Bro-mo!

Hello from Bali! We arrived here 2 days ago after a rather long side trip to Mount Bromo. The bromo region is a volcanic crater that has a few different cones/mountains in the middle. We took a 10 hour bus ride to there and were put in a very nice hotel near the crater edge. At 3:30 am we woke up and started hiking down into the crater to get to the top of Bromo itself. There was an option to take a jeep to a sunrise lookout spot, but since we had been sitting all day we wanted to move our legs.

For a National park, they have really not developed the bromo area very well. Trash can be found along the 'trail,' and sign posts are not well marked. To get to Bromo there are white pillars in the "Sea of Sand." However there was now sign that pointed to Bromo itself, and the whole time a horseman was riding next to us: "It is Foggy. Guide good." and vacillated from charging $5 to $30 for a guide to Bromo. not wanting to give in to his stalking we charged on our own, joining up with a Frenchman who was also looking for Bromo in the fog.


We eventually found it and the 248 steps to the top. However, we weren't aware that it actively spewed sulfurous gases. After just a few choking minutes at the top and in the haze we descended to a vantage point where we could breathe and watch the sunrise.

Overall, the time we spent getting to Bromo didn't really seem worth it. Especially when we then took a bus to Denpasar in Bali. We were told it would take 7 hours, but are now convinced the tour operator was misleading us as it took a draining 12 hours and we arrived in Denpasar at 1 am. Thankfully we joined up with some Europeans who had been to Bali before and we all pitched in for a bus ride to Kuta beach and found a room at around 2 am. Definitely exhausting!

We'll be spending a few days here and looking to get our open water diving certification.