Mt Bromo, Java

Had a couple of days away from Bali... Went to check out some live volcanoes, very cool indeed. Last eruption was in 2004 and 2 people died, but it's not looking dangerous at the moment so we went for it. Travelled by bus and boat to Java and  Mt Bromo, took all day.. Left our hotel at 5am, and got to the other end at 7pm their time. God damn! It was pretty scenery along the way and quite comfy bus and boat, so we didn't mind too much. Col slept a lot as he's still poorly. Recovering bit by bit! We thought the fresh mountain air might help, but with all the sulphur I think it might have reversed his recovery... Oh and the strainous trekking up the volcano might not have helped either.

 

Stayed in a lovely little place called Cafe Lava (very appropriate of course), booked a jeep for 4am to take us to a fab lookout point for sunrise. Our guide was a little keen and woke us up at 2.30! We had just about gone to bed!!! Oh well, off we went! The ride was really cool in itself, well worth the money. Got our own jeep and guide for the morning for less than 15 quid. Unreal! It was a really cold morning, we wrapped sarongs and towels round us. All the jumpers (2) we had with us have been binned or sent home, so we just had to take the cold!

The sunrise was amazing! The whole landscape was so stunning! I think the summit is at 2000m or so, so the clouds were below the volcano too, very pretty! After a much needed cup of tea (Javan tea is the best in the world I think! No more South African!) we headed off to the base of Mt Bromo and climbed to the top. Lots of people were there, lots of them rode on little horses, but not us! we thougth the climb would do us good, and just can't be that lazy all the time now! (even though the horses could be hired for 50p! 50p!!!!! God!) The whole area was very smelly and dusty. It was hard to breathe. At the top we were met by a woman throwing up, most people were coughing and not really enjoying the whole experience to the full. We had a quick look around and headed back down before falling in or anything! That just wouldn't have been much fun and isn't on my to do list!

 

Took about a million pictures and they're all stunning. Can't wait to blow some up! Gonna look great on the wall in the Res eh?!

 

Oh, on the way back down the mountain to the town where we were to catch our bus back to Bali w had a little bit of a drama... Well, we lost the left back wheel along the way!!!! Just sliding along the road for a while but the driver did good. A load of locals came running with the wheel and they had the best entertainment they've had in days, maybe even weeks. We're here to please : )

 

Tomorrow we're off to Lombok and then Komodo Island for Midsummer (we hope). I wonder if they have herring, new potatoes and strawberries there... Oh and lots of vodka of course..! Will look into it!

 

And all the father's out there - HAPY FATHER'S DAY!