Mount Bromo

Well, this is one volcano trip that needs a whole entry to itself. An experience from beginning to end - the beginning being another long journey. Kev and I played the usual game of 'freezing cold or boiling hot' before getting in our 'air-con' minibus . This one had us hot and sweaty within 5 minutes. After 10 hours we were not feeling at our best. Still, we made it to the office in Probolinggo (the jump off point for the volcano) in reasonable time and prepared to swap vehicles for the climb up. We waited. And waited. We had our tickets checked - and still we didn't move anywhere. Then we realised that one member of the group - a lone traveller - was having problems with his ticket. Despite having a big red 'Paid' stamp on it, the office were claiming he had not paid for the tour. We all pointed out that they would hardly have given him a ticket, let alone stamped it, if he hadn't, but they were adament. As was he. We then remembered the passage we had read in the Lonely Planet about all the problems that travellers experience in Probolinggo and how dishonest many people are. We looked at the group - two couples and on Aussie guy who spoke fluent Indonesian - and realised that the most vulnerable member of the group had been singled out . Before I really knew what was happening, a fight had broken out in the office between 5 of the staff and one of our group (not Kev...) - being the tough type that I am, I went and hid round the corner until it all stopped. I really just wanted to get to the volcano by now. Finally, the Indonesian-speaking-Aussie-guy managed to calm the situation and they decided that they would 'allow' the lone traveller to continue on his way. Kind of them.
So, the next stage of the journey began. On the way, our new driver admitted that he didn't think the men in the office were 'very honest' - and told us that they didn't even work there. Great. By this time it was getting dark and misty, and the driver wasn't exactly going slowly up the winding mountain road. I decided not to think about what kind of drop might be on either side of me. Then his lights went off. We thought back to the Lonely Planet and to stories of travellers having to pay extortionate amounts for rescue from fake breakdowns on this very road. But no, it turned out his light really had broken. Mountain road. Dark. Misty. Big drops. Solution? Driver holding a torch in one hand, steering wheel in the other and assuring us he knew these roads very well. Terrifying. Slight relief when we reached another vehicle and followed in it's lights for a while. Until we reached the first hotel, where everyone except Kev and I would be staying (not sure why). Here, we lost the vehicle we had been following, the town had a power cut so there weren't even a few houselights to hep us along and the driver decided to make a phone call. So, dark mountain roads, big drops, torch in one hand, phone in another. Steering wheel presumable somehow also being held but not sure how. Once he got off the phone, he asked if we were scared. I said yes. He laughed hysterically (and slightly manically). I have never been so glad to reach anywhere in all my life. The hotel was really nice. It was pretty cold (fleece weather - a novelty!), though not obviously by current UK standards. After a good dinner we went straight to bed, as we had a 4am start to catch sunrise and our first volcano view.
The next morning was even colder, and we dressed it fleeces, raincoats and Kev even bought a woolly hat. We will not be able to cope with coming home in February. We went in a jeep to the top of a neighbouring peak to Mount Bromo, which has stunning views of the volcano. If it's not too cloudy. It was far too cloudy and the most we saw was about 2 metres in front of us. At this point we were beginning to wonder if we should have bothered coming here in the first place. The jeep began it's descent, and suddenly the mist cleared. The first thing we saw was one of the surrounding volcanoes- inactive, and from the side of it, a huge plume of smoke rising into the air. As we drove down towards the base of Bromo, we saw it. A short volcano, yes, but possibly the most incredible sight I've seen since we began our trip. We hadn't realised until this point that it was actually erupting. No lava as yet, although it is one high alert. But not just small puffs of smoke that we had expected but huge, billowing smoke that seemed to fill the whole area. Just an incredible sight. We could walk pretty close to the base as the smoke was blowing in the opposite direction, and looked longingly at the steps leading to the rim of the crater (this is normally climbable). At this point, the smoke changed direction and we realised that anyone standing on the edge would, well, no longer be. We figured maybe we wouldn't try that.
After staring mesmorised at the sight for ages, we made our way back to our hotel. Strange to realised that we we staying on the crater edge of an old volcano, and that the whole area below us had formed form the centre of this. The smoke from Bromo came past our room, and the views form where we were staying were spectacular. We had to keep going back over to stare. Then the mist retutned, and bizarrely within 5 minutes you wouldn't even have known that volcano was erupting, it was that thick.
By the afternoon, it was time to take the bus back down the mountainside and make our long way to Bali, thankful that we had after all made the effort to see this incredible, rare sight. Also thankful that it was not dark so that it wouldn't matter if he had lights or not. As it happened, the drive down the mountain was if possible more frightening than the drive there, as it was pouring with rain, the driver didn't seem to get the idea of slowing down in bad conditions, he liked to overtake everything that came his way (on a narrow, wet mountain road), he also liked to talk on his phone whilst driving, and we nearly crashed twice. I found myself longing for the dark so I at least couldn't see the big drops. And so to Bali.

(more photos to come)