Today we started the day in complete darkness – already at 3 o’clock at night our guide was waiting for us in front of the Bromo Permai Hotel with a jeep. Our destination was the viewpoint at Mount Penanjakan for the sunrise at Mount Bromo.
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Mount Bromo – Things to know
Bromo is a stratovolcano on the Indonesian island of Java. The 2329 m high volcano is the youngest crater of the Tengger Volcano massif and one of the most active volcanoes in Java. It is located in the Bromo-Tengger-Semeru National Park and is a popular tourist destination.
Best view point for sunrise at Mount Bromo
In really cold temperatures we started our drive to our lookout point at Mount Penanjakan. On the descent there was a lot of thick fog over the village. So we were more than unsure if we would see a great sunrise today. The 50-minute drive went through thick clouds of fog and over bumpy and sandy paths. When we went up to Mount Penanjakan, the fog blanket suddenly lay beneath us and we had a completely clear view.
For the sunrise at Mount Bromo there are 2 known viewpoints. One is the Gunung Penanjakan, which is located at 2,770 meters above sea level at the top of Mount Penanjakan. This is the most famous vantage point and is therefore approached by most tour operators and jeeps. Accordingly, one should be prepared for the fact that especially on weekends and holiday periods a lot of visitors come and from a morning idyll does not stay much and it can get very crowded. We have found here what the whole thing can look like in the worst case:
Our guide has therefore suggested that we go to the slightly lesser-known viewpoint at the King Kong Hills. This is a little lower (2,600 meters), but is not quite as crowded as the vantage point at the top of the Penanjakan. And the views are at least as fascinating 🙂
Mount Bromo in the dark
Around 4 o’clock in the morning we arrived at the Bukit King Kong lookout point, secured a good place and waited for the sun to rise in cold 5 degrees and a hot tea. Thick winter clothing is therefore highly recommended! But even in the dark there was already a lot to discover: a mad starry sky and a great view of the Milky Way. And thanks to 20 seconds of long exposure, even shooting stars become clearly visible. For taking pictures it is definitely recommended to have your own tripod with you, which we unfortunately could not take with us due to our weight savings for the world trip…
Mount Bromo, the Tengger-Kaldera and the valley were only visible in outlines at the beginning. In addition, you can see the lights of the many jeeps.
And then the sky slowly became brighter and brighter… Smoking Mount Bromo is an active volcano – not the highest mountain in the massif, but the most famous. Now we could also see its smoking crater very well. In the foreground is Mount Batok and in the background also the much larger stratovolcano Gunung Semeru (3,676 meters) eated some steam. It is considered one of the most beautiful, but also one of the most active and dangerous volcanoes in the world. Since 1800 there have been more than 50 outbreaks,including 10 larger ones. You could see how the dense fogwe drove through this morning still lies in the caldera of the volcano.
The sunrise at Mount Bromo
Around 5.30 a.m. the sun finally rose on the horizon and plunged the mountain range (and us) into a warm red light. The view on this beautiful morning was simply breathtaking!
Until 6 o’clock we enjoyed the view before we went down again into the valley.