Travel Editor Lydia Don describes her adventures in East Java, describing it as a unique and unmissable experience despite the tour’s disorganisation
What do you first think of when I say ‘holiday’? Relaxation, maybe. Being the tourist, perhaps. I suspect fewer people would think of the word endurance and maybe even the word adventure. Well, I hope to open your eyes to how a holiday doesn’t need to be relaxing to be worthwhile. Don’t get me wrong, we are all in need of some recuperation every once in a while, but as someone who has turned into a bit of a daredevil, shall we say, I was seeking something more adventurous as my next trip out of Singapore.
My search ultimately led me to East Java, Indonesia. About a month before flying to the wholly underwhelming city of Surabaya, I had heard of some people’s experiences climbing Mount Bromo and the Ijen Crater. Instantly I knew I had to go. And so, on the 30th of October, my friend and I hopped on a flight to Indonesia.
Day 1
The first day was just a filler as we waited for the tour to start the next morning. We hadn’t researched Surabaya, aside from searching for a hotel in the centre, so we weren’t sure what to expect. Safe to say we were underwhelmed, and did feel ever so slightly uncomfortable, feeling as if we were the only foreigners in the city. The number of stares and honks of car horns solidified our views that Surabaya probably isn’t Indonesia’s main draw for tourists.
Day 2
We were picked up from our hotel at around 6:30am. Knowing I had chosen a tour which was with a ‘large group’, I was expecting a small minibus at minimum. What turned up was a small people carrier. After also discovering that our driver could not speak English, despite choosing this option in the booking, I was filled with trepidation regarding whether this trip was going to be just as disappointing as Surabaya was, or at worst, a bit of a scam. After picking up 3 other people, making the group just 5 people, we started the long drive to our first checkpoint, the Tumpak Sewu Waterfall. The journey was quiet until we all started chatting and realised we all lived in Singapore and were all returning back to the island on the same day! This was a strange coincidence, as well as the fact that none of us were from Singapore. As a group of 3 Brits and 2 Taiwanese ladies, we all shared our thoughts on life in Singapore and the travel opportunities it affords. It was such a lovely conversation and did really put me at ease that, if the tour wasn’t as exciting as we expected, we would all be together as a group of likeminded and friendly individuals.
After a 4-hour long drive, we arrived at the start of our trek to the waterfall. We met our guide who, despite having to communicate via Google Translate, was incredibly friendly and enthusiastic about taking photos of everybody. We first took group photos from the lookout point opposite the top of the waterfall. The view of the water cascading in a landscape framed by lush greenery was beautiful and reminded us how rural we were now – a far cry from Surabaya and certainly from our home in Singapore! We started walking down the cliff face to the bottom of the waterfall. The walk was perilous, ducking under branches and walking through streams of water rushing downwards. It felt a bit like the Indonesian version of ‘We’re Going on a Bear Hunt’, only it was a much steeper and more dangerous walk. However, it was undeniably worth it when we got to the bottom. Being surrounded by such a mesmerising natural wonder made the experience so much more unreal. We really felt that sense of escapism we were craving after a long and exhausting semester at university confined to the constricts of campus study areas and classrooms. Our guide was eager to have a photoshoot with me, making me climb rocks and switch into different poses to give me the best memories possible. To be honest, just being there was fulfilling enough in itself, but it was great to have Instagramable photos to show my family and friends on, well, Instagram!
Being surrounded by such a mesmerising natural wonder made the experience so much more unreal
After this begun the long climb up the same stairs we walked down. At this point I was still battling a cold, so I was much slower than the rest of my group and found the climb impossible at times. However, we reached the top, said goodbye to our guide, and hopped into the car yet again bound for our hostel.
Day 3
Somehow, after a measly 2 hours of sleep, we woke up at 12:30am and were ready to finally see Mount Bromo. Funnily enough, as we waited in the foyer of our hostel for our driver to arrive, I met a couple of girls who also went to our university in Singapore, and who I had met a couple of months before! It was a pleasant surprise, and very comforting to see some familiar faces. These girls, along with about a dozen other people, ended up joining our tour group which would stay together until the very end of the trip.
After another hour-long drive, we hopped out of our car and into Jeeps that would drive us up the side of a mountain adjacent to Mount Bromo. We finally got going after a lot of confusion, and a slight argument, about how many people could fit into the Jeep – our driver seemed to think we could all sit on each other’s laps, which we successfully refuted on safety grounds. Eventually, after being stuck in a huge traffic jam of other tourists, we hopped out of the car and started climbing the road to get the best views of Bromo. The temperature at this altitude was incredibly low and, after living in Singapore for nearly 3 months at this point, seemed unbearably cold. I had four layers on and was still shivering, but after walking at such a steep incline, I thankfully started to warm up. Seeing the sun rise over Bromo was incredible, the skyline an abstract painting with strokes of oranges, yellows, and pinks above a blanket of cloud concealing the ground so far below from where we were standing. We felt on top of the world, emotionally and literally.
The temperature at this altitude was incredibly low and, after living in Singapore for nearly 3 months at this point, seemed unbearably cold
We proceeded to jump back into our Jeeps, race along the sandplains to Bromo. After struggling up rough terrain and another never-ending set of stairs, we eventually reached the summit, looking directly into the mouth of the active volcano. It was surreal to think we were this close to a volcano, spewing clumps of cloud from its mouth, that could erupt at any time. This danger became very much real when we heard someone announce that Ijen, the volcano we were due to climb the next morning, was currently closed because of volcanic activity. We tried not to think too much about out impending doom and enjoy our current surroundings.
It was surreal to think we were this close to a volcano, spewing clumps of cloud from its mouth, that could erupt at any time
We climbed back down, into the car, and drove through the jungle to our hostel in Tamansari, located nearby to the Ijen Crater. That evening, we were taken to a relatively fancy restaurant in what seemed like a rural and rather deprived area. It seemed very out of place, and our scepticism was added to when our passports were taken from us as our guides acquired our medical certificates confirming our eligibility to climb Ijen. You need to obtain a certificate claiming you are fit enough to complete the strenuous climb– tests should be carried out at a nearby hospital to prove this, but this did not happen. All we needed to do was pay to get our passports returned to us which effectively certified that we were fit enough – I know, it seemed very suspicious to me too.
Day 4
We were ready by 12:00am. I didn’t think these early mornings could get any earlier. But much to my relief, Ijen had re-opened and we were ‘safe’ to climb. I was so excited – this is the part of the tour I had been most looking forward to. We drove about 30 minutes to the starting point of the hike. Yet again, it was bitterly cold. We sat around a worryingly unstable fire which seemed to spread further by the minute. But the warmth was much appreciated. After being given our head torches and gas masks, we started the hike up to Ijen. The incline was certainly the steepest we had experienced so far on the trip – though tiring, I loved the thighs of steel it gave me by the end! As we got closer to the crater, the smell of gas got stronger and stronger, making us grateful for our gas masks. But eventually, after a challenging 2-hour hike, we reached the top of Ijen – and what a reward it was. The sun was just rising at this point, leaving the sky rinsed with a blend of purples, blues and yellows. The crater itself was beautiful after the smoke cleared. Though we didn’t see the famous blue flames due to the volcanic activity the day before, the piercingly blue lake stood out amongst the grey mountains that surrounded it. This marked the end of the tour – we walked back down Ijen and returned to the car, embarking on the 7-hour drive back to Surabaya. We were exhausted, so the drive was highly valued by everybody (despite being someone who usually gets crippling travel sickness).
The sun was just rising at this point, leaving the sky rinsed with a blend of purples, blues and yellows
So, is the tour worth it?
I absolutely loved the trip – it was so different to anything I had done before, and I felt so accomplished afterwards. I will note, however, that you should be prepared for disorganisation and lack of preparation. Overall, however, it is absolutely worth doing – the views are unlike anything I have ever seen before and imagine being able to say you have climbed two active volcanoes in the space of two days, let alone in your entire life!
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