It all started with :

Me : Sigh.. Probably can only go on short trips from now on… We have always gone to faraway places, let’s try the nearby ones! Save money leh…

Sharon : Ok lor.. go where??

Me : My friend just went to Mt Bromo. Her pictures are quite swee leh!! Why don’t we just go there? Nearby niah…

So we started reading up and asking around… Everyone I knew did it this way – flew to Surabaya, joined a round trip tour, travelled to the summit in a jeep, back to the city of Malang, then airport and finally back to Singapore. All within 3 days.

Must we really join a tour??? Everyone said, “Of course lah!! You siao arh! Indonesia leh! You know how to speak Bahasa meh??!!”

And we just had to do it OUR OWN WAY – without joining a tour, climbing all the way up on our own, didn’t  book any accommodation, walked in and stayed in a guesthouse.

Haha. That’s what we did for our Australia trip too – booked air tickets and a car, then whack!! People looked at me in disbelief. Singaporeans can be so unspontaneous…..

And so… we booked our air tickets (very early in fact! Because we were cheapos and wanted to buy the cheap budget ones!) and a 5* resort room for the last night. (That room cost us S$100!!! Heartache!) But we wanted to pamper ourselves for the last day before we came back to slog in Singapore.

 

We toyed with the idea of taking buses and trains to Cemoro Lawang, which was the village at the foot of the mountain. In the end, we settled on booking a private car to save time and hassle. Using a contact that was provided by a friend who went 2 years ago, we booked a private car for 1.6mill IDR for 3 days of transport. And it would have cost a lot more if we were to do last minute bookings or if we had booked when we got there. (I verified this when I was at Cemoro Lawang. I just had to assure myself that I had a good deal! :p)

The ride took us about 4 hours. So we were able to snooze in the car (to catch up on lost sleep. I woke up at 4ish that morning… *Yawn*), while keeping one eye open to check the road signs to ensure that we hadn’t been brought to some weird place.

We finally arrived at the little village after going up and up and up on a winding trail.  And even at the foot of the mountains, the view was… breathtaking! Look out for the photos in the later part of the post!

Confidently, we walked up to the reception of the guesthouse which was nearest to the entrance to the national park.

“We would like a room for 2 nights.”

“Tonight ok. Tomorrow night no room. Indonesia public holiday. All booked.”

Whhhaaat…!? “Ooi! Didn’t you check that it’s not a public holiday???” I poked Miss Sharon’s arm.

Miss Sharon : “I did! It’s not a public holiday in Singapore! I didn’t think of checking for the local holiday” She said sheepishly.

Win lor…??‍♀️ Siao liao… This would be my first time sleeping under the stars…

“I can get you a room in the guesthouse beside ours. Cheaper. I give you free breakfast in hotel.”

We bargained on the price a little (haha… still had the audacity to bargain…) and it was a done deal.  He got someone to lead us to a row of houses just behind and into a bare room. No photos… Just imagine – 4 walls, 2 beds, one dingy toilet, no basin, no mirror, just a tub of water.

“Goodness! I haven’t stayed at such a place for gazillion years!!”

“Adventure lah! Or do you prefer to sleep outside???”

Plus he gave us a map!!

We dumped our backpacks in the room and locked the primitive latch with the padlock provided. I could have broken that lock with a rock…  Even my toilet at home had a more secure lock. Luckily, I didn’t bring any valuables along….

We went to the tourist counter to pay for our national park entry passes.  According to the guy at the reception, it would cost double the price the next day as it was a public holiday. And it would be valid for the next 3 days.

And so… we paid for it. But we later discovered a “secret” route that could take us all the way down, for free. (It will be revealed in a later update. Keep your eyes ? on the space!)

At the ticketing booth, a lot of guides tried to chat us up to get us to hire them. When we insisted that we would be walking to the crater of Mt Bromo and hiking up the summit of Mt Penanjakan, they smiled in amusement and predicted that we would eventually hire a ride up. (We looked so weak meh?! ?)

It was rather cloudy at that time. We prayed that we would get clear skies for our sunrise hike later.

We ate an early dinner (at 3pm ?), picked up our water and food supply from the local “mama” shop and ko. We planned to get up at 2am for our leisurely hike up the Mt Penanjakan for our first glimpse of sunrise on the Bromo top. ? Good night!