Gurung Bromo

I'll make this quick. We are in Lovina Beach now on Bali but overnighted in Cemoro Lawang on our way from Yogyakarta to Lovina a few days ago. What's in Cemoro Lawang you ask? it is home to Gurung Bromo, a volcano that is still active (the national park around it was closed because of an eruption a few months ago). We woke at 2am to make the trek to a mountain on the outskirts of the crater. Because we are near the equator sunrise was at 5:20am so we figured we should be there at 4:30. Lonely planet said it was a 2hour walk thus the 2am wake up. LP was wrong. We made it there in a little under an hour which means we were the first ones up there...by far. We arrived at the top a little before 3:30am and enjoyed the night. The sunrise, with Bromo in the background was spectacular and one of the most amazing sights I have ever seen. After watching the sunrise we hiked back to our homestay and took a nap (all before 9am). At 10:30 we went to the national park, hiked the 2km across the crater plains to Bromo. We ascended the 253 steps (that have been washed out from volcanic ash) and witnessed the sounds of the grumbling volcano. It was chilling to listen to. We endured the volcanic ash that was raining from the sky (and which I am still, 3 days later, washing from my hair) to enjoy the sights and sounds of this phenomenon. Enjoy the pictures; I took about 120 but will only post a few that I think are the most stunning (although its hard to decide).

Enjoy!