On Top of Volcano in INDONESIA!! / Epic Motorbike Tour in East Java / Mount Bromo 2023
I've always wanted to see a volcano.. And that is the main reason why I decided to travel to Indonesia.. as there are over 120 volcanoes in this country and 80 of them are considered still active.. 45 of those active volcanoes are located on Java Island which I have been exploring this month.. so I took a train to the city of Provolinggo which is located quite close to the main volcanic national park in East Java..
and prepared for an epic adventure.. Here? Thank you.. It's low.. Oh.. jump?
Is this Probolinggo? Yes, Probolinggo.. Okay, thank you.. Well, the volcanic adventure starts here.. Right at the train station.. Probolinggo is a small town located in two hours drive from the "Bromo-Tengger-Semeru" National Park housing 5 volcanoes.. and I decided to book a room here and leave my luggage in it..
rent a motorcycle and then early in the morning take a ride to the volcano on my own to enjoy the most stunning sunrise in Indonesia.. Okay, thank you.. Thank you.. Have good evening.. bye-bye! Hello.. I booked two nights in your place.. Okay, thank you.. just a base.. just a base to spend a few hours before the early start..
Hello sir.. Mickey? Mickey yeah.. Mike.. it's a little bit dark but the rental place must be somewhere here.. Excuse me, is this "Rent motorbike Master Rizhal"? No, no.. no problem.. yes, yes.. this place? Motor..
Motor yes.. Motor motor.. but it's not you? okay okay.. Hello.. Yes, I arrived to your shop.. we agreed to meet around 6 pm
uh.. I already sent you all messages.. we we talked just one hour ago about motorcycle.. I had a chat with this guy while I was on a train.. and he said "yeah yeah, I'll be waiting for you".. 5.30 - 6.00 pm..
and now they say "what can we do for you?" I am sorry.. So I chatted on WhatsApp with you? Yeah.. Okay, okay.. because somebody asked - "what can we do for you?" And I didn't know what to think.. I am sorry because I am still studying English.. you speak very well.. I'm very happy..
my brother over there.. ah okay.. hello hello.. by the way, where do you come from? I am from Russia.. Russia.. Yeah.. Did you come here alone? yeah.. hello sir.. hello hello..
Hello.. He is from Russia.. Ukraina.. yeah yeah.. So this is the bike? Yeah.. okay.. up.. down.. down.. I know.. I know how to drive.. I own a motorcycle..
maybe you can test drive.. all right.. all right.. Your name? Mickey.. here is the light.. no light? ah okay.. all right..
that's a nice motorbike.. do you have helmet? That's heavy, right? very heavy? no, not heavy.. okay, camera man.. my operator.. oh this is good.. this is good.. all right..
all right.. yeah this is it.. this is good.. can't see anything at night.. I think it is not perfect..
they are a little bit scratched.. oh this one is better.. yeah.. like a pilot.. but it's good at night... at night when it's dark - you can see what's happening on the road..
I was fighting with tiger.. okay.. yeah.. so how much it is gonna cost me? 200..
200.000 IDR? yes.. 200.000 IDR and your passport as a deposit.. no, no.. not passport, just ID card..
I have my driving license.. my normal real driving license.. if you want you can take a photo of my passport because.. I just cannot give to anybody.. no problem.. we take picture of your passport and you leave a deposit..
deposit how much? 100 USD.. 100 USD as a deposit... okay, it's reasonable.. Mister, can I take picture with you? okay okay.. 1,2,3,4..
Master Rizhal yes.. Hello.. Cold.. very cold! how much is the ticket? 32.. 32.000 IDR okay.. oh cannot feel my fingers! you stay here - no problem..
Hello.. 5.000? okay.. yes, thank you.. thank you! it was a pretty cool ride.. it reminded me my recent trek in Nepal.. Mardi Himal trek.. I felt quite freezing..
however here in the parking lot it feels kind of okay.. especially after a cup of hot tea.. because here we can buy hot tea for 5.000 IDR.. parking also cost five thousand.. and toilet costs 5.000 so don't forget to bring some cash, because there are no ATMs around..
I left my homestay at 2.30 AM and arrived at 4 AM.. the road took around one hour and a half.. I lost the route couple times because it was pretty smoky or cloudy or foggy.. I still don't know what was this fog.. maybe it was the smoke from the volcano.. and there are so many these Jeeps on the road.. dozens or maybe hundreds of them and they are keep coming..
they are coming here very soon, I believe so.. Anyway guys, I have parked my motorbike and now we need to walk up to the viewpoint.. let's try to find a little bit less crowded place... ah nice horse! and of course as soon as you leave parking area - it is completely dark.. which is why you better bring some flashlight.. I mean.. if you don't have a phone..
Hello hello.. Do you need a horse? no no, I'm good thank you.. hello hello..
of course it's not that quiet here.. it's a commercial spot.. people are selling stuff.. drinks, mama soup, instant noodles and water.. and there are some people on top of this platform.. but obviously not as many people as at the highest viewpoint where all of those those Jeeps are coming to.. and luckily I'm here on a weekday which is why there are less local tourists..
however I still wanna take a little walk in the jungles.. to find a bit more quiet, tranquil place to enjoy the sunrise, which is coming really soon.. I already can see the shape of the volcano.. however it's still pretty dark.. coffee coffee.. how much? 5? 10! 10? oh expensive coffee... very delicious?
yeah.. okay, coffee please.. cappucino or black coffee with sugar? black coffee, black coffee.. sugar a little bit..
cold! thank you.. thank you.. tasty tasty.. is this Kopi luwak? black coffee.. oh... hot hot hot! very hot.. maybe 2 cup? okay, good.. thank you.. you're welcome.. it's cold here..
not cold.. no.. cold! Nepal is cold, but Indonesia is not cold! stamina very good.. you are strong and hot.. I am from Russia.. Russia is cold..
oh so many of you.. Did you sleep here? yeah.. Wow.. amazing.. amazing place to wake up.. I climbed a little bit higher and found some guys with tents.. but there is no one else here.. and the atmosphere is truly breathtaking..
this is the sea of clouds.. this caldera covered with thick fog.. can't see anything - it's a real sea of fog.. just like in Phetchabun.. and there are five volcanoes in front of us.. Mount Bromo and 4 others.. and one of them is smoking.. so I think it is time to fly a little bit..
absolutely fascinating experience.. just hard to describe this feeling - being so close to such powerful nature.. however it's not the end yet.. now I'm going to cross this sea of sand on my motorcycle and visit this volcano itself..
I'm going to hike up to the crater.. but let me visit toilet first, because this morning coffee is forcing me to come back to the parking lot and use toilet service for 5.000 IDR.. yeah yeah yeah okay .. yeah yeah yeah.. "Apa Yada" (speaks Indonesian) exactly.. exactly what I was thinking.. "Apa Yada" (speaks Indonesian) and everyone is already gone from the viewpoint.. but the viewpoint looks pretty.. just one hour ago this area was filled with people.. it was quite noisy here, but not anymore..
how did I come here at night? okay, okay.. One more coffee? toilet, toilet.. not coffee! it's over there.. oh no more coffee.. toilet toilet..
it's nice to see that they actually clean this area every morning.. toilet toilet toilet.. toilet? okay.. yeah I go first..
coffee coffee oh! (2 hours later) thank you.. you're welcome.. ah.. so good.. You know guys, it's so beautiful and quiet right now.. everyone's gone..
and I don't really feel that I want to leave.. the temperature is rising and fog is disappearing in the caldera.. and I can see some cars are driving around and there is a parking lot with all of these Jeeps..
and only now I realize how huge this area is.. it is just gigantic.. the cars are really tiny somewhere far away.. fantastic.. the nature is incredible..
All right, it's time to go back to the motorcycle and ride to the crater.. oh no.. seems like some visitors didn't make it to the toilet.. or maybe they just didn't want to pay 5.000 Rupees.. I have just realized I'm not a big fan of riding a motorbike on sand.. it is sand, right? or volcanic ash? what else could it be.. and there are many people are coming to me and saying: "Mister photo.. Mr photo Mr photo"
I waited for a while on that hill where I've enjoyed the sunrise.. because in the morning all of the Jeeps almost instantly after the sunrise are moving here.. which is why.. hello Mr.. photo photo mister.. in the morning all of the Jeeps are quickly moving to this area which is why here a real traffic jam occurs.. even though it is a weekday..
I can't even imagine how does it look on weekend.. so I waited till 9am and still there are quite many Jeeps, many people, many vendors selling stuff.. snacks and water.. many horsemen offering you a ride right to the crater.. seriously I could have come here on the motorbike? I've been walking for about a kilometer.. and there is this gentleman here on the bike and I can see there are a few more bikes in front of me..
I don't know why everyone is parking in this area where there is some kind of bazaar.. but yeah there are a few bikes here.. I don't know is it allowed to drive here or not.. maybe this is some sort of conservation area of the National Park.. hmm..
but luckily it's not afternoon time yet.. there is still this cold morning wind, so you don't feel burning hot like in the afternoon time.. are you having fun? is it good? very good..
Very good? but probably not for this little horse which can't even find some grass to eat in this volcanic ash.. no, there is some grass actually.. By the way, the entry to this area to the village was 32.000 IDR.. entry to the viewpoint area.. which is not much, it is probably around 70-75 Thai Baht, probably 2 USD.. however entering to this area of National Park is almost 10 times more expensive.. I paid 220.000 IDR for a ticket for foreigner and it's a weekday today...
on weekend the ticket cost 320.000 IDR.. and it's still all right, because this is a natural beauty, natural attraction.. you can spend some time here.. because for example in Yogyakarta.. I still can't forget it.. a ticket for a foreigner on a weekday was 360.000 IDR which is around 850 Thai Baht.. 25 bucks to see a temple with million other people..
and I probably spent there only 20 minutes... so if you'd ask me to choose only one place - I would have chosen only this National park.. here you really can enjoy the nature.. this beauty.. this magic... the power of Mother Nature.. hello.. hello hello!
hello, hello hello! was it fun? was it good? Good! so funny.. funny ladies.. hello.. oh the smell of poo poo.. smell of horses poo poo..
oh yeah yeah.. Zorro.. but this is definitely man-made.. nature is talented, but not that talented.. it would have been a miracle..
these horses are really enjoying here.. just like me.. hello sir.. how much for water? aqua? 10.000 IDR 10.000? oh expensive water.. just like in Jakarta.. thank you..
just a little bit more.. I honestly don't know why does it feel so exhausting.. is it because I didn't sleep much, just two and a half hours last night.. or it is because of the sulfur in the air.. or it's because of horses pooping.. the smell of horses pooping..
probably all together... it looks absolutely crazy.. all these evaporations, this smoke.. and a very strong smell of sulfur..
at least I think it is sulfur.. what else could it be? crazy.. walking on the edge between life and death, because obviously if you someone walks 50 meters in this direction - he is done..
yeah this is the smell of rotten eggs.. very strong smell.. of course it's not gonna help me but I know you guys love when I am wearing a mask.. hello Jakarta! the smoke is white at the top.. but over there at the bottom - it's yellow.. I would even say it's brown.. check it out right there.. ohh..
awful yellow smoke.. For the past 200 years Mount Bromo erupted around 50 times.. or 55 times.. and the last one was in 2016.. and this is the result of those eruptions.. slopes are covered with these ridges.. lava leaking down on the ground.. can you hear this noise? this noise is coming from there.. from the inner world.. from the inner Earth.. terrifying.. this is really terrifying.. what's nature is capable of...
And to be honest, I'm not sure was it necessary to see the crater so close.. I mean to come so close to this hole.. smoking hole.. because some things are more beautiful when you look at them from a distance.. the sunrise was amazing.. however when you're getting closer to the volcano - you really feel terrified.. with all this smoke, with smell, with all of this dust..
my clothes are completely destroyed.. everything is so dirty - camera, drone, microphone.. I have volcanic dust even deep inside my nose.. but life is better when you have some chicken.. Guys, I have returned to the camp because I feel terribly, terribly tired and incredibly sleepy..
I was worried I'm gonna fall asleep on the road right on the motorbike.. but it was absolutely amazing experience and fantastic journey.. it was really worth it.. worth getting up so early in the morning.. it wasn't comfortable, it wasn't relaxing.. it wasn't something like relaxation on beautiful sandy beaches of Bali.. however Bali is not that far from here.. you can come to the East Java on scooter from Bali..
this journey was rather unexpected, shocking, mesmerizing, terrifying.. all together.. so many emotions.. at first you are admiring this beauty of the volcano from a distance.. and then you're getting closer and you're hearing this noise coming from the inner earth.. all of this smoke.. the smell.. standing on this on the edge.. on the edge of the crater.. this endless pit to nowhere.. crazy.. of course it was possible to book a tour or to rent a Jeep with a driver at any tour company in the city, in Surabaya or here.. or even at any hotel..
however I wanted to be more free and enjoy a little bit longer.. it was just crazy.. inhaling all this smoke, sulfur air coming from the inner earth.. hello mister! hello mister! hello mister.. hello mister.. anyway guys, hope you have enjoyed the episode.. hit the like button and I'll see you next episode pretty soon.. somewhere else in Indonesia or somewhere in Southeast Asia.. bye-bye.. I gotta go sleep..
2023-06-17 23:37
