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Introduction

Oman via KL

Morocco

England

KL via Oman

Indonesia

Tuesday, 18 June, 309, Surabaya, Indonesia

When I suggested that maybe we should include Indonesia on the itinerary of the trip, I didn't for one moment envisage a pre-dawn wake-up at 3am and, under a full moon (isn't that when the crazies come out?) joining a 4WD convoy climbing up a 30% grade up the side of the volcano caldera,  just to get a good position for a view of a sunrise.    But somehow, that's what I found myself doing this morning. Me and a couple of thousand other people and probably a thousand 4x4s converged on every vantage spot in a temperature that hovered somewhere in the single digits.  We actually weren't there to watch the sunrise itself, impressive though that was.   The photographic aim was recording the changes that the dawning light brought to Mt Bromo.  

"Well", said Dave, "don't say I never take you anywhere".


Here's how steep the drive up and down the "viewing" hillside was, recorded on Dave's GPS:
(later: I wondered why I struggled walking even 50 metres to the Bukit KingKong lookout....  It was only when I saw Dave's GPS elevation diagram that I realised we were at 2700m above sea level, and oxygen was in short supply!).


above and right: at the lookout known as Bukit KingKong
The crowd at just one of the vantage points around the mountain.  There were probably dozens of such spots
 

For a while, I thought my eyes were deceiving me when I saw smoke rising from one of the volcano craters.  It must be just mist, I thought  but no, smoke it definitely was, but no one appeared unduly alarmed.  I suspect the locals are used to seeing that.

For most of us tourists, an added bit of adventure came with a stop on the way back.   Hundreds of Landcruisers etc, known by the all-encompassing generic tag of Jeeps,  plus the obligatory motorbikes, drove down onto the lava surface (known as the Sand Sea) which encircled the multiple craters. This was the time for the thrill seekers to go walking and riding, by bike or horse, across the black volcanic sand and then climb up the side of a crater.  I decided some things were beyond me and left this particular thrill to Dave. 
He said later I made the right decision.
Here's the GPS track of this morning's route, including Dave's diversion on foot over to the crater:
 
   
 
(right) The last section of the climb to the top was via a wooden staircase

When he arrived at the top, Dave was able to peer into the depths of the crater below:		  

Now we're in Surabaya on the northern coast of Java and Indonesia's second largest city.  I'm just about all touristed out, so we have elected not to do any sightseeing today, and simply look forward to the next few days, travelling home.

So tonight – Surabaya; tomorrow – Kuala Lumpur; Thursday – Flight to Sydney; Friday – train to Newcastle and home.

Postscript (20 June, Sydney)

And just before we go, I have to show these photos of our Kuala Lumpur airport hotel, where we had a bare six hour sleep after our flight from Surabaya, Indonesia to KL was delayed for a few hours.  This is the first time we'd stayed at the new Movenpick, and walking through the foyer just about took my breath away

Only one catch - it was a totally "dry" hotel - Dave couldn't even get a beer!!
           
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