Waiting for the sun - this time at Bromo

I got up before 4 am and went to the volcano. I didn’t realize that it was quite a walk from my guesthouse to the start of the trail. About 7 km up the mountain. Luckily, someone was driving by, so I hitchhiked a bit with them. I paid the entrance fee and started to hike. It was night when I got to the plateau just before the volcano (called Sea of Sand), and I really lost my orientation. It was totally dark, I was alone. No other people. I had a good flashlight, but still wasn’t sure if I’m heading the right direction. 

But yes, I was heading the right direction and so, got to the.. stairs that lead to top of Bromo (about 300 steps) – not a big deal actually, though steep and also my ears started to hurt (maybe because of my cold). It was a steep, quick walk, so I had to take a short (like 3 minutes) break to let my ears recover ;) Then I continued, and finally there I was, in darkness, at the top of Bromo. Alone. The trick is, all the tourists go for the sunrise to a nearby viewpoint, and only then go to Bromo. If you skip the view point and hundreds of tourists, then you can have the volcano for yourself. 

With my flashlight I could see  that I am really close to the crater and if I slip I land directly into it. So, I decided not to go for a walk around in the darkness, but to sit down and wait for the sun. After about half an hour it started to get brighter and so I could see the narrow path around the crater. I went for a short walk, was taking pictures and out of sudden I heard – in Polish language – well, I’m not really sure why we had to get up at 4 am to see that. 

That was a nice Polish couple form Lodz. We had a good small talk, a smoke and then went back together taking many pictures on the way. Thanks to them I also have a picture on the Bromo volcano :)

I met in Java a lot of Polish people, among them a married couple from Warsaw, about my age who was arguing all the time. I really wonder, why travel with someone when you keep fighting. Or why be with someone when you keep arguing about everything possible, especially all those small and really not important things. While you’re in some of the most beautiful places of the world… People are strange.