Journey to the Crater of Bromo Mountain
Maybe it’s the thrill of new trips that pushes me to write—finishing old travel tales to share fresher ones with you. If I scooped up all the adventures from my blog, I’d have enough for 5 books—word count-wise, at least. No clue if any publisher would take them, haha! Back to Bromo Mountain—I’ve already told you how to get there, the time I lost my guide chasing sunrise at Bromo, and now I’ll walk you through climbing to the crater of Bromo Mountain. It’s like the end of a sci-fi flick about Earth’s doom, where humans wander off seeking new life…
The Path to Bromo Mountain’s Crater
From the sunrise and cloud-hunting spot at Bromo, you head down the mountain to a parking area pretty far from the base of Bromo and Batok Mountains to start the crater climb. From there, you’ve got two options to reach these side-by-side volcanoes: walk or ride a horse. Most tour packages toss in a horse ride—tame ones led by a guide strolling beside you. No sweat if it’s your first time on a horse; they don’t gallop, just plod along a path they know by heart from daily trips. No tour? No problem—there’s always plenty of horses to rent. Me? I went for the walk, soaking in the misty vibes even with the sun up high. From a distance, the sight of walkers and riders trudging along feels post-apocalyptic—like survivors after a world-ending war, victorious humans stepping out through lingering smoke to find a new start.
Before long, Batok Mountain and Bromo’s crater loom closer. Up close, they lose some of their distant charm, but their sheer size hits you hard, humbling any tiny human gazing up. The sun’s high, blazing down, yet morning fog still clings. Sunrays pierce the mist, sparking mini rainbows you can almost touch—or even smell.
That morning at Bromo, I ran into a group of Vietnamese travelers. We swapped Facebooks later and still keep up regularly. They flew from Singapore to Surabaya, then booked a tour straight to Bromo Mountain and Kawah Ijen’s acid lake. Pricey deal—the tour picks you up in Surabaya, drives to Probolinggo, then onto Bromo and Kawah Ijen, maybe even Bali after. But it’s all handled, A to Z, from the airport.
Time was tight for me, so I stuck to Bromo’s crater, skipping Kawah Ijen. That lake’s in Sempol village, 7,546 feet (2,300m) above sea level, with a 1,181-foot (361m) radius and 656-foot (200m) depth, holding 36 million cubic meters of acidic water. It’s green but shrouded in thick white smoke, feeling suffocating. The air’s harsh too, reeking of rotten eggs (sulfur’s H2S stench) thanks to a massive sulfur mine nearby. If you’ve got time, hit Kawah Ijen at dawn for the eerie blue glow off the lake.
Plus, I caught the eye of some Indonesian travelers. After hearing my Jakarta-to-Bromo tale, they treated me like a rockstar—snapping pics together. Some still chat with me on Facebook and Instagram.
Climbing Bromo Mountain’s Crater
Getting to Bromo’s crater is straightforward—there’s a steep but short staircase from the base right to the rim. When the volcano’s predicted to act up, they block it off 0.6-1.9 miles (1-3km) back, so no crater climb then. The rim’s flat but has no guardrails, so watch your step. Peer down, and you’ll see smoke still pouring out, thick with that rotten-egg sulfur stench—unbearable. Breathe too much, and you’ll get dizzy or woozy, so snap a few pics up there (5 minutes tops) and head down. Don’t linger.
That wraps the magical Bromo Mountain journey—sunrise, cloud-chasing, crater-climbing. By the time I finished, the sky was bright, clouds gone. You can swing by Lava Cafe in Cemoro Lawang village for a coffee, gaze back at Bromo from afar, and mull over the experience. For me, Bromo’s tale never gets old—I’ve told it a million times before blogging it for you. Hope you snag your own epic moments in Indonesia and Bromo. I’m off to my friend’s place to grab my stuff, hop a local bus downtown, hit the station, and catch a ride straight to Bali—Indonesia’s paradise.