HIKING VOLCANOES IN EAST JAVA

East Java is home to some of the world’s most beautiful and active volcanoes. It was the reason I wanted to visit the eastern part of Java in Indonesia for some time.

My journey started from Surabaya where I spent a night before making my way to Malang. There are a few ways to see Mt. Bromo, Ijen and also a beautiful Tempak Sewu waterfall. You can drive or rent a scooter and do it completely on your own - but bare in mind that it would be a lot of driving at night through unlit and mountainous road, or you can join a tour. If you are limited on time you can do 3d, 2n tour seeing all three but I decided to see Tempak Sewu waterfalls, then take full nights rest and opted for 2d, 1n tour to see both volcanoes.

TEMPAK SEWU

The waterfall is located about 2-3h drive away from Malang. We set off early (5am) and after seeing panoramic views from the top started slippery way down to the waterfalls. It takes roughly 30min to get down and the rest of the journey is spent walking through the waterfalls, rivers, getting up close and for sure getting wet! If you think that you may avoid it then you are most certainly wrong. You can rent water shoes for about $2 and I also highly recommend a waterproof bag/phone cover. The whole tour took around 2-3 hours before we headed back to Malang. 

MT.BROMO

The pickup for Mt. Bromo is at midnight from Malang. The first part was about 2 hours in a car driving to meet another tourist car where they would merge me with other people as I was the only person doing this adventure from Malang. Drive is through the night and throughout the mountainous, dark roads. At around 2am we stopped in a little town which was very lively as locals were trying to sell warm jackets, gloves etc. to tourists. I was then moved to another vehicle with a group of people that started the tour from Surabaya. After another 40min drive we parked up and walked to a local cafe where we had a snack and coffee/tea by the fire. We spent about an hour before making our way up to the viewpoint for Mt. Bromo sunrise. The hike itself took less than an hour and was very easy, however then the waiting game started. We spent around 1.5h waiting for the sun to come up and it was very windy and cold. The night felt long and cold and dragged out, even though the actual hike was very easy. There are so many people doing this hike that in order to secure a parking spot and a good spot to view the sunrise you do need to arrive early and patiently wait. 

Once the sun came up, we had the most beautiful views to Mt. Bromo that was smoking and also the larger Mt. Semeru in the background. The cold and long night was well worth it. After spending some time admiring the beautiful views we walked down to our jeep and drove to the footsteps of Mt. Bromo. The traffic going down is horrendous and long. We spent around 2h but it was a good time to take a nap and views down are also spectacular. Once we arrived at the bottom of Mt. Bromo we walked up about 1000 steps to see the crater. It takes 30-45 min and I did not find it very challenging. And another magical place. I had never seen an active crater so it was truly a unique experience. 

As I had booked 2d, 1n tour, after seeing Mt. Bromo from the viewpoint and its crater we were then driven in a minivan to a place closer to Ijen volcano. We set off at about 10am and arrived in our hotel for a few hours around 5pm. The journey is certainly long and tiring, especially after spending all night up. We were then given 6 hour at the hotel to rest before our pickup second night in the row at 11pm for Ijen hike. I had a quick dinner and managed 4h sleep before my alarm went off.

IJEN

After being picked up and driving for about an hour we arrived at the starting place for Ijen hike. We were given a snack and a hot drink and given a small briefing on how to use gas masks when we will hike down in the crater. After fearing the cold from the previous night, I decided to rent a warm jacket for about $7 but in all honestly it was not needed as we were hiking all night and staying warm that way.

The first part of the hike is around 2h on a steep and muddy uphill road. I found it moderately challenging and mostly due to lack of sleep. But it ended very quickly. You can rent 2 local guys that will wheel you up in a vehicle everyone calls ‘Lamborghini’ but I personally think it is unethical. 

After reaching top of Ijen volcano we visited toilet and then made our way now down in the crater. It was still dark and we needed a headlamp that we were given at the start of the journey. Mine stopped working after 10 min so I had to use flash light on my phone. You also have to wear a gas mask going in the crater. I read before that the clothing absorbs the sulphur smell and is hard to wash out, however I did not find it true - it did not smell that strong after and washed out easily. Apparently jewellery also tarnishes so I took mine off. The hike down is again moderately challenging and very rocky. The route is busy so you end up waiting in a line a lot too. 

Once we got down to the bottom, the smoke from the cracks that produced toxic gases became much thicker and was surrounding us. But the most beautiful part of this hike is where the cracks are (and the most smoke) - blue lava phenomena that can only be seen in a very few places in the world and only at night. We were briefed what to do when a smoke blows towards us (which happens about every 2min) - cover the filers, turn around and do not take deep breaths. Of course, I failed to do so - I turned away, covered the filers and my eyes but took a deep breath and ended up inhaling the toxic gases. It felt horrible. In all honestly, it is very hard to get up close to blue lava and see it as you have to be able to put up with these toxic gases making you cry and cough. So I ended up seeing blue lava for a minute before I could not bare being there anymore and wanted to get out and get some fresh air.

The hike up takes about an hour and is again, moderately challenging. It is a lot of people there so you cannot really do it in your own speed. After reaching the top of the crater rim, the sun started coming out and I watched another beautiful sunrise over Ijen. The crater has a milky blue lake and you can see where the smoke is coming out from. 

Both experiences were once of the most beautiful natural wonders I have seen and totally worth 2 sleepless nights.

The hike down was roughly an hour and after enjoying breakfast we had an option to be dropped off at the port to get to Bali or Malang/Surabaya. I was flying home so I was driven to Surabaya which took 6 hours.

MALANG

I also wanted to mention Malang, where I spent 2 days before visiting volcanoes. It is known to be tourist spot in East Java, however I did feel like it was one of the least touristy places I have visited. Most of the time I was the only non-local and I did not find many thing to do in Malang. I did visit Jodipan, however my Uber driver scared me slightly saying ‘be careful’ so I ended up not going into villages. Jodipan are colourful villages separated by the river.

A great place I wanted to recommend for Thai curry in Malang is SaigonSan restaurant.

TOURS

• Tempak Sewu tour with ‘Explore our Indonesia’ on Get Your Guide £26

• Mt Bromo and Ijen with ‘Bromotrail’ on Viatour £140 for 2 day trip