Tag Archives: Cemora Lawang

Our tour of the Gunung Bromo and
Bromo-Tengger-Semeru National Park leaves at 4am from our hotel in Cemora Lewang.  A convoy of jeeps snakes its way down onto the crater floor and makes the steep climb to Penanjakan, which at 2,770 meters, is the highest point on the Tengger crater rim.  It is pitch black as our 4wd containing us and four other tourists negotiates the precipitous and pot-holed road to the top.   At Penanjakan there must be 60 or 70 jeeps at least parked up along the narrow road and a surprising number of mainly Javanese visitors are congregating on at the viewing area eagerly anticipating the sunrise as they jockey for the best positions.  To get to the viewing platform we have had to run the gauntlet of numerous stalls selling food, hats, gloves, scarves and other items of merchandise.  It’s cold in the mountains at this time in the morning and enterprising hawkers are renting coats to those who have come unprepared.  We have hired padded jackets from the hotel for 50,000 rupiah (£3).  Hattie is doing duty keeping Andy snug whilst I have invested £1.25 in a wooly beanie.

As an orange and pink hue starts to spread across the dawn sky heralding the rising sun an incredible view unfolds before us;  we are looking down on a sea of clouds on one side of the rim and the belching crater of Gurung Bromo and its neighbours to the other.   Only a few peaks of can be seen above the clouds,  the main being  Gurung Semora  which at 3,676 metres above sea level is the highest volcano in the national park.  The light playing over the clouds is a tantalizing sight changing their topography moment by moment.  Then suddenly the sun rises and in the blink of an eye the magic is lost.

Back in the jeep we return to the caldera floor to traverse the Sea of Sands and climb to the crater of Gurung Bromo.  The ascent involves negotiating the skirt of the volcano and then tackling 257 steps to the crater rim.  We set off to climb it on foot eschewing the easier alternative of being led on horseback.  But the effect of the altitude makes a struggle of what in other conditions would be an easy ascent.  So I succumb and ride up as far as the steps.   The effort of climbing the steps is well rewarded by a magnificent view down into the crater and the gaping gash from which the steam pours out.  It’s possible for the adventurous and fit to take the narrow and challenging path round circumference of the crater, but no-one seems up for it today.    

After breakfast back at the hotel, we take a minibus back to Probolinggo from where we will pick up our transfer to Solo in central Java.  The journey is an experience;  there are ten western tourists in the bus when we set off, but along the way the bus stops several times to pick up locals until there are sixteen passengers packed in like sardines, plus one person on the roof with the luggage and another  hanging on the external ladder.  How they manage to hang on as the driver hurtles down the treacherously steep and winding road is a mystery.

In Probolinggo we transfer to a tourist shuttle which we share with a none-too-chatty couple for what turns out to be a seven-and-an-half hour journey to  Solo in central Java.  It is a tedious journey in heavy traffic most of the way.  We have reclining seats and lots of leg room to make it more bearable, but not the promised air con.  The driver is surly and uncommunicative, and like all Javanese, drives like a maniac;  overtaking at every hair-raising opportunity (on-coming vehicles just have to move over to accommodate traffic that is over-taking) or passing lorries using what is little more than a hard shoulder provided for mopeds and cyclists.  We make a couple of short stops along the way but It isn’t until 4pm that we are ejected from the car without explanation, for what turns out to be a meal stop.  We eventually arrive in Solo an hour and half later than expected only to be dropped on a busy street instead of at our hotel and have to complete the rest of the journey by taxi. 

We haven’t been able to book ahead, so it is with a certain amount of trepidation that we arrive at the hotel Istana Griya, but fortunately they have a vacancy.  The hotel has a good atmosphere and heaps of charm, although the room is a bit skuzzy (as Lonely Planet might say) and like many places here the toilet cistern no longer works so the toilet has to be flushed using a bucket of water.  But hey, it’s well located just off the main drag and being in an alley, it is quiet, which is a big plus in this island of mosques and heavy traffic.   It’s cheap too, only 130,000 rupiah (just under £8) and internet is only 50p an hour.

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