Many travelers describe it as an unforgettable and evocative experience.
“To see the dawn of Mount Bromo, one of those unforgettable experiences…”
“What a wonderful adventure is to walk on the edge of the crater without protections…”
“The unforgettable view from the top repays all the efforts made to reach it…”
Stories like these have misled us, making us think of a tiring trek, like those we like, and then the reward: the view over one of the wonders of Indonesia.
Just forget about it. The sunrise and the excursion to Mount Bromo are the most touristy and crowded locations there can be in the whole island of Java.
First of all: let’s debunk the romantic myth of seeing the sunrise from Mount Bromo. The organizers of the excursion will force you to get up at 2.30 AM – 3 AM if you are lucky – and put you on jeeps that will stop in the traffic with other hundreds of tourists who, like you, had believed in the myth of this adventure. Finally, you will end up on a street full of shops opened at 3 AM where people will try to sell you souvenirs.
Once you reach the lookout point, forget about seeing the sunrise clearly. You will have to struggle with hundreds of other tourists who, for some reason, had arrived there before you or had camped there at night. In short, the result is that you will be very cold, and it’s also not even sure that you’ll see the dawn because of the frequent foggy conditions. The bright side is that you’ll have many new friends.
You will find those same friends while walking (I dare not call it trekking because it’s not) to the volcano.
Certainly, climbing to the top of an active volcano and looking out on the inside of its crater might seem reckless, but it’s not: it is an activity that dozens of ordinary tourists do every day. It is an hour long walk. Nothing particularly tiring. Of course, there is no path but a stepladder with a return lane. There is nothing adventurous, everything is very organized.
After all, we would have gladly avoided the night trip to go calmly there to enjoy the view in the late morning, perhaps without the crowds of people and perhaps with a little more of magic.
