Traveling Solo, Exploring 4 Provinces of Indonesia in 22 days (Part 7)

Day 13 ,  December 20, 2011 // Probolingo + Cemoro Lawang, Bromo East Java

A nice sleep in a village style room

At 3 AM, I woke up to get ready for capturing sunrise via Mount Penanjakan, to see sunrise emerged from the back of Mt.Bromo. I hope the weather is great, no raining or cloudy. When I was about to go out for sunrise, .. I met three of western guests who stayed next to my room. Two males, one female, I met them before when I had a small chat with two Vietnamese girls sat next to our table at cafe. Listened to their language.. well, they speak German.

They rented 2 motorcycles to reach mount penanjakan. We had small greeting, smile each another and asking how the way you guys to get mt.Penanjakan etc etc. Then, I continued my journey alone. Yesterday, our jeep driver asked me to send me to the foot of mount Penanjakan. He offered me for 2 way drive by ojek, but I refused. I’d find my own way to go back to hostel. Because I don’t like being scheduled on my trip,… I don’t want there’s somebody waiting for me to send me back to the hostel. I want to be free, .. being scheduled, give me a feeling like I’m under tour travel trip..

So, .. I met our yesterday jeep driver, .. I forgot how much I paid for him. If, I’m not wrong not that much, less than 50 thousand rupiah, and I rented a jacket. Ha Ha… I didn’t bring my own jacket in this trip. C’mon….. Jacket is not comfortable to carry on my back pack, it will take much space in my back pack for a jacket only… then, we don’re really need thick jacket in tropical country.. so, its better just rent them.. it’s only 15.000 rupiah. It’s comfy and clean.

Two Vietnamese girls already done with sunrise part, so .. they told me, they are not going to climb mt.Penanjakan for the second time anymore….

Foot of Mt. Penanjakan not really far from my hostel apparantly, around 2 minutes by motorcycle. But, it’s just too dark, and I didn’t know how to get there if I go alone…….. without a guide, …. and of course, BRRRRRRRR…. so cold, man!!!!

He dropped me at the foot of mountain,…. there are many domestic and foreign tourist there.. Well, I like to see this crowds.. at least, I’m not going to be afraid of being alone to climb the trek. … Okay,…. I can’t say climbing up is an easy way to do… NOOO.. Hell no…… It’s two times harder than my work out at the gym. Gasping breath, bathed in sweat,…… my heart beat so fast.. my legs have to struggle to climb up…………. I’m not sure how much calorie I burnt for this activity. I can’t say it’s tiring…. It’s fun, more fun than work out at the Gym…. It’s the real work out in nature……………..

However, … I still think…. I need to do more exercise…. Because, Mt. Penanjakan is in easy category trekking. But, honestly… I still feel abit tired and need to take a breath deeply, drinking water and stop for a while to gain my energy and stamina, which I’ve seen some caucasians .. girls or boys,… middle aged..they don’t seem overwhelmed…. I think it’s because they do jogging or walking constantly.

And it was the dark, around 4 am.. Probably it takes around 40 minutes to reach the spot to see the sunrise. While climbing up, locals offered me to ride a horse to climb up. I refused many times, that my intention is to test my stamina and of course, burning this ugly fat on my tummy.

Mt.Bromo view from Mt. Penanjakan

Then, I finally reached it!!!!!!!    there are some locals who open stall for hot coffee and tea, also fried banana……..  While waiting for the sunrise comes up from behind Mt.Bromo back, I ordered a cup of hot coffee from a boiled water and some pieces of fried banana. Sorry, I forgot how much all together, but it doesn’t expensive at all.

I adore these sellers, they carried their clean water to be boiled, all their apparatus such as kettle, stove from  mountain to mountain. Man, they are really a group of highlanders, male or female…  I almost run out of breath only for an easy trek, to reach this spot,without any burden to carry, myself only. Shame on me!!!

I’ve seen western tourists also ordered hot coffee or tea while enjoying  Bromo scenery at the dawn. I remember my Dutch friend, ah…. these tourists are not as paranoid as my Dutch friend. My Dutch friend said, they don’t believe Indonesian water, so he always buys mineral water.

My another Dutch friends said.. some Dutch are like that, they really obey all what do’s and don’ts in Indonesia through booklet for European should avoid in developing countries. To prevent them from diarrhea or stuff like that, but.. it’s because they don’t have a brave to try. It’s normal you’ll get some stomach problem when your bowel not really used to foreign bacterium visit your body. It just takes some times to adapt, mates……   (but, some.. are not really lucky to have very sensitive stomach)..

But I believe the water is clean,.. it’s mountainous water!!!!!!!

To Be Continued, …. next: My adventure in exploring Mt.Bromo, …. standing at the edge of Bromo crater,… riding a horse over the cliffs and sea sand… STAY TUNED

Sunrise from Mount Penanjakan

Couple enjoying the sunrise, so romantic place, isn't it?

Traveling Solo, Exploring 4 Provinces of Indonesia in 22 days (Part 6)

Day 12 ,  December 19, 2011 // Probolingo + Cemoro Lawang, Bromo East Java

While having breakfast at my hostel cafe, I met two Vietnamese girls. I just arrived at Cemoro Lawang, then I joined them exploring Semeru National Park by Jeep. So, we shared the jeep rental together. I paid around 100.000 rupiah to them, cheaper than I rent a jeep by myself only.

It’s great, meeting another travelers from different country on my solo journey.When we travel alone, we can do and decide whatever we want to do without asking another opinion in our group. Sometimes, traveling alone get us more friends than traveling in a group..

So, we started to get to know one another, .. one of this Vietnamese girl always carried her DSLR camera, and she took great pictures. I found we have some in common, traveling and taking pictures are more than anything for me.

I can’t separate between traveling and capturing photographs. Traveling without camera in my hand, it’s like swimming in an empty swimming pool,- swimming without water… it’s a mistake!!! I do love narrating pictures I’ve taken from my camera.

Back to my adventure with two Vietnamese girls,… …………………..So, with the jeep and the driver we explored Semeru National Park. The scenery is extremely amazing, … I love this place so much. We passed sea sand or whispering sand, savanna telletubies, and offroad where there are cliff on our right and left side. Man, I’m not sure I would have a gut to drive in this place.

The Jeep

Cliffs on our left and right side

After 40 minutes of driving a jeep on off road, the driver dropped us at Coban Pelangi waterfall. We need to walk up and down hill to reach the waterfall. It’s enough to burn hundreds of calorie I think!!!

Trekking at Semeru National Park

A Little mosque on our way, there's a toilet and the water is sooo collldd.... okay, I'm around 2000 meter above sea level

While trekking to reach the waterfall, we had some chats … One of this Vietnamese girl told me, she saw some rubbish on mount Bromo that she thinks, Indonesians are not really aware of  keeping their environment clean.

Wow, That’s true…. But, I’ve never been to Vietnam and become more curious in this country, which I’ve read the fact is …. most developing countries are not really well managed, corrupt government and the people itself are kinda ignorant to keep the better environment by not throwing their rubbish whenever they want to throw.

So I asked them, ‘How about in Vietnam?? Do people care about keeping the environment clean??’

Vietnamese girl #1:’ In Vietnam, young generation are taught at school about how important to throw rubbish in litter bin, but…. old generations are terrible…….’

I’d respect if Indonesian young generation do the same things as Vietnamese young generation…. What I’ve seen so far is, most of us don’t really care about keeping the environment clean, whether it’s from old or young generations.. I often saw random people throw their rubbish from their private car.  What a bastard attitude, and I got totally annoyed seeing this….

Can’t they just keep their trash in their own car, instead of throwing their own rubbish outside . It’s such a selfish attitude.. It’s just like normal in Indonesia, whether they are rich or not rich throwing their rubbish not in litter bin. We can see everywhere, it’s easy to see rubbish on the road.

I don’t think it’s because we are a group of dirty nation.. no, I don’t think so. I think it’s because we have mindset it’s not our task to keep the environment clean. Or we just don’t care, or it’s just normal in public places throwing rubbish everywhere, there’s no litter bin easy to get.. instead of keeping rubbish on our own just throw them away anywhere…….. some had mindset, that’s what cleaning services are for….

I feel a bit embarrassed to these Vietnamese girls. In fact, Vietnam just become an independent country after Vietnam War in 1970′s .. but, they are more educated than us in this matters, especially young generation!!

***

Some moments later…..Whoaaa…  we eventually reached the Waterfall!!!

After enjoying the Waterfall and taking pictures, we’re back to our Jeep, meaning we had to climb up again……

Trekking at Semeru National Park

Then,…… we started exploring another places… we stopped at some places to take pictures.. the scenery just awesome, you can’t skip to snip snap!!!

While on the road, I had some communication with our jeep driver. He doesn’t speak English quite much, so … I became an emergency translator for him when these Vietnamese asking something. He’s a local here, he told me.. only locals who are allowed to drive Jeep in this area. I understood, because it’s not an easy trek to drive…

I observed people here are very friendly, patience and they respect each other while driving … for example, when they met there’ s another jeep in front of them, on the opposite direction and the fact is the road is so narrow, not able to pass two 4 wheels vehicle at the same path, both of them were so cooperative to share the road, and at the end they are smiling or just greeting each other.

There’s no attitude like in Indonesian telenovela!!!!!! On Indonesian soap opera picturing people are bad, and we can’t trust one another…. and the world is just about money and status!!!

I like living in this place, it’s very peaceful place to stay .. as long as The Bromo doesn’t smoke hard and cause some major damages

He’s a Hindu, He told me there are three religions in this place living together. Moslem, Hindu and Buddhist!!!!   At the end, he told me…… the best month to visit Bromo is in August, or from May to September. The weather is great in dry season, the sand dry and you can hear the sand movement when the wind blow.. as if the sand is whispering…… And, in full moon is also a higly recommended to visit Mt. Bromo…

Yes.. I hope, I’d get a chance to visit this place again!!!!! in August and full moon!!

Hindu Temple in front of my hostel

In the afternoon, we finished our Jeep journey.. then he dropped us nearby our hostel. I went to the cafe to get my big lunch and dinner… I ordered ‘Nasi Campur’ which is nice and inexpensive.

32.000 rupiah Nasi Campur, it's so complete!!

Meanwhile, Vietnamese girls tried a bowl of Meatball from the street vendor around the hostel. They were eating the meatball soup in front of Bromo as a view!!!

Traveling Solo, Exploring 4 Provinces of Indonesia in 22 days (Part 5)

Day 09 ,  December 16, 2011 // Bali

Kepang Bali, at Kuta Beach

Day 11 ,  December 18, 2011 // Bali

It’s the last day in Bali before leaving for Probolingo city, East Java. I didn’t take a bus to travel out of island but I took a travel agent bus. It’s cheaper than I travel by taxi first, and reach inconvenience Ubung Terminal. After elaborating the prices, if I took a bus, at first I need to pay around 60.000 rupiah taxi fee from Kuta to Ubung Terminal, Denpasar. Then, 150.000 rupiah for bus to Probolinggo, so, all together becomes 210.000 rupiah. The conclusion, taking travel agent bus is cheaper than taking a public bus at bus station, it’s only 150.000 rupiah from Kuta, including ferry at Gilimanuk to Java island.

Day 12 ,  December 19, 2011 // Probolingo + Cemoro Lawang, Bromo East Java

After spending 10 hours on the road I finally reached Probolingo at the dawn. From probolingo city, I stopped at Probolingo bus station, knowing I have to wait until noon to get a bus to Cemoro Lawang, I asked ojek driver to take me to Cemoro Lawang. It was early morning around 6 am!!! So, after bargaining and I got the price 80.000 rupiah from Probolingo to Cemoro Lawang by ojek, which the latter I gave him 100.000 rupiah because the journey is not an easy drive

… I was off to Cemoro Lawang, I was so excited … Bromo, here I come!!!!

But, before heading to probolingo,… I asked the ojek driver to get me to BII ATM card, because I was running out of cash. And, he’s so helpful and kind … brought me to ATM station… Probolingo is more developed, the city is clean and quite. I love the fresh air in the morning.

Reaching Cemoro Lawang from probolingo by motorcycle is not an easy drive, I just realized that the journey is climbing up …. I found my ojek driver got problem to drive his motorcycle and I felt so pity for him, and let him go first on ascend part. I then tried hard to hike the road… WOW, What a morning….. I was sweating, walking uphill …I adore people who live in this area, which I saw they are used to this way….

Ojek driver waits for me.. I hiked so hard to go uphill

…………………………………….

So, It took around almost 2 hours by motorcycle from Probolingo to Cemoro Lawang. He finally took me to the spot I wanted, I stopped at Lava Hostel, which is nice and cozy, … The room is not like my budget.. , … but hey, I’m totally tired already from my 10 hours journey from Bali to Bromo and.. you guys might know, Indonesian drivers are kinda crazy… , I deserved to pamper myself at proper place to stay even though for one night only.

Hostel

Around 9 am.. I realized I haven’t changed my watch time zone. Bali and East Java is one hour time different, so change your time as soon as you remember. I was having my breakfast and met 2 Vietnamese girls. Then, the adventure started.     TO BECONTINUED

Traveling Solo, Exploring 4 Provinces of Indonesia in 22 days (Part 4)

Day 8 ,  December 15, 2011 // Bali

Tanah lot is on my list from My Bali adventure, so I wouldn’t skip this part, even though I had no idea how to get this place in (still) cheap way. Unfortunately, the weather was not really bright, … on my way to Denpasar, it was drizzle and dark cloud following me.

I was in Denpasar, however, I had no idea what to do there. I went to Ubung Terminal to ask about bus schedule from Denpasar to Probolingo, my next destination after Bali. At bus  station, people were very aggressive offering me bus ticket without letting me to be calm a while from my journey, Kuta to Denpasar. Honestly, I dislike this situation. There’s something wrong with system in Indonesia where things go chaotic and inconvenience.

I prefer things that I do based on my own will to somebody’s else push me to buy this and this. I’d rather like going to ticket counter on my own than dealing with people who offering me to buy the ticket. C’mon.. where’s ticket counter here.. I don’t understand… it’s kinda frustrating, …even, before entering the bus station, somebody with uniform asked my money to let me in to bus station.

It is kinda ridiculous,  even though it’s not much but it’s the first time in my life I had to spend 2000 rupiah just to pass bus station. I thought bus station is public access. Well… at least, from this visit I got idea how much bus ticket from Denpasar to Probolinggo. A night bus, the cost is 150.000 rupiah for around ten hours journey, including ferry ticket to across Java island.

The weather was gloomy, my first intention beside curious about this sacred place is to take great sunset picture with Tanah Lot as background. I don’t want to wait until tomorrow, than I asked an ojek, how much does it cost from Denpasar to Tanah Lot. He gave me a price around 55.000 rupiah round trips, with this route; Denpasar – Tanah Lot – Kuta. He will be waiting for me at Tanah Lot.

So, all in total took around 2.5 hours road journey. The result is, I’ve got a numb ass due to sit on motorcycle for a long time. But, I don’t really mind with my numb ass .. Tanah Lot is a great and magnificent place, I’d like to visit this place someday, hopefully when the sun shines.

The weather was really like I unexpected... Can't see sunset

Traveling Solo, Exploring 4 Provinces of Indonesia in 22 days (Part 3)

Day 7,  December 14, 2011 // Bali

Yes One week already .. I’ve stayed in Bali, I then made a plan to travel to Sanur beach. Sanur beach is famous with its beautiful sunrise view, but I don’t really care, I wasn’t able to make it on sunrise so I found how to get there from Kuta in cheaper way. Please no taxi or rent a car… I’m a backpacker, I tried to minimize my expenses as cheap as I can.

So, .. from By Pass road I took Bali Trans (Busway) and it took around 30 minutes to reach Sanur beach, the bus fare is 3000 rupiah. The bus itself is fine, not really crowded and comfortable.

At Sanur, I rented a bike to explore the line beach which is filled with hotels and cafes that facing the beach with a nice pavement for biking. It’s not expensive, 10.000 rupiah per 4 hours, and I spent almost 4 hours to bike along the beach.. It’s great, spending my afternoon by biking along Sanur Beach. What a pity, the weather wasn’t really great, … cloudy, drizzle and rainy….

Having a cup of coffee, while waiting for the rain stop in Waroeng or Stall