Indonesia 2010

Thursday14October

We will spend this Thursday on the road to reach the Bromo volcano. Roughly 400 km and 12 hours of travel.

Lunch break...

We are traveling with 2 Chinese people that we wedged right in the middle of the mini-bus... 
They are very discreet... At the same time, how to do otherwise when locked in 8 m² surrounded by 6 French people?!?!......... 

This mini-bus is a cyber space-time vessel that has nothing to envy the most sophisticated wheeled vehicles and other iPhones. No. Nothing. Because it is equipped yes sir, yes madam, with a karaoke screen built into the ceiling!!!.... We will therefore be treated to the best of Mariah Carey, Elton John and other local songs!!!
So, admittedly it is not reassuring to see the driver let the autopilot steer the shuttle to restart the screen that skips at every pothole quite frequent in the area it must be said...
But we forgive everything when we are at the end of the world on the island of Java!

Change of vehicle for the last hour of the drive.

Friday15October

Departure around 3 am in 4x4 to see one of the prettiest panoramas possible to see on a volcano and with the sunrise as a bonus!!! Waaahooo !!!

Ahem... I got a little carried away.... From this beautiful panorama we will only see the magnificent orientation table...   And yes, the sun surely had a date with the Moon because this morning, it's rain and fog on the program...  
Too bad, we are all very cute with our rain capes and that didn't stop me from making a beautiful panoramic of this magnificent fog!!! 

The famous orientation table...

We missed the pretty view but we won't miss the small ascent to the Bromo crater. We take the 4x4 back with our driver to get closer to the volcano

The front of the 4x4...

... and the back...

My GPS readings of our little walk to the top of the crater.

The walk can be done on horseback but not very useful as only 1 km separates us from the crater.

The final ascent of the crater is done by a large staircase.

Right next to Bromo, the Batok volcano.

And here we are finally at the very top of Bromo!
"The Bromo volcano peaks at 2,329 m altitude and its crater is 800 m in diameter and 200 m deep." © Wikipedia
The white fumarole escaping from it reminds us that it is indeed active and can wake up at any moment...

Bromo, between wind and rain, is silent. But the storm makes its lightning rumble all around us to imitate the eruptions of the volcano. Gulp!  

And hop, one volcano done! We take the 4x4 back to pick up our bags at the hotel.

The hotel where we slept last night. We leave for 7 hours of road towards our next destination even further east on the island of Java.

A few hours later, we arrive in this hotel located about fifteen kilometers from our next volcano, the Kawak Ijen. The night will be as short as the last one because the wake up call will be very early to join the acid volcano and its sulfur carriers in the cool!

Contrary to appearances, the pool is freezing!