Life, Travel, GRACE

This should be the last post for Java travel. Took a year to publish it. Must be not an exciting place you think. Well, it's historical. But now I'm not a big fan of temples (after visited Angkor Wat and Thai's temples, I think enough is enough).

Photos around the Borobudur temple....

From Kawah Ijen, we headed back to Probolinggo to catch a night bus to Yogjakarta. We arrived in Yogja before sun rise. So we had to wait for an hour more before the next itinerary. Nevertheless, we started our next itinerary despite had not had our morning shower. Hehe.... The first stop was in Borobudur. The temple itself can rival Angkor Wat complex. However, the latter has more bas reliefs and temples. Borobudur temple has nine storeys of platform which represents the Buddhist cosmology. And climbing up to the top platform is not that difficult. You can stop at each platform before proceed to the next level.

Many Javaneses depend on sulphur from Kawah Ijen for survival. Although there's coffee plantation at the foot hill, they choose to collect sulphur at the crater. The wage is not high and the job is quite seasonal. Perhaps it is one of the most dangerous jobs on earth. They don't wear any personal protective equipment. They have to carry the heavy load of sulphur stones from the crater mouth and up the hill and down to the foot hill. Each sulpur stone weighed at least 10kg. From the peak, it's about 200 metres descending towards the sulphur source. As I descended quite slow, so SY and the rest descended further. Mind you, the sulphur smell is extremely strong there. Below photos were taken with compact camera at the sulphur mine.

Probably we took three hours to get to this turquoise sulphur lake of Kawah Ijen. As it had less tourist, so it felt more personal and near to the nature. One could see the sulphur steam billowing from the crater. Smell of sulphur, you bet it.

And so we have completed Mt Bromo tour. From Cemoro Lawang, we came down to Probolinggo. The van would then dropped some people and picked up some. At the end of the day, there were 6 from Malaysia, 6 from France and 1 from Argentina, headed to Kawah Ijen. The journey to Kawah Ijen took one full day, considering we departed late. We met 2 Malaysian backpacker dudes and 2 ladies. Guess what, the dudes also had the same travel itinerary like us but in reverse. They started their trip from Yogjakarta and left from Surabaya. To get a different perspective view of Java, access the two dudes' blogs below. Xiaowei's blog Teh's blog to be continued...

and the journey continues... with lots of steps to climb... until you reach the top, this is what you get to see - the mouth of the volcano (or the vent).... not many stays long as sulfur gas aplenty... other locals present their offering to the deity... On the way down, it's another long journey...

The view of Mount Batok, which is just next to Mount Bromo Tourists brave through the dusty landscape. Slowly ascending and the Hindu temple is leaving far behind The east view (Note: too much flare in this shot) Stairway to the top of Mount Bromo

From Gunung Penanjakan, we descended and drove across the Sea of Sand. It's a vast area of sand, nothing but the sand (and some pebbles). From the drop point, where all the jeeps stop, we walked to the volcano. Alternatively, one can hire a horse ride. The fees decreases as you ascend higher. So bargain hard to get a good price. There's a Hindu temple at the mountain base. Not a major attraction though.

As sun rose higher, we descended from Gunung Penanjakan view point. While descending, we stopped at lower altitude and had a glimpse of the view.

This is the view of Mount Bromo (the one spewing smoke) and Mount Semeru (the highest peak at the background). On the lower left is the town of Cemoro Lawang where you will get a perfect view of the volcanoes at any time.

From Cemoro Lawang, took a jeep and headed to Gunung Penanjakan for the impressive sunrise. Penanjakan is the highest point on the outer crater. Reached there around 4am and felt freezing cold. The coldness numbed the fingers that I barely able to click the camera shutter release button. Should buy a pair of gloves from the local earlier.