My First Trip Ever After The Pandemic: Bromo Mountain, East Java

Hey, yo! It's been a while since my last story here. When I bought a DIY candle kit, I was determined to write here often. And then voila! Four months later, I didn't even write a single thing here. Lol

But now I'm back! I'm planning to make another journey next week and I need to clean up my phone's gallery. Then I found these pictures!

My trip to Bromo Mountain was a dream comes true. Ever since I was in college, I have always wanted to go there but I never had a chance. After the pandemic, I lost my fain of going anywhere. All I want is to stay in my comfy nest and survive. After almost two years, finally, I need to go outside. I need to come back home, to my parent's home in Central Java. I live in Jakarta by the way.

It was very safe and I gain the courage to do another trip. Even though I said "my first trip ever", it's not fully true. I went to Bandung before, but not for holiday. So it's my first holiday trip ever after the pandemic. It happened in early June. Two months ago.

From where I live, I need to take a bus to Semarang, the capital city of Central Java. And from there, I can ride a train to Malang, East Java. My train departure was at 17.30 and I arrived at Tawang Station, Semarang, around 2 hours earlier. So I decided to buy a cup of coffee and wander around. Anyway, this station is in the famous "old city", it's worth visiting.

The journey from Semarang to Malang takes about 9 hours. When we arrived at Malang Baru Station, it was still dark. Luckily, an old acquaintance of my parents was willing to pick me up and I was able to rest at his house until I can check in to my hostel.

I met my old friend there. Malang was a great place to holiday. Not only mountains, but they also have so many beautiful beaches, and THE THEME PARKS! I must be honest, I'm kinda overwhelmed by lots of attractions and good places to visit here haha. Four days is definitely not enough.

My trip to Bromo started at 00.01 WIB. I bought the trip online, and my hotel's owner (who is also a travel agent) told me that they can give me a cheaper price if I bought from them :(. How could I know, dude? I bought it for Rp375.000 or around $25.

They pick me up in the middle of the night, we drive to the meeting point in a comfy city car. It's only one hour, and I'm trying so hard to sleep, but I can't. After they drop me off, I need to wait for my jeep which will be brought me to Bromo Mountain.

Say hi to my beautiful jeep!
The journey was awesome! When I was so much younger, my best friend had a jeep. We often travel around with that. But it's different! It's still freaking dark, and the route to the top is very difficult and stressful. It was like being on a jet coaster without knowing what the track was like.

Plus, we are in Indonesia. We don't believe in a seat belt.

I can't even describe it. I can't take a picture because it's impossible. It's dark and I don't know how the driver knows "how to not bring us free fall into the abyss" with that speed. I sit behind him and I can't see anything. Except for the jeep behind us.

We finally land at one of the top three "sunrise views" in Bromo. It's still 4 pm and we need to walk up for around 20 minutes. When I said that I want to go to Bromo, people warn me to bring a warm suit and blanket because it's very cold and I can get hypothermia. Well, it's cold, but it's only 3 degrees Celcius and I, surprisingly, can handle it very well without a blanket and even a jacket.

Living alone makes me comfortable in a cold place. Like my heart.

Anyway I'm so lucky that I can get a good spot. I rent a mat for $1 just to mark my territory. But it doesn't work at all. Right after the sun rose, people went crazy.

Here is what you expect to see

But this is what I see behind the camera

I met a rude mother who keep pushing me. She stepped on my bread! But the worst thing is: she's trying to stuff her family members into where I was standing, onto my mat. The danish man in front of me even jumped out of the guardrail being pushed by her.

I usually act like a gentleman. I will give my best spot to old people and kiddos, especially women. I'm not trying to be gender biased, but I will give my spot to anybody who is shorter than me, and usually, it's a woman. But this lady made me a little bit pissed off.

It's supposed to be a sunrise, but somehow, because of wrong settings on my camera phone, it looks like sunset

After so much effort and muscle, thankfully, I can still get a bunch of good photos

The trip doesn't end yet. After the sun rose, we moved to the next destination. It's called Lembah Widodaren or in English, it means "The Valley of Angels". I don't really remember why. I just remember that even though they called it "valley" it's actually a mountain.

We're not climbing this mountain. We only enjoy the view from an open and spacious area. You can climb that mountain, but it's not on my package. Also, I don't have enough energy for that.

The next destination was Bromo Crater. If it's a meal, I can say that it is the main course. And I missed that main course. The jeep was parked, and I see nothing except humans, horses, tents, jeeps... and of course the view of the mountains that I had seen earlier. But I can't see the crater.

I almost cried when I asked the driver and hear his answer...

"You see that board?"
"Uh, yeah?"
"Just go straight around 30 minutes, then you will find a shrine, then you can climb the stairs right to the crater."
"Is that far?"
"Hmm not really. You can see that," he pointed in one direction.
But again, I can only see humans, horses, tents, jeeps... My leg's muscles shaking. I'm really tired.
"If you don't want to walk, you can ride the horse for around $15," he said.
I know, I said that I will think about it, but deep inside my mind, I know exactly that I won't go there. Maybe later, someday, but not that day.

So here I am. Do nothing except try to gain my energy. I'm sleepy and hungry

The last place that we visited is called "Teletubbies Valley". Yes, you are right. It comes from the famous kids' show, Teletubbies. It's a British series, but also popular in Indonesia. If you asked me why they called it "Teletubbies Valley"? The answer is: I don't know.

Maybe because it looks like a valley where Teletubbies lives? But I can be sure of one thing: there are lots of places in the world that are named "Teletubbies Valley". And each has different vibes or scenery even though they have the same name.

Is anybody know where is the real Teletubbies Valley?

Bad picture, I just realized that I didn't take the picture of the valley haha. Can you see the green hill on the left? Yap, that's Teletubbies Valley

I was only there for less than 15 minutes I guess before it rains. If it rains, the track will be more dangerous. The trip ends at noon. I arrived at my hostel at 11.30 and they only give me 15 minutes to pack my things and check out.

Anyway that day, I was supposed to take my leaves, but my teammates got COVID-19. So I need to back up his work even though it was in the middle of my holiday (and that's why I felt exhausted). Right after I packed my bag and checked out, I had a series of meetings before driving to the bus terminal and heading to my parent's house.

I give you a bonus!

All pictures were taken by my old Samsung Galaxy A6 (2018). I really want to buy a new phone, any suggestion?