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Sunrise over mount Bromo

Sacred volcanos of Indonesia (Mount Bromo, East Java)

Mount Bromo

If the makers of Mad Max trilogy made it a tetralogy – Gunung (Mount) Bromo in East Java (Indonesia) is the place where they would film it. Mount Bromo and the surrounding 5 volcanoes make a perfect post apocalyptic scene. Smoking calderas, piles of ash and people wearing balaclavas everywhere.

View of the Bromo and surrounding volcanoes
View of the Bromo and surrounding volcanoes
Surreal landscape of Mount Bromo
Surreal landscape of Mount Bromo
Climbing up to the volcano
Man in a balaclava above the Hindu temple
Local Tengger tribe men
Local Tengger tribe lives in a village right next to the volcano
Girl walking on the Sand Sea
Walking on the Sand Sea

Sea of Sand

Mount Bromo is surrounded by a vast plain called Sea of Sand. If you want to get to the Bromo’s crater and peak inside you must cross this landscape of endless amounts of ash and sand.

Pura Poten Temple
Poten Temple sits just beneath the volcano
Pura Poten, Hindu temple devoted to god Brahma
Pura Poten, Hindu temple devoted to god Brahma
Gate at the temple
Mystical gate at the temple

Temple at the foothill of the volcano

In the middle of the Sand Sea, just perfectly positioned, stands a lonely Hindu temple, a very sacred place for the Hindus from all over Indonesia, particularly to the local Tengger tribe.

View of the Hindu temple at the foothill of mount Bromo
View of the Hindu temple at the foothill of mount Bromo
Climbing up to the caldera
Climbing up to the rim of the volcano

Volcano erupted in 2016

Mount Bromo (named after Brahma, the Hindu god of creation) is not the only volcano or even the tallest one in the area, but it is certainly the most famous one. It is also still active! It erupted in 2011. and then again in 2016.

Two men at the Bromo rim
At the Bromo rim
Girl looking over the rim of volcano
Peaking over the rim of Bromo into its fuming belly

Goats and chickens are offered as sacrifices

Local people as well as travelers climb up to the very edge where you can have a peak at the boiling sulfurous crater lake. During important ceremonial dates offerings of chickens, goats, bundles of veggies and money are thrown as an offering into the crater.

Mount Bromo and Mount Semeru at 4 am
Mount Bromo and Mount Semeru at 4 am

Don’t miss the amazing sunrise

Even if you are not a morning person it is definitely worth getting up at 2:30 am to climb up the viewpoint at the nearby Mount Penanjakan to witness the spectacular sunrise and unbelievable colors of Bromo and Mount Semeru. It is truly a unique experience.

Just wear something warm brrr.

Little old me freezing my ass off
Waiting for the sunrise and freezing my ass off 🙂