Mount Bromo

Mount Bromo, Indonesia

The smoking cone of Mount Bromo at sunrise seen from Mount Penanjakan, Indonesia.

Go before dawn to watch the sun lift over a smoking caldera and a sea of sand, then walk across the ash to the crater.

The place

Mount Bromo is an active volcano in East Java, Indonesia, and the most active and best-known peak of the Tengger mountains. At 2,329 m (7,641 ft) it is not the highest summit in its range, which surprises many visitors who expect the tallest point to be the famous one. The cone rises from the middle of a flat expanse called the Sea of Sand, known locally as Segara Wedi or Lautan Pasir. That plain has been a nature reserve since 1919 and now lies within Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park. The name comes from the Javanese way of saying Brahma, the Hindu god of creation. Near the crater mouth stands an idol of Ganesha, worshipped by Javanese Hindus, so the mountain is a pilgrimage site as well as a viewpoint.

Most people base themselves in the village of Cemoro Lawang on the caldera rim. From there you can walk to the volcano in about 45 minutes, or join a jeep tour, which is how most visitors reach the Mount Penanjakan viewpoint at 2,770 m (9,090 ft). Walking is another way to get to Penanjakan, taking roughly two hours. It suits anyone who wants to set off early and skip the jeep convoy. Before sunrise the air is thin and cold, and the jeeps leave in the dark, so pack a warm layer even if the afternoon feels mild.

The landscape is grey and ochre volcanic grit rather than green, with the caldera walls rising behind. It is an unusual place to spend a day, and the crowds shape the experience as much as the scenery does.

Its story

Mount Bromo has a history of short, sharp eruptions. In 2004 an eruptive episode killed two people who were struck by rocks thrown out by the explosion, a reminder that the rim is never a place to linger without thought. Years later the monitoring picture changed again. On 23 November 2010 the Indonesian Centre of Volcanology and Geology Hazard Mitigation raised the status to alert, after tremors grew stronger and shallow earthquakes began under the mountain. Residents and visitors were told to keep three kilometres from the caldera, and refugee camps were set up for those who had to leave.

The volcano began to erupt violently on 26 November. By 29 November the aviation authority had closed Malang's Abdul Rachman Saleh Airport until 4 December, and the government volcanologist Surono reported ash columns rising some 700 m into the sky. The caldera stayed off-limits to visitors for the rest of 2010. Activity did not settle quickly. In late January 2011 the Tengger caldera was still erupting in fluctuating bursts.

The mountain also has older roots in belief. Each year the Tenggerese people climb to the caldera during the Hindu festival of Yadnya Kasada and throw offerings of fruit, rice, vegetables, flowers and livestock into the crater for the mountain gods. The ritual goes back to a legend from the fifteenth century. For a visitor, the story is more than a record of lava. It explains why the crater is treated with respect, even by people who came only to see the sunrise.

What to see

Culture

Mount Bromo sits inside a living Hindu landscape, and the Tenggerese people who live in the villages around it are its keepers. Each year, on the fourteenth day of Yadnya Kasada, they climb to the caldera and throw offerings of fruit, rice, vegetables, flowers and livestock into the crater for the mountain gods. The ritual is rooted in a fifteenth-century legend, and the festival runs for about a month around Pura Luhur Poten on the sand plain. The temple's black stone is a local choice, and it ties the ceremony to the land itself. Many Tenggerese families live in villages such as Ngadisari and Wonokitri, and visitors who come for the view often pass through streets where the mountain is part of everyday life. Ceremonies are religious occasions rather than shows, so the people you see are often praying rather than performing. Watch quietly and ask before you take a photograph. Do not photograph people at prayer without asking first.

What to wear

Mount Bromo is cold before dawn and dusty by midday, so what you wear needs to work for both. The traditional dress of the Tenggerese is worth seeing at ceremonies and in village life, but the sources I drew on do not describe its cut or cloth in detail, so ask a local guide before you buy anything sold as costume. Across Java, batik cotton is the everyday textile that many people wear to religious events and to work, and sarongs are common at Hindu temples across the island. In the villages around the caldera most people dress in ordinary modern clothes: jeans, jackets, and warm layers in the early morning. For your own packing, bring a windproof jacket and a fleece, because the jeep ride up is cold even on clear days. Long trousers and covered shoulders suit temple visits. Closed walking shoes with good grip work better than sandals on the volcanic grit and the steps to the rim. A light sarong or scarf helps at temples where you may be asked to cover your legs.

What to eat

Plan it

Best time. Aim for June to September, the driest months, when the weather is most likely to hold for a pre-dawn start, though the nights are also the coolest of the year. Cloud and rain can hide the caldera at any time of year, so build in a spare morning in case the first one is grey.

How long. 2–3

Getting there. Fly into Surabaya's Juanda Airport (SUB), which has frequent domestic flights and some international ones, or into Malang's Abdul Rachman Saleh Airport (MLG), which is closer. Trains link Surabaya with Jakarta, Semarang, Yogyakarta and Banyuwangi, but the national park is not on the rail network, so the last leg is by road, usually by jeep to Cemoro Lawang.

Budget. mid

Tips

Etiquette

Nearby

Sources