So after almost 2 years of a travel hiatus due to some issue with the LHDN, I finally got to travel abroad again, this time to the East Java in Indonesia. It was not my first time to this part of Indonesia; in fact I already went there about 12 years ago. But of course, it was always good to be back to a place for a second time, as if I was given an opportunity that many others might have been robbed off – so to say.
The trip was supposed to be intended to fulfil the long overdue plan of climbing Mt. Semeru – the highest peak in the whole of Java island, despite the fact that it had been made off-limits since September last year. I really thought it was gonna be opened again at least before the trip, but even until now it remains closed to the public. Even so, we decided to go on with the trip, with some modification to the itinerary of course. In the end, I arranged to go back to Ijen and Bromo, and added in Tumpak Sewu as a new and fresh destination.
The planning part was quite easy. In fact, I search around on the internet, and sent an email to a few tour package providers that I came upon. After making some comparison between those who responded, I decided to go with Bromo East Java Travel. The manager by the name of Yahya was so responsive to my enquiries he even replied almost instantly when I emailed to him at one in the morning.
Landing at Juanda International Airport in Surabaya, our tour guide Eko was already waiting for us at the arrival hall. It was a total difference from our first trip to Surabaya where nobody was waiting, and nobody had arranged the transport for us to travel around. In fact, we had to jump from one vehicle to another, even taking buses used by the very locals to transport goods and necessities from the towns to their villages in the remote areas. It really was full of rare experiences but of course we were much younger back then when convenience was not really a thing of priority.
Coming back this time, I made sure that it was all about comfort. I told the travel agent that we wouldn’t even negotiate on the price of package that they had put forth, but we must be assured of top-notch comfort in both the transportation and accommodation. Heh.
Sure enough, we were placed in a very comfortable mini van – which felt more like an SUV than a van. We cruised our way off to Bondowoso, and stopped for a Nasi Padang lunch at a little town called Pasuruan. I got instantly reminded how I missed Nasi Padang and needless to say, it would become our most regular choice of meal all throughout our trip to the East Java.
We arrived at the town of Bondowoso just before nightfall, at a resort called Ijen View Hotel and Resort. It looked like a massive resort in the middle of town. After cleaning ourselves up, we returned to the streets of Bondowoso to explore the town that I fell in love with on our first visit 12 years ago. Bondowoso seemed to have changed a lot, it was much busier and there seemed to be a lot more activities going on than I remembered it was last time. The heavily decorated horse carriages are still there unfortunately, and they seemed to have increased in number.
Trying to relive the memory of my first visit, we actually went to have dinner at the Aruk Aruk, the recreational and leisure spot in the middle of town, and sat at a low table where we slouched our lazy asses on the ground while feasting over a spread of local Javanese delicacies. It really was a feast, and very affordable too. We went to the hotel with full and happy stomachs.
The real adventure of course began the next morning. We dragged ourselves out of bed in the middle of night and wheeled off to the starting point of the Ijen trail. Things suddenly became so familiar, but unlike our first hike during our first visit, it was super crowded this time. Back then we had the trail pretty much all to ourselves. It was amazing how Ijen had gained so much reputation and recognition over the years.
It was super-crowded, which was of course hindering us or any of the hikers to go faster than they probably wanted to, if we could ever go any faster. The truth is, we were hit with reality that age really was catching up – worsened of course by the fact that we – or rather them – didn’t really do much physical preparation leading up to this very climb. For once I was glad that it wasn’t Mount Semeru that we were up against. Heh.
It was a long hike of course, but the highlight was going down to the crater in the dark where beating the crowd and the long line of people was no way optional. It felt like forever before we finally reached the famous blue flames. Again, it was super-crowded down there so there was no way we could stay there longer than we probably wanted to. But then, staying around for too long was not optional either.
The ammonia-laden smokes were so thick and heavy there was one time I almost passed out when the smokes suddenly came right over me, penetrated into my mask and prevented me from breathing. The smothering was so bad and real I got panicked I seriously didn’t know what to do. I was so glad that the guide was there to calm me down or things could have gone terribly wrong. I mean, I could have died right there. I shut my eyes down, breathed slowly and calmly – as he told me to – until the smokes changed direction and went away or something.
But seriously, it was surreal down there. The combination of the blue flames, the smokes and the blue lake (or rather turquoise) made the whole experience out of this world. Again, I couldn’t help but thinking how the place had picked up so many visitors over the years when we literally had the whole place all to ourselves when I was there back in 2013. After taking a considerable number of pictures, we returned to the base of the mountain where we were transported back to our hotel in Bondowoso to clean up and be ready for another few hours of road trip to our next destination – the Tumpak Sewu waterfalls!