Part 1 - Bromo
It all started very well during the first few months that I corresponded with Lintang Buana tour operator for enquiries and tour arrangements. I could not find any negative report on them online and I was happy with their service as they were very prompt in answering queries and provided all the information that we required. On the arrival day, the driver was also punctual in picking us from the airport. We booked a 3D2N tour from Surabaya covering Bromo and Ijen.
We arrived at Bromo Permai Hotel at around midnight. It was a direct journey to Bromo Permai the moment we landed at Surabaya around 8pm. You can find the review on the hotels that we stayed in the hostel section. Before we checked in to our room, we asked the driver the time to get ready the next morning. At this time, I find it weird that I had to initiate the question instead of being told because usually when we hire the driver for the full journey, the driver will make sure that we are ready at a certain time. So since he didn't say anything and the next morning was really important to us as we have arranged to view the sunrise at Bromo, we asked and he told us to get ready by 5.30am the next morning. I wasn't sure whether it was the right time as I have read at countless blogs that we have to leave around 4am to be in time for the sunrise as there are some climbing to do at the spot. Moreover, our itinerary mentioned 3am. Anyway we trusted him so the next morning we were already waiting for him at 5.30am but he was not there. We waited till 5.45am and there was still no sight of him. At that time, we already saw many people leaving for Mount Bromo in jeeps. We had to ask the hotel security to look for our driver and he finally showed up after a while. Apparently, he overslept. We asked for our jeep which we have paid for and he told us there is no jeep as all have been fully booked the night before. We were shocked. Then he said he will send us there. After about 5 minutes drive we reached this place but it doesn't look like the place that we were supposed to be to see the sunrise. We asked around and was informed that it is Tigen and not Mount Bromo. We were quite mad so we went back to the car and demand to go to Mt Penanjakan next. Actually at that time it was already very bright and we had missed the sunrise. We showed him the itinerary given to us and told him we had paid for the jeep. Then only he drove around, found us a jeep, said something to the guy and the guy transferred us to Mt. Penanjakan.
This was the "Bromo sunrise" that we saw from the location called Tigen! You can imagine how mad we were.
This is Mount Penanjakan.
The "emergency driver" that took us there was not authorised to enter this area so he had to stop at a distance away and we either walked to the foot of the mountain ourselves or take a paid ponny ride. We decided to walk. The driver told us that he will meet us at the same spot after our ride and then he drove off.
Mount Penanjakan is very beautiful. It was also very very dusty and sandy. Remember to bring a scarf or cloth to cover your face as you walked up.
Here you will see many people offering you pony rides for a price if you are lazy to walk up. The walking is a little tough as you are walking uphill on sandy path and you have to cover yourself from the sand and dust all the time. It is still doable though, just go slow.
After our hike, we had trouble looking for the jeep driver and about 15 minutes later he found us and told us that jeeps cannot access the whispering savannah and we have to go by motorcycles. We have no choice but to believe him as we were at his mercy that time. Our driver was not there and we had to deal with this "sub-agent". Our itinerary clearly covers the jeep ride to the savannah. On our way there we saw many jeeps entering and leaving the savannah and it was the most horrible ride as it was so dusty! Imagine I had to ride a motorcyle on a bumpy path trying to hang on to my dear life with one hand on the rider, another hand on my camera and with my head as low as possible to cover myself from the wind and sand. It was such a painful and horrible experience.
Anyway, thank God the motorcycle guys who were the sub-agents of the sub-agent did not leave us stranded at the savannah and sent us back to the hotel. We did not stay long at the savannah as there was nothing special about it. It was just a piece of empty grassland as you can see from the pictures below. So you may skip this.
Indeed we were very upset with Lintang Buana's arrangement. We had arranged much earlier, paid for the jeep, confirmed that everything was in order before we left our country only to be transferred from one agent to another agent, without the jeep and missed the sunrise at Penanjakan. We have also written to them to inform them of our disappointment but obviously we did not receive a reply from them at all. Not even a note of apology!
Next is Mount Ijen and it was a different experience all together.
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