With two backpacks and two passports in our possession, we were ready for our trip through Java. Our minibus left Kuta at 10 am and then we spent the next 5 hours driving to the north of Bali. We passed through some nice countryside and past lots of beaches, confirming our suspiscion that Kuta is not the best bit of Bali! It was comfortable, newish bus and there was only us two and two Indonesian ladies on it, giving us plenty of room to stretch out. We then had to make a boat crossing to Java. The straits were very narrow and we could easily see the other side, less than a mile away.

I was pretty grateful that Java was so close, as the boat did not look like a good option. It had huge rust holes all over it. We chose our seats carefully, on the open deck and next to the life jacket stores! I was confident I could easily swim the distance anyway. The boat then set off, and it was probably the slowest boat I have ever been on. It took over an hour to make the crossing!

The safest seat on the boat

When we got to the other side we got back on the bus and carried on. The driver mentioned something about stopping for food, but several hours later we were still driving. Eventually, at 5pm we made our ‘lunch stop’. After a twenty minute break we hit the road again though, and other than making a short stop to drop the ladies off, we carried on driving for several more hours. Our first destination was Cemoro Lawang, a little village at the bottom of Mount Bromo. The village is very high up, and the final hour of the 12 hour journey was spent winding up and up narrow mountain roads. When we arrived, our driver found us a homestay for the night and was delighted to tell us it had hot showers. When we got out of the bus we realised way – its pretty chilly this high up!

We went to bed straight away and set the alarm for 03:30. It felt like we’d only just drifted off when the alarm went off and there was a loud knock at the door, telling us it was time to get up. We tried to wrap up as warm as we could, which basically involved wearing most of our clothes on top of each other, and set off up the hill to Mount Bromo. Mount Bromo is an active volcano, which contstantly pours out white, sulphurous smoke.

Outside our homestay there were queues of jeeps, ready to take people on a tour and to see the sunrise. We are budget backpackers though, so we set off on foot. We were quickly joined by another couple, Cat and Graham. The four of us set off in the right direction, but quickly lost the path in the pitch black. Several times we asked motorbike drivers for directions, only for them to send us the wrong way and then drive past a few minutes later, offering us a lift in the right direction. Eventually we just ignored them and set off in a straight line to the volcano. Who needs paths anyway?!

It was chilly at 03:30!

Dawn was breaking as we reached the bottom of the volcano. We had crossed across what can only be described as a lunar landscape. We then climbed up the volcano to watch the sun rise. It was very beautiful, although our enjoyment was punctuated by the frequent sulphurous burps emitted from Mount Bromo!! The smell took our breath away and made our eyes burn. I can highly reccomend doing this trip on foot, as there were only six of us at the top to watch the sun rise. It was perfect.

Once the sun had risen, the four of us headed back to the village to have a nice breakfast and a hot shower. By 06:30 we were ready for the next bit of the adventure, and sat reading in the sun, surrounded by beautiful mountains for a couple of hours until the minibus came to collect us.

The next stop was to be Yogyakarta, 250 miles away. This time we had an almost full minibus. The main road through Java is single carriageway, crawling with very, very slow lorries. The 250 mile journey took 14 hours, so we averaged a speed of 17 mph – pretty tedious.