Volcanic Visit

Music: The Letter by Xavier Rudd

Last week i went to Surabaya with a new friend. When we first met and through our email conversations when planning the trip, we connected easily so i wasnt at all worried about going with someone ive never actually hung out with before. The main activity was to hike around the Mt. Bromo area. We just planned our itinerary but dis not make tour/guide and hotel bookings. The plan was to hentam je bila sampai sana.

Reached Surabaya airport at 8.30am, took a cab to the city and asked the cab driver to find us a bus to Probolinggo, the city nearest to Mt. Bromo. It cost us only rm3++ but oh my what an experience. Basically it was a service bus that locals use, very rundown, people selling stuff and singing songs for money and all that. The journey took 3hrs. At Probo we were stopped at a tour agents office and then we made our bookings, hired drivers and negotiated the price so low. The agent liked my smile, maybe that helped. I introduced myself as Ana that day, and he wrote on the payment receipt under the 'name' column, My Love Ana. I was sort of harrassed a little by the guy, his name was Koko. To him it was all fun and games but i was super uncomfortable underneath my smiles that he so like.

It was another 90min ride on a van that was so slow the fastest speed was like 40kmh and the engine was so loud like a generator we had to shout to eqch other. It didnt help that we were goig up the hill from to the small village called Cemoro Lawang at 2200m++ above sea level. But the wonderful sceneries and cool weather as we ascended made up for it.

At Cemoro Lawang we found a place to stay, super basic room, toilet kat luar, not very clean but got hot water. It was super cheap at rm30, i couldnt really ask for more. It was about 3.30pm, the place is quiet and peaceful and dead. We walked around the village, through the kebun2 kobis and bawang and potato. It was so serene with a magnificent view of Gunung Penanjakan that we were going to hile early next morning. Ate nasi goreng ayam at a very motherly makcik's stall, the small eating area also doubled as a kitchen and her room where she sleeps! Separated by a doorless doorway. But the nasi goreng was soooo sedap. We hung out to watch the breathtaking sunset overlooking Pasir Berbisik, Mt. Bromo and Mt. Semeru. It got very chilly by then, an we were accompanied by some villagers who were trying to sell us stuff like gloves, shawls etc. we didnt buy any as we came prepared but chitchatted with the locals all the same.

Retired around 9pm, it was very cold by then i slept with a lot of layers. Of course there's no heater for a cheap room like that. Woke up at 4am and our jeep was already waiting for us and 4 French ppl. The jeep took us to the foo of Gunung Penanjakan and we hiked for about 20 minutes until we reach the top to watch the sunrise.all the way the locals were trying to get us to use their horses instead of hiking, nanti capekkk nanti capekkk ada 200 tangga di hujung. Naik kuda murah saja. Lol. Sibuk je. When i was hiking in Hong Kong i went up 900 steps of stairs ok!

At the peak there was already many ppl. Where did these ppl come from?? Earlier the village was pretty much dead. Right now its off season, cant imagine the crowd during high season. The sunrise was beautiful and the whole area was visible from a higher point of view from the village below. Nice. Mt. Semeru is an active volcano and it emitted some plumes up into the air, and as it spread into the atmosphere, imagine the plume shaped like the smoke during the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Amazing. My friend was a little scared, maybe coz she can imagine the magma that was actually right beneath us and appreciate the danger. But i was fascinated and did not fear danget at all. The last eruption occurred in sept 2010, which is not that too long time ago.

Then the jeep brought us to the foot of Mt. Bromo, which is an active but dormant volvano crater. As my friernd is a geologist, she explained to me alot of things, it really helped in understanding the formation of the landscape, and to appreciate the awesomeness of where i was standing at and what i was witnessing.

Again the locals with horses were asking us to ride them, one followed us all the way to the foot of Mt. Bromo. And then it was another 15m of hiking on dusty terrain, and culminated in another 200 steps of stairs. I was going up quite fast one of the mat sallehs who was taking break in the middle said, oh she's good!! Are you talking to me? I said and laughed. Little did he know i was severely breathless and panting like crazy.

At the rim of the crater i could see inside the volcano, so to speak. There was a brownish green colored mud. Around the rim was so narrow that a single missed stepped will result in h tumbling either into the crater, or out the sides. Both would not be funny. Boleh mati. Quite dangerous too sbb there was so many ppl considering how small the space was and the absence of any safety railings. View was magnificent, of course.

By the time we headed back for breakfast it was 8.30am and we ate at the most expensive hotel in the village, but it was still damn cheap for the breakfast buffet, like rm10. Lol.

At 10am we went on the privately rented jeep, the one that we got cheap rates, haha. We stopped at Pasir Berbisik, which looked like a desert but with massive clouds. Then on to an area called the Savannah. It was green with low lying vegetations and pine trees. The volcanoe there is not active hence the existence of greenery. Beautiful i cant really describe with words.

Then we went up the neighboring mountain range, on really bad road but it was fun nonetheless! Went to see another village at the edge of Lake Ranupani, mostly inhabited by muslims. The surau/masjid was playing a recording of quran recitation before masuk waktu Zuhur, just like in Malaysia.

On the way back we stopped at a small stall on top of the mountain range, had tempe goreng, mi sedap and hot tea. Such a simple life! By the time it had started drizzling a little and we were literally having tea in the clouds. Wonderful. Ah the simple life!!

Went back to our place around 1pm. And arranged for transport to go back to Probolinggo and onwards to Surabaya. The public vans were slow and only operates when there is full capacity. So we did the crazy. We hired 2 local guys to bring us down on the motor spedo! I've only been on motors boleh kira sebelah tangan ol. And there i was planning to ride a motor down hill, with my 7kg backpack on my back, on winding roads like to the ones in Cameron Highlands. I told the guy numerous times to ride slowwww but noooooo he went so fast, downhill, at 70kmh!! I dunno what others think but to me it was damn fast! The first 10 minties i was scared, but then i thought, its not like i can do anything about it. So i did away with my fears and enjoyed the ride instead. It took 45mins from Cemoro Lawang to Probolinggo, imagine how fast he went! By the time we reached the bus station, my shoulders were sore from carrying my un-ergonomic ciplak backpack (got it for rm70 in Beijing's Russian market).

We paid for an executive bus with air cond this time to take us to Surabaya. Cost rm10 only.

As Surabaya city, there is really nothing much to say or do there. One day would be sufficient, but we had 2 days to kill. So we took our time and went where our feet took us. Go with the flow. The hostel that we stayed was awesome and so cheap, of course! Finally some luxury after the horror of a hostel we stayed in Cemoro Lawang.

In those 2 days, we went to checkout the Arab Market, ada masjid and makam too kat situ. Went to the Sampoerna museum, quite interesting, and free too! Went to a one stop shop for souveniors, not did i buy anything but a solitary magnet for myself. Went to the morning market which eas next to their Tugu Pahlawan, their equivalent of our Dataran Merdeka but way smaller. The market was packed!!!

Lepak around the mall and finally flew back home in the evening.

In summary, it was a fun laid back trip with surprisingly good company, considering we only met up to go on this trip. Our mutual friend abandoneed us at the last minute, thats why la.

I made friends with a Malaysian Indian, he owns his own electrical services company and was there with a couple of friends to play golf. Before we left the plane he said i was very friendly and wanted to keep in touch. He did not insist on getting my number though, he just gave me his business card. Really nice guy. No i havent texted or emailed him. He's just another traveler i met on one of my trips. Unless i want to keep in contact la. Not this time haha.

Whoa i didnt realize i've written quite a long entry, doing this on my phone actually. Haha. Here are some pictures.