Bromo in slo-mo.

Hi folks!

Right after the Penanjakan morning mist show, our guides took us to one of the main volcanoes that contributed to that show: Mount Bromo, Gunung Bromo in Indonesian:

During the dawn show, it was here:

So what can I say about it? This is getting a bit broken record, but… – it was yet another implausibly fantastical sight to behold! Satellite pics of it look… oh my Gunung, but up close it was simply… oh my GREATEST (caps intentional)!

Now, of all the many plusses regarding this volcano, one very practical and useful one is that it’s very accessible. You get driven up most of the way, then you just have to walk a kilometer-or-so, and then climb around 250 steps to the top. Easy peasy!

But if you don’t like the idea of those steps, you can go up on this here very comfortable mode of transport for a small fee:

Of course, tourists come here in their thousands and, alas, they like to drop trash. Folks drop it all over the world, I know; but here they seem to be particularly fond of doing so – even at such natural beauties as volcanoes. Grrr. You have to put on figurative litter-blinkers really to filter it all out and not let it annoy you.

Anti-garbage goggles duly donned, I concentrate on the beauty, not the ugly. And there’s far more beauty here than ugly :).

And the best way of seeing still more of the beauty is if you back up a bit:

Then continue onward a bit further…

The path up along the ridge of the crater is really something:

The views all around just continue to get more and more sensational. So I decided to continue round the rim of the crater alone, leaving the others at the main viewing stretch of path.

Hmmm – who’s that catching me up so energetically and surefootedly?

Aha! Of course – it could only be her: our group leader/guide/volcanic traveler extraordinaire – O.R.!

We carried on together in tandem round the crater path, the rest of our crew becoming tiny dots on the other side:

A bit further and the dots were too tiny to be seen at all:

Here’s the bonus O.R. and I got for our extra-curricular trekking: the old crater, invisible from the main tourist viewing point:

The view outward:

…And inward:

Bromo’s peak:

Time to head back round the crater:

Whoah! The path gets really thin on one stretch. Really as in – couldn’t physically be any thinner! Losing one’s step here… oh my, just imagine!

When the going gets tough…

… the tough get going use your hands as stabilizers :).

Taking photos along this extraordinarily treacherous path is extraordinarily treacherous:

Almost there…

We made it!

I switch to a x60 zoom; just a few more pics…

Whoah: x60 really works wonders at the very top:

A personal photographical tradition of mine: having my pic taken while pointing at something :).

Walking round volcanic craters is really cool, especially when they’re as massive as this one. Those who didn’t walk the rim only regretted it later ).

Btw, by the time we made it back to the others (after two hours or so) the weather had taken a turn for the worse. The sun disappeared behind a thick fog bringing visibility right down. Apparently, it does that. Accordingly, it’s the sunrises here that are the attraction, not the sunsets.

After sunrise:

Two hours later:

In summary:

1. Bromo – volcanism at its best, despite the tourists and their litter;
2. Bromo’s crater: undeniably must-walk!
3. Bromo’s best time: as early as possible after daybreak.

PS: Bromo was the fifth volcano on our Indonesian trip, leaving two still to go.

That’s it for today folks. But I’ll be back with more Indo-volco pics and narrative shortly…