At the end of 2023, I visited one of the beautiful mountains, Mount Bromo. I went to Mount Bromo with my mother, brother, and aunt. Mount Bromo is one of the active mountains in Indonesia located in East Java. Mount Bromo is always crowded and dense with visitors, even many tourists from foreign countries, especially China.
Foreign tourists often refer to the Bromo sunrise as The Famous of Sunrise. The reason my family chose Mount Bromo as a favorite tourist destination is that my family really likes nature and there we can see a very beautiful sunrise from various spots such as Bukit Mentigen, Bukit Cinta, Pananjakan 1, Seruni Point, Bukit Perahu, and Bukit Kingkong. However, my family and I chose to look at Pananjakan 1 because, in addition to seeing the sunrise, we can also see the top of the mountain.
For my trip to Bromo, I traveled by bus as part of a group tour, or what’s often referred to as a travel bureau. This made the trip easier and eliminated the need to worry about jeep rental costs. The cost was IDR 500,000 per person, which included round-trip transportation, lunch, snacks, and the jeep rental.
The journey to the drop-off point took approximately seven hours. I departed from Solo at 8:00 PM, passing through several cities, including Sragen, Ngawi, Mojokerto, and Probolinggo. I felt very sleepy during the trip, especially since it was at night, so I decided to sleep even though the road was uphill and winding. At midnight, we stopped at a restaurant, and my brother told me that there had been an accident on the highway we had passed a few hours earlier. I was surprised and very grateful that we had avoided that disaster. After a one-hour stop at the restaurant, our bus continued its journey.
After continuing the journey for 3 hours, we arrived at the drop point and gathered with other travelers while waiting for the jeep that picked us up to arrive. The weather was very cold; even though we had not reached the top, the temperature was around 5-7 degrees Celsius. The jeep came after waiting for 1 hour, and we immediately continued the journey back to the climbing point.
The journey was very challenging because the sky was still dark and the lighting only came from the jeep lights. During the trip I felt panic when passing through the desert, especially when several jeeps left at the same time, which made the driver’s glass only visible through flying sand; the road conditions were also bumpy and uphill winding. Then, arriving at the climbing point where the temperature is colder at 0 degrees Celsius, I stopped by the mosque for morning prayers, and when taking ablution water, my body felt like an electric shock and cramps because I was not used to that temperature. Before going to Pananjakan 1, I stopped by a stall to buy some warm milk, although it still felt cold.
At 04.30 am we continued the climb to Pananjakan 1; during the walk I felt so cold that I cried, which made me wear 2 layers of gloves. Arriving at the top, I saw that the place was filled with many tourists from different regions and countries. The conditions were very crowded; some tourists fainted due to lack of oxygen.
Not long, the moment we are waiting for finally appears, namely sunrise; no wonder that many people call it the Golden Sunrise of Bromo, because it is very beautiful and the color is beautiful. Many people take pictures with their backs to the sunrise, and the results are good, unlike me, because I was crying, so the photo results were very bad. Even though I was crying, I didn’t want to miss the moment, so I took some pictures and videos of the sunrise and the mountain.
After watching the sunrise until 6:00 AM, my family and I descended and boarded the jeep again to ascend Mount Bromo. Upon reaching the base of the climb, we walked towards the summit. Many horses were available, and I opted to ride one to avoid fatigue. The horse ride cost IDR 200,000 for a round trip, or IDR 100,000 for a one-way trip.
During the ascent, I chatted with the horse owner, discussing horses and Mount Bromo. He shared that during the COVID-19 pandemic, the income of local residents, especially jeep rental operators, significantly decreased due to the lack of visitors. While we were conversing, my horse suddenly nudged another, nearly causing me to fall. Despite riding a horse, I was still able to interact with fellow travelers as many horses were walking closely together, facilitating easy greetings.
Shortly after, I reached the end of the horse trail and waited for my family, who were walking, but they were still quite far behind. I grew tired of waiting and sat on the edge of the mountain. When they finally arrived, we walked together up the stairs to the summit. Due to the large number of visitors and the narrow staircase, we had to stop and wait at each step.
I wasn’t physically tired, but I was bothered by the strong, unpleasant smell of sulfur, which resembled rotten eggs and stung my nose, making me feel nauseous. I was amazed to see foreigners wearing only light clothing, considering their home countries must be much colder. Upon reaching the summit of Mount Bromo, I only glanced at the ash, as my fear of heights prevented me from fully observing the peak, the back, or the crater. My photos turned out poorly, as I couldn’t conceal the expression of fear on my face.
As noon approached, we descended and continued our journey by Jeep. Teletubbies Hill was our final destination. The ride remained bumpy, and strong winds coated the windshield with sand. Upon arriving at Teletubbies Hill, we only briefly explored and took pictures at a few locations. Shortly before our trip to Bromo, two fires had occurred. The first was extinguished, but subsequently, a bride and groom conducting a pre-wedding photoshoot using flares caused a second fire to spread.
Consequently, Teletubbies Hill, which should have been green, was instead blackened. However, I successfully took some good photos, particularly those taken atop the Jeep. Visitor numbers were low, likely due to diminished interest or the recent fire. Numerous horses were present, including some with rainbow-colored manes. I wanted to ride again, but we had to return to the starting point to head back to Solo as it was already noon.
By: Shalfa Shafira Rosalina
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