Visiting the Bromo Volcano

So you're probably reading this because you want to visit the Bromo Volcano or you just have a thing for Volcano's. Let me start this blogpost by saying to you that you're going to go through a lot of shit to get there. As a bonus you're going to feel like shit too because you're going to be exhausted. Still interested? Then continue reading...

Booking a trip

Brace yourself for quite the story!

We booked train tickets in Yogyakarta to go to the nearest train station from Bromo. Surabaya and we thought to take the bus to the closest city near Bromo. After we booked the train tickets we walked back to our hotel and we saw a Bromo promotion that drove a minibus from Yogyakarta all the way to Bali, while stopping in Bromo. Everything was included; transport, a hotel with breakfast, transport to Bromo and all the way to Bali as well.

This sounded quite attractive to us so we went inside and asked the parlor for the price. We couldn't believe it at first but the price was €50 per person. We decided to book it and aborted our train tickets.

The day after they would pick us up at the hotel with the minibus and while we waited we were wondering if we were scammed. The price and all the things you got for it seemed a tad bit unrealistic to us. But to our surprise, the bus was in front of our hotel right on time!

It wasn't the same bus as pictured on the sign, but we were just happy we weren't scammed. And thus our roadtrip from hell began.

Imagine sitting in the backseat of a Smart car for 10+ hours, that's the kind of feeling we had during this trip.

We only stopped for lunch, for a snack in the afternoon and dinner. That's madness.

During this trip you could really see the real Java, Indonesia... and it's boring because every street is dirty, they live in shacks and everytime you cross a big truck your life flashes before your eyes.

After a full day of driving around, our bus decided to rest in peace. We broke down in the middle of a crossroads in Java. Where literally no one had ever seen a tourist. We had to wait for over an hour for another bus to come over and pick us up. This only added to our fatigue.

After we ended up in our final destination (we thought), we were regrouped and put in a different van that drove us up the mountain. It was pitch dark and we couldn't see anything of the surroundings while the driver was racing to the top. Me and my girlfriend just decided to close our eyes, slip down in our seat and hold hands praying we would be safe.

After spending the night in a crappy hotel (about three hours of sleep), we were picked up by a 4x4 jeep that took us to the top of the mountain. We were 100% zombies during these hours and I can't even remember what we saw during this trip. The only thing I remember was taking the bumps and bruises during the drive there.

The jeep had to park a loong way from the viewpoint. We thought we were early but there were hundreds of jeeps parked in front of us already. You still have to walk for 20minutes to get to the viewpoint. Make sure you dress warm because up there it's cold as balls.

When we arrived there were hundreds of people gathered in the cold fighting for the best spot to look at Mt. Bromo. I can tell you, we didn't really feel like fighting for a great view spot after the trip of Death.

You have to be lucky it isn't clouded when glancing at Mt. Bromo, our view was partially blocked by a pack of clouds:

All in all, the view IS breathtaking. The landscape is so unique you have to pinch your cheeks once in a while to see if you're really there (or... just to make sure we didn't fall asleep).

After soaking in the view, it's time to jump back in the 4x4 and head our way down to the vulcano. You can choose: Take the hike up or rent a donkey that will bring you up the hill.

I would advise you to take the hike, to me it's just part of the adventure if you climb it yourself. Arriving at the stairs of the volcano, you can feel the immense power of the volcano. The sound and vibrations you hear and feel make it worth the trip. It's kind of unexplainable.

Expect a lot of people here and of course there's people who try to overtake you during your trip up the stairs because they have to compensate their small penises. (I don't know another reason why they would do it)

And then! You're able to look at the eye of the volcano!

Is it cool? YES

Is it worth the fatigue? YES

Would you do it again? NO

I would make sure the trip to Bromo gets extended so I can take a look at Ijen as well. That way the trip is more balanced and you can see different stuff in a shorter distance. Because after our visit to the eye of the Volcano it was back to sitting in a bus for over 12hours.

We heard from other tourists the Ijen visit is really worth it and you stop at different places to soak in the nature around the area. So my advice is to lengthen your Bromo trip and include Ijen... and don't take the €50 trip but spend a little bit more on Train Tickets / Plain Tickets ;-)

Safe travels and if you have any questions about our Bromo adventure, leave them in the comments ;-)

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