5D4N Bromo & Ijen - May 2012 Part II

Part II - Mount Ijen

After the incident at Bromo, our driver was more careful and time conscious. We checked in at Arabica Homestay and was pleasantly surprised by the coolness of the temperature there. The next morning we were given a packed breakfast consisting of a hard boiled egg and toasted bread to eat on the journey to Ijen.

This is the starting point of Ijen hike. We had to sign an indemnity letter at the Ijen office before we start the hike.

This is a tough hike as the walk is almost 45 degrees uphill all the way. It took us about 90 minutes to walk to the peak. I had to stop about 3 times to rest my legs and catch some breath. On the way up, we also saw many of the workers carrying the heavy sulphurs down hill. Sometimes you will see the baskets of sulphur on the road. Be warned if you want to snap their pictures. Some of them do not like it, some will ask you for money for taking their pictures and some just gladly pose for you.

 

Halfway through the hike, you will come to this hut which is the place where the workers will have their baskets of sulphurs weighed and paid accordingly.

 

The scenery uphill is very beautiful. Unlike Bromo that is sandy and dusty, Ijen's air is fresh (before the peak, of course).

 

 


When you reached the peak, you will smell the sulphur. It was really a rewarding experience when you reached as the scenery and landscape was very beautiful. Just enjoy the pictures below and try to imagine the real thing that you will be seeing. It's awesome!

 

 

The Ijen crater.

 

I love this panaromic picture that I took of Ijen.

The sulphurs collected by the workers.

Tourists sitting around the crater admiring the views. We are not allowed to go down to the crater as it is very dangerous. You will see many workers carrying heavy baskets of sulphur coming up from the crater. Their job is very harzardous. Not only it is very heavy and strenous on their shoulders and back, if they are not careful, they will fall into the crater. Also, it is very unhealthy to be smelling the sulphuric air. This, is their daily life to earn a living.

A close up look at the sulphur. Despite warnings, there are just some tourists who are happy to take risk and go all the way down.

As we hiked down, there are still people who are coming up. We also saw a guy who was resting halfway and decided to give up the walk so we showed him the pictures taken and encourage him to continue walking. I hope he did!

Well, if you ask me to choose between Bromo and Ijen, it's quite an easy answer. Of course it is Ijen. I like it here because of the views and purer air :-). Also because of the cooling temperature.

5D4N Bromo & Ijen - May 2012 Part I

 

Part 1 - Bromo

 

It all started very well during the first few months that I corresponded with Lintang Buana tour operator for enquiries and tour arrangements. I could not find any negative report on them online and I was happy with their service as they were very prompt in answering queries and provided all the information that we required. On the arrival day, the driver was also punctual in picking us from the airport. We booked a 3D2N tour from Surabaya covering Bromo and Ijen.

We arrived at Bromo Permai Hotel at around midnight. It was a direct journey to Bromo Permai the moment we landed at Surabaya around 8pm. You can find the review on the hotels that we stayed in the hostel section. Before we checked in to our room, we asked the driver the time to get ready the next morning. At this time, I find it weird that I had to initiate the question instead of being told because usually when we hire the driver for the full journey, the driver will make sure that we are ready at a certain time. So since he didn't say anything and the next morning was really important to us as we have arranged to view the sunrise at Bromo, we asked and he told us to get ready by 5.30am the next morning. I wasn't sure whether it was the right time as I have read at countless blogs that we have to leave around 4am to be in time for the sunrise as there are some climbing to do at the spot. Moreover, our itinerary mentioned 3am. Anyway we trusted him so the next morning we were already waiting for him at 5.30am but he was not there. We waited till 5.45am and there was still no sight of him. At that time, we already saw many people leaving for Mount Bromo in jeeps. We had to ask the hotel security to look for our driver and he finally showed up after a while. Apparently, he overslept. We asked for our jeep which we have paid for and he told us there is no jeep as all have been fully booked the night before. We were shocked. Then he said he will send us there. After about 5 minutes drive we reached this place but it doesn't look like the place that we were supposed to be to see the sunrise. We asked around and was informed that it is Tigen and not Mount Bromo. We were quite mad so we went back to the car and demand to go to Mt Penanjakan next. Actually at that time it was already very bright and we had missed the sunrise. We showed him the itinerary given to us and told him we had paid for the jeep. Then only he drove around, found us a jeep, said something to the guy and the guy transferred us to Mt. Penanjakan.

This was the "Bromo sunrise" that we saw from the location called Tigen! You can imagine how mad we were.

This is Mount Penanjakan.

The "emergency driver" that took us there was not authorised to enter this area so he had to stop at a distance away and we either walked to the foot of the mountain ourselves or take a paid ponny ride. We decided to walk. The driver told us that he will meet us at the same spot after our ride and then he drove off.

Mount Penanjakan is very beautiful. It was also very very dusty and sandy. Remember to bring a scarf or cloth to cover your face as you walked up.

Here you will see many people offering you pony rides for a price if you are lazy to walk up. The walking is a little tough as you are walking uphill on sandy path and you have to cover yourself from the sand and dust all the time. It is still doable though, just go slow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After our hike, we had trouble looking for the jeep driver and about 15 minutes later he found us and told us that jeeps cannot access the whispering savannah and we have to go by motorcycles. We have no choice but to believe him as we were at his mercy that time. Our driver was not there and we had to deal with this "sub-agent". Our itinerary clearly covers the jeep ride to the savannah. On our way there we saw many jeeps entering and leaving the savannah and it was the most horrible ride as it was so dusty! Imagine I had to ride a motorcyle on a bumpy path trying to hang on to my dear life with one hand on the rider, another hand on my camera and with my head as low as possible to cover myself from the wind and sand. It was such a painful and horrible experience.

Anyway, thank God the motorcycle guys who were the sub-agents of the sub-agent did not leave us stranded at the savannah and sent us back to the hotel. We did not stay long at the savannah as there was nothing special about it. It was just a piece of empty grassland as you can see from the pictures below. So you may skip this.

Indeed we were very upset with Lintang Buana's arrangement. We had arranged much earlier, paid for the jeep, confirmed that everything was in order before we left our country only to be transferred from one agent to another agent, without the jeep and missed the sunrise at Penanjakan. We have also written to them to inform them of our disappointment but obviously we did not receive a reply from them at all. Not even a note of apology!

 

Next is Mount Ijen and it was a different experience all together.

 

River City Inn, Singapore

This is the 4th hostel that I have stayed in Singapore and this time round I chose to stay at Clark Quay since the location of the last few hostels was at Chinatown. I was there for the Safari Zoo Run and only need to stay for a night. I chose this place as the review on the hostel was good, location wise the Clark Quay station is one stop before the Chinatown MRT station so in a way it's one station nearer to my destination and this hostel has a female dorm. Unfortunately it's a 9 bed female dorm but surprisingly it is not that cramp.

To reach the hostel, just follow the directions on the hostel's website and it is faily easy to find. Once you exit the MRT station, it is the Central Mall. There are some food shops at the lower ground of Central Mall. From here it is about 3 minutes walk to the hostel which is opposite the MRT station or opposite the Central Mall.

This is Hong Kong Street where the hostel is located. It is on the 4th floor of the yellow building on your right as you walk on Hong Kong Street.

The signboard to the hostel is clearly seen at the ground floor of the yellow building. Directly opposite River City Inn hostel is the City Backpacker Hostel so for those of you travelling in a big group and could not find enough beds to accommodate all of you at River City Inn, you may try the City Backpacker Hostel and you still get to be close to one another :-).

Be warned. There is no lift here. If you have heavy luggage then you need to be mindful that you have to walk up the stairs with your heavy luggage to the 4th floor. The hostel is painted in orange wall.

This is the reception as you enter the hostel. The first impression was, "wow this place is very small".

I was greeted by the staff and was offered a drink while they check me in. Behind the reception counter is the washroom, bathroom and the laundry area.

That's the small hangout area.

Another view of the hangout area and the dining place. You will note that the pictures are very dark. That's because the lights in the hostel are switched off because there are no guests around in the afternoon. The entire place was dim and dark when I arrived and I don't feel homey at all. Well, you may say that they are saving energy which is good.

That's the water dispenser and the mini kitchen.

Two computers are provided for guests to use.

That's the 9 bed female room. The lower bunk has a small curtain for privacy. Each bed is provided with a small light and an additional power point for use. The room and bed is clean and comfortable. However, I find the blanket a little small. I am 5 ft tall and when I pulled the blanket up my shoulder, it is not enough to cover my feet.

Each bed is also assigned a room locker and the locker key comes with the hostel access card.

The hostel also sells drinks at very reasonable price.
 

This is the laundry area and the luggage storage area. It's a little messy. If you need to check out early but have a late flight, you may keep your luggage here and collect it later.

The rows of washroom and bathrooms. Each has 3 and are very clean.

Here's the address and direction to the hostel. Happy holidaying!