thin air (you are on top of mountain yea), climbing up can be challenging. Kena fit la sikit. 

18. There are about 240 steps before you reach the top of Bromo. The mystic behind it, no one can get the exact number flight of stairs correct. It vary from one person to another. So said the driver. hmm.

Memang menyirap kalo tgk.

19. At this point, I was actually cut off from others. Mail Fazli and Yai was up front walking while Azrol and I was talking behind. We didn't realize they went for toilet break. Azrol decided to ride the horse while I wanted to walk. So, I was like all alone from the steps to the top. I reached the top quite fast only to realize nobody's there. After 20 minutes or so then I saw Azrol. Then only Fazli, Mail and Yai appeared one by one from below the steps of Bromo. Aihhh. 

The very much active Bromo.

20. This is the view on top of Bromo. Still very much active and way bigger than Tangkuban Perahu in Bandung. 

21. The top of Bromo is kinda elongated and form a shape of a ring around it with not much space to walk and very steep. Imagine with plenty of people on top of it. Pheww, a bit nerve wrecking. Not a fancy thing for those whose afraid of heights. 

Well hello there!

View from the top of Bromo. The building is a Temple dedicated for the spirit of Bromo. There is an annual prayer for Bromo which falls on the 1st of Muharam (coincide with Ancient Indonesia Hindu calender). The procession is leaborated and mystical. You may want to come during this celebration.

22. Kitorang turun bawah and headed to one of the makeshift stall for coffee and breakfast. if you are Muslim, be cautious here as most villagers here are Hindus. We ordered for cup noodle, just to be on the safe side. 

Kenyang perut hati senang. 

23. Once done, the drive took us to Teletubbies or Savannah. Very much different from the dune of Batok and Bromo. Savannah offers lush greenery and beautiful scenery. We spent about 30 minutes or so for some photographs, by some, I mean a lot. hahahaha. The sun was so bright and kinda hot but the cold wind brushed it off and made it pleasant. Ni pix kat bawah tuuuuu:

our ride!

one for the album!

hahahaha mcm2 perangai si fazli nih.

24. Last stop was PASIR BERBISIK. There's a movie named after this place which starred Dian Sastro (melting), Christine Hakim and Slamet Raharjo. Link kat bawah ni:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PE6aOsWNImc

25. Pasir Berbisik or Whispering Sands got its names from the breeze of wind gushing to the black sands and forms the whisper-like hiss. As if someone is whispering to you.

26. To really experience it, and to really enjoy this area, you gotta go with small crowd with less jeeps and vehicles so that you will get to hear the whispering sands. Otherwise, you'll be staring blankly and start to wonder the fuss is all about here. hmmm. 

27. It is here that I was able to capture the formation of cloud just few hundreds meter away. It was breath taking since you are actually on top of mountain of a mountain. Cool. Pix as below:

ONE LAST HURRAH

28. We came down to freshen up at Desa Jetak where Pak Zainul (the supir) waited for us diligently. It was about 11 am that we made our journey back to Surabaya. 

29. We initially planned for hiking and waterfall at Mardakaripura but was strongly advised against it by Pak Zainul and the jeep driver because of the terrestrial raiN. They afraid we might be trapped when the heavy rain from the mountain flood the area. So, we cancelled it. 

30. Remember, when you go for Bromo trip, please go to Mardakaripura waterfall! 

31. We slept the whole journey and since we have times to spare due to the cancellation of Mardakaripura waterfall, Pak Zainul took us around for food and sightseeing in Surabaya.

Well, that's gonna be another entry to tell. Yea, together with the budget for this trip as well. I spent RM500++ for good 4 days 3 nights which covered lodging, food, taxis, Bromo packages and some shopping.

Ciao.