After having finally found a company to go to Mount Bromo with and onto Denpasar, I got picked up in a car rather than a bus. I should've expected this as it had been such a struggle to get a tour booked considering the minimum passenger number was two, but needless to say I was somewhat disheartened when the next stop picked up an older Spanish couple and no one else. My experience of Indonesia so far has been entirely devoid of meeting other backpackers. To a certain extent this has been a positive as I've chatted to the locals a bit more and Java hasn't been taken over by strips of bars. However, I wholeheartedly believe that people make an experience what it is, and frankly after two weeks in my own company I am gagging for some face to face banter. But things can only get better, and I cross my fingers for meeting a good bunch in Bali, which is far more backpacker friendly that the rest of Indonesia.

We drive for the entire day from Central Java to the hotel in East Java from where we will set off at 3am for our sunrise hike up to the viewing point to see Mount Bromo, among other volcanoes, in all their misty glory as the skies wake up. Wrapped up warm, we begin our ascent in the pitch black. While I've had the sense to bring a torch, others have not, so it's a case of trying to amble up with a few other people stumbled after you and the light of your torch. There are a few people that have got to be well into their sixties and I'm slightly concerned for some of their wellbeings as they look to be struggling a fair amount, which is totally understandable as it's no walk in the park. Sincerely hoping that there will be no heart attacks to mar what is sure to be a beautiful sunrise, we climb for nearly an hour to reach our destination. One of the first up, I manage to grab a good spot and whip out the camera to capture the start of the day.

The sunrise is stunning with its' changing colours gradually revealing a bit more of the mountain range, eventually lighting up Mount Bromo as smoke billows from the huge crater of the volcano which was caused by half of the volcano itself blowing off at one point. It's this crater that makes Mount Bromo the most talked about volcano in East Java, even though it's not the biggest. Unfortunately Bromo has been slowly erupting for some months and could experience a big eruption very soon or just decide to chuck some random rocks out so it's not possible to climb up to the rim of the crater. The sunrise over the volcano is fantastic enough for me so I'm not too disheartened. I notice that is it extremely early on a Saturday morning and at the very same time I've just hiked up to see some volcanoes at sunrise, everyone at home is forgetting the working week in a cocktail and wine induced state no doubt. It's a bizarre feeling; I feel lightyears away.