MOUNT BROMO SUNRISE

The coveted Mount Bromo sunrise.

Adventurous (and fit) tourists manage to climb up to the viewpoint and then down to the crater in a day but we did it on two different mornings. While Shawn kept saying that he wouldn’t manage, I’m inclined to believe that he was being chivalrous. Who am I trying to kid? We missed the view point on the first day because of an unfortunate event. We got up late! It was too late to walk to any of the view points and definitely too late to watch the Mount Bromo sunrise in all its glory. If we look back at that day, we are glad that it happened that way, for we would have been too tired to climb up Bromo after the viewpoint. We also made a couple of friends along the way up. Friends that were with us till Ijen and friends who I doubt I will ever forget. The first day we got up at 4:30 AM which was way too late for the sun rises at 5. The second day we were up at 2. Now the morning air in the mountains is nippy at the mildest. Then again for an Indian born girl, anything below 10 0C is cold. So I bundled up with my scarf and a jacket. 5 minutes up the road I ditched the scarf and unzipped the jacket. Why? The climb is steep and your body does generate enough heat to keep you warm. Warm might be an understatement for I was sweating. At about half way up, we stopped for coffee. Our addiction to White Coffee had already been set in stone by then. There was a small hut in which an old lady provided all the adventurers with nourishment for a nominal fee.

Our friends were fit and they soon overtook us for their aim was to reach the highest viewpoint. Us? We wanted to see how far we would get. The route was confounding for the road suddenly gave way. In the dark we managed to find a stairway of sorts that lead upwards. Google maps was not of much use for it couldn’t pin point where we were with precision and your network range tends to drop the higher you go. Since everyone was taking the stairway up, we followed suit. We huffed and we puffed till we reached a small view pint with the shade of the tree. It was here we stopped for awhile. Some people continued to move onward but since the first tendrils of light began to creep out, we decided that we did not want to risk missing the sunrise. We had come so far with so much effort so we stopped. The number of people walking up had dwindled down to one or two. Every once in a while we could hear the sound of voices coming from above. It was nice sweet spot but what happened next was so hilarious that I still start laughing when I think of it. We finished clicking our photographs of the Mount Bromo sunrise. Shawn turned round and asked me if I wanted to go up to the viewpoint. I was game and so we started up the flight of steps. Imagine our surprise when we climbed the next twenty steps only to realize that the viewpoint was just above our heads. The viewpoint wasn’t very crowded. Only around fifteen people sat and watched the sun. Our little niche however had the privacy that we liked and best of all, it shielded us from the wind. Once up at the viewpoint, the layers were quick to come back on for a breeze at 5 oC can make you feel real cold.