Bromo Buddies

After my awesome american friends went home and I said goodbye to my surrogate Chinese family, I returned to Singapore a little sad. Part post-vacation blues, part home-sickness. But as soon as I landed, I checked my email and was surprised by a message that cheered my ass up instantly. While I was gone, my two awesomest Australian friends booked us a trip to Surabaya for an upcoming long weekend. Where the hell is Surabaya? Excellent question. One I had myself but was too proud to admit. Thank you Google for making me look less stupid.

According to my artificial internet intelligence, Surabaya is the second largest city in Indonesia and the capital of the province of East Java. I could tell you more, but it’s probably easier to just link you to my source. But don’t spend too much time learning about Surabaya, because we weren’t there long. As soon as we landed we hopped in a van and drove four hours towards Mount Bromo. We arrived to our “hotel” around 7pm and almost instantly realized that we had all under-packed and underestimated what 18 degrees celsius would feel like. To my American followers, that’s about 64 degrees (thanks again, Google). And I know what you’re thinking, because I thought it too. 64 degrees is not cold!! In Chicago, we’d be throwing back tropical drinks in our flip flops and cut-off jean shorts. But, I’m afraid Singapore has made me soft. I wore 2 pairs of socks, 2 pairs of pants and almost every shirt I had packed to bed that night.

But, it didn’t really matter. We didn’t have much time to sleep. We got a 3 am wake up call, climbed in a 4WD and headed up to Mount Penanjakan to watch the sunrise over Mt Bromo, an active volcano that erupted last in 2011. It was another experience I will never forget. The scenery was breathtaking. The people were so happy and friendly. The village streets were lined with fresh fruit stands, misty mountains and rice fields. It felt like we were walking through a fairytale. Honestly, if you live out here and  want to do something totally different. Go to Mt. Bromo. You won’t regret it. If you don’t live out here and want to visit, I’ll go back with you. Once you see these pictures, you’ll understand why.    My Bromo buddies were much braver than me. They climbed up the side of this volcano while I clung tightly to the railing nearby. But, someone had to take the photo, right?

Speaking of photos. We felt a bit like local celebrities because everyone kept asking if they could get their pictures taken with us. Not bad for the old ego 🙂

  After we climbed a volcano, we hiked up to a waterfall. In the same day. Yes, we kicked life’s ass that weekend. Thank you, Briyah and Andrew, for another amazing adventure.