Bromo in the 90s

My trip around the equator would officially begin in Bontang on Kalimantan.

But to get there from Bali meant travelling west to Java and catching a ferry from Surabaya, the capital of East Java.

Which was all well and good. Except that I kept getting distracted along the way. 

My first distraction was Mount Bromo.

Or to be more precise, the view from Mount Penanjakan of Mount Bromo. 

This is where you get the classic view … across the ‘Sea of Sands’ towards Mount Bromo and four other volcanoes.

Best viewed at sunrise, of course. So I stayed overnight at the village nearest Mount Bromo, Cemoro Lawang.

The next morning I joined the crowds shuffling along the path up the side of Mount Penanjakan in the predawn darkness.

You could hire a horse to take you to the top, but I chose to walk. I don’t remember it being particularly strenuous.

Sod’s Law, of course. 

But the fog did clear on the way back down.

To be honest, that’s when I took most of these photos.

If I was visiting again, I’d probably go in the morning or afternoon.

Who am I kidding?

I’d probably go at dawn, convinced that the valley would be clear of fog and the sunrise particularly spectacular.