MT. BROMO Sacred Mountain Sunrise Experience (Part 1 of 2) #Travel2Indonesia

Smoking Mt. Bromo Volcano on the left

Mt. Bromo is one of the most active volcanoes in Indonesia (last eruption was January 2011) and also one of the most visited tourist attractions in East Java, Indonesia. This volcano is considered sacred and named after Brahma, the Creator God in Hindu.

Early morning is the best time to be there so as to witness the sunrise spread its dramatic light on Mt. Bromo and group of volcanoes in the Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park.  People also got to experience hiking through the sea of sand to reach the smoking Mt. Bromo crater.

Here is a photo essay of our Mt. Bromo Sacred Mountain Sunrise Experience:

Travel to Wonderful Indonesia Blog Series:

• KOMODO DRAGON’S Lair & the Secret Pink Beach!
• MT. BROMO Sunrise Experience: Catching the Sunrise (Part 1 of 2)
• MT. BROMO Sunrise Experience: Hiking to the Volcanic Crater (Part 2 of 2)
• YOGYAKARTA: Home of the Yummiest Indonesian Food 🙂
• BOROBUDUR Sunrise Experience (The Biggest Buddhist Temple in the World)
• BOROBUDUR NOTES: Planning your Awesome Borobudur Experience
• ORANGUTANS @ TANJUNG PUTING: Largest Population of Wild Orangutans (Day 1)
• ORANGUTANS: Dr. Birute’s Work @ Camp Leaky, Borneo (Day 2)

If you are coming from Jakarta, there are Garuda flights to Malang 14 times a week. If you are coming from Yogyakarta, you can fly to Surabaya which is in the North Coast of East Java.

 

Enroute from Surabaya to Probollingo Village

After our Yogyakarta trip, we flew from Adisutjipto Airport in Yogyakarta to Bandara International Juanda Airport in Surabaya.  

Mt. Bromo is a four -hour drive, more or less,  by bus from Surabaya. Surabaya comes from two words: Sura means Shark and Baya means crocodile. 

We arrived at the Sukapura Terminal which is the farthest that the bus can go and you have to transfer to a  4×4 to drive up to the village of Probollingo.

The 4×4 ride costs about Rp 250,000 two-way and can accommodate 6 people.

It’s a long and scenic drive to the Probollingo village where we stayed  overnight.

The 4×4 can fit 4 at the back and 2 up front.

The 4×4 ride is about 30 minutes of zigzag roads with changing terrain and temperatures.

 

Java Banana Bromo Lodge, Café and Gallery.

We arrived at the best boutique hotel in the Mt. Bromo area called Java Banana Bromo Lodge.

Java Banana is a tropical lodge made of the best wood interiors with an art & photo gallery that showcases the awesome Mt. Bromo photos of fotog and hotel owner, Sigit Pramono.

Java Banana also has a natural amphitheater which is the location of one of the best outdoor Jazz Music Festivals in Indonesia usually held in July.

I stayed in a beautiful deluxe lodge  cabin (Rp 1,490,000/night) with a nice veranda view of the woods.

The restroom is clean and decent with hot showers for the cold weather.

You have to have a hearty Indonesian meal for dinner to give you energy for the early morning hike. The Indonesian food was really good 🙂

Java Banana is beautifully lighted at night which is conducive for late night drinking conversations but we had to sleep early at around 9pm to wake up early for the Mt. Bromo Sunrise.

JAVA BANANA BROMO LODGE, CAFE & GALLERY
Jl. Raya Bromo , Wonotoro, Sukapura, Probolinggo, East Java, Indonesia
Telephone: +62  335  541-193 or +62 852 3033-5003 or +62 21 751-0338 
Mobile: +62 819 3211-5688 
Email: booking@java-banana.com or info@java-banana.com
Website: www.java-banana.com

 

Hike to Mount Pananjakan Sunrise Viewpoint of Mt. Bromo

4:19 am | Wake up time and all pumped up for the sunrise experience.

4:40 am | Mt. Bromo is one of the coldest places in Indonesia. The Asians  were in complete multi-layered winter clothes with head gear and gloves while the westerners  were wearing just warm jackets and scarfs.

4:57 am | It takes about 20 minutes for the  4×4 drive to reach  Mount Pananjakan

5:10 am | You have to hike for another 20 minutes to reach the Sunrise Viewpoint. Make sure to bring a flashlight and proper hiking shoes and gear.

5:14 am | You have the option to ride a horse to the Viewpoint.  

5:15 am | The trail was a bit dusty and you have to cover your mouth through out the hike.

5:25 am | The stairs are very steep but make for  a good morning workout.

5:26 am | Make sure to have water to properly hydrate when you climb. There are stalls that sell noodles, chips, coffee and water. 

5:29 am | We arrived at the Viewpoint just in time for the sunrise show. 

5:42 am | If you are early you can secure the front row seats to watch the sunrise.

5:42 am | Some would further climb up the mountain on top of the platform or on a higher elevation.

5:49 am | It was quite crowded and all the cameras were ready. Don’t forget to savor the experience and not get lost while watching the sunrise from behind the camera.

6:02 am | Here’s a panorama view from the Sunrise Viewpoint. Take note of how far the parked 4×4 cars are below.

6:05 am | A better viewpoint is the view of Mt. Bromo and the sea of sand.

6:08 am | It was overwhelming  to see the golden sunrise as it peeps through the mountains and the clouds.

6:09 am | All the early morning “sacrifices” and inconvenience are gone once you have seen the sunrise.

6:13 am | It was beautiful to behold as it lights up the mountains and the valley below.

6:15 am | A group of  tourists shooting every moment of the sunrise.

6:31 am | Mt. Bromo is the smoking low volcano on the left. The mountain in foreground  is the dormant Mt. Batok. The highest mountain at the back with a  3,676  meter  elevation is Mt. Semeru.  Mt. Widodaren is located at the back of Mt. Batok, beside Mt. Bromo.

6:35 am | The sunrise of Mt. Bromo is awesome! It seems that no photograph can do justice to the experience of seeing the highlighted landscape and being one with nature for that exclusive moment.

6:45 am | You can’t help but jump for joy!

6:48 am | The Mt. Bromo Sunrise is one of the most beautiful and dramatic sights I have ever experienced.

6:55 am | It took us an hour and 30 minutes to get to theMount Pananjakan Sunrise Viewpoint and about the same time to fully experience the sunrise. It was  time to go down and hike to the Mt. Bromo crater.

6:58 am | The route going down is very scenic with a different view point of Mt. Bromo.

6:59 am | You can’t get enough of the view and can’t wait to go to the crater itself.

7:03 am | It takes about 20 minutes to hike down to the parking lot area to ride the 4×4.

7:10 am | There’s only one restroom in the area, the reason for the long queue.

7:23 am | You take the 4×4 and drive for another 10 minutes to reach the Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park.

To be continued: MT. BROMO Sunrise Experience: Hiking to the Volcanic Crater (Part 2 of 2)

Related Articles:

• Mount Bromo : Witnessing The Fascinating Sunrise
• Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park

Travel to Wonderful Indonesia Blog Series:

• KOMODO DRAGON’S Lair & the Secret Pink Beach!
• MT. BROMO Sunrise Experience: Catching the Sunrise (Part 1 of 2)
• MT. BROMO Sunrise Experience: Hiking to the Volcanic Crater (Part 2 of 2)
• YOGYAKARTA: Home of the Yummiest Indonesian Food 🙂
• BOROBUDUR Sunrise Experience (The Biggest Buddhist Temple in the World)
• BOROBUDUR NOTES: Planning your Awesome Borobudur Experience
• ORANGUTANS @ TANJUNG PUTING: Largest Population of Wild Orangutans (Day 1)
• ORANGUTANS: Dr. Birute’s Work @ Camp Leaky, Borneo (Day 2)

 For more info about #Travel2Indonesia, check out the Official Indonesia.Travel Website!

Live an Awesome Life,

 
Founder, www.OurAwesomePlanet.com
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If you have tips on awesome food and travel destinations, please email me at anton@diaz.ph.

Full Disclosure: I wrote this blog post myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I have no business relationship with any company mentioned in this post or any organization promoting it. As a policy, I don’t accept advertising from food and travel places we feature in the blog. Our trip was courtesy of the Ministry of Tourism of Indonesia to promote travel to Indonesia. 

P.S. Here’s a souvenir photo of the International Travel Bloggers group at Mt. Bromo 🙂 

(From Left to Right). David Lee @rtwdave GoBackpacking.com, Stephen Bugno @BohemianTrav,Juno Kim @RunawayJuno, Cailin O’Neil – @TravelYourself,  Amalla Vesta @SwankyTraveler, Travel Junkie Indonesia and @MichaelTurtle of Time Travel Turtle.

Thanks to the Ministry of Tourism for the #Travel2Indonesia trip! Check out the Official Indonesia.Travel Website for more information about traveling to Indonesia 🙂