We tried to sleep yesterday at 8pm but it was impossible. People kept coming in and out the room, turning the lights on, packing and unpacking their bags. There was no consideration for those with a tour at midnight.

We got up and got ready at 11:50pm and got picked up by the Jeep at 12:30am. We were a group of 5; an older Polish lady and 2 Dutch people.

It took around 2 hour to drive up to the sunrise viewpoint. Most of it was off-road with bumpy roads broken up with smooth sections covered with ash.

Mount Bromo is a special volcano called a Somma volcano. It had a collapsed in cone with a new one forming on the inside. It’s also infamous for its ash eruptions rather than lava output. It’s last major eruption was in 2016 with a usual pattern involving major eruptions ever 5-8 years. It has now been 11 years since a major eruptions. Bromo’s eruptions do not produce lava flow, instead it flings sulfur gas and ash miles into the air at 400°C, anyone in a 5km radius must evacuate from the hot rain.

We made it to the viewpoint, had a coffee and waited. Nothing. It was very cloudy and we saw nothing. The day before was perfectly clear. Oh well, an excuse to come back.

We defended a few hundred meters at 7am and were relieved to see that below the cloud layer was sun and clear sky. We cold now see Bromo and the crater in the morning sun!

Next stop was the crater itself. We parked on a huge flat ash plane and began walking up. At 2,700meters the air is thin and even flat land walking is tiring; not to mention us waking up at 11:50pm with a broken 2 hours sleep. There was an option to ride a horse to the base of the crater but Robin was nervous so we walked. The horses are regulated and cared for at Bromo so that was not the concern.

Once at the base, we had to climb steep hills and finally a steep staircase. Robin chose to stay at the bottom as I ascended. At the top, the roar of the escaping gases filled the air. It was very loud. I could smell sulfur but it was not overwhelming. Looking into the crater I could start to see some yellow solid sulfur.

After around 30 minutes marveling at nature I head back down to Robin and we walked back across the ash flat to the Jeep. We slept the way back.

Back at the hostel we had a nap, some food, and off to bed.

-M