Lonely Planet Indonesia
Page 34
Entrance to Gunung Kelud is controlled at a gateway (admission 110,000Rp, car 20,000Rp; h6.30am-4pm Mon-Fri, 6am-5pm Sat & Sun) 10km before the summit because of the active nature of the beast.
There’s no public transport to Kelud. The easiest way here is to hire a car or ojek from Blitar. After bargaining, the latter will do a half-day return trip via Panataran for around 100,000Rp.
Pacitan
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A long way from anywhere, the small south-coast town of Pacitan lies on a horseshoe bay ringed by rocky cliffs. It's a beach resort with limited accommodation and a few fresh seafood restaurants. Few foreigners make it here; those that do are here to surf.
The blonde beach at Pacitan is set in a rather dramatic bay shaped like a stemless wine glass. The natural harbour to the west is set against the towering jungled cliffs and there's a series of decent beach breaks as it meanders east toward a fine point break.
Pantai Ria Teleng, 4km or so from town, has golden sand and good surfing conditions for beginners as the waves break over a sandy bottom. Surf and bodyboards can be hired here, and there are lifeguards. Swimming is possible when the seas are calm – the safest area is towards the fishing boats at the southwestern end of the bay.
Pacitan has several banks. If you visit during the week, off-season, you've a good chance of having a virtually deserted beach to yourself.
4Sleeping
Harry's Ocean HouseGUESTHOUSE$
(%878 9514 5533; dm 35,000Rp, hut with shared bathroom 50,000Rp, r with fan/air-con 70,000/90,000Rp, cottages 150,000-250,000Rp; a)
There are four styles of rooms on offer here: dorms, a bamboo hut, concrete rooms and stilted wooden cottages with arced roofs. The property is on a back road inland from the beach. It actually has two branches in town and another in nearby Watu Karung. It's the choice spot among backpacking surfers.
Arya HomestayGUESTHOUSE$
(r 150,000Rp)
Simple, fan-cooled titled rooms come with high slanted ceilings and friendly management on the inland road. If Harry's is booked, folks usually wind up here.
Surfer's BayHOTEL$$
(%0357-881474; r from 435,000Rp; W)
Across the street from the beach, this venerable place is under new, somewhat disinterested management. It offers old but clean tiled rooms, some with ocean views. All are a touch overpriced.
8Getting There & Around
Buses run to Pacitan from Solo (60,000Rp, 4½ hours) and also from Ponorogo (20,000Rp, 2½ hours) via a scenic road. From Ponorogo, direct buses go to Blitar (32,000Rp, three hours).
Direct travel minibuses (50,000Rp, three hours) connect Yogyakarta with Pacitan; call Aneka Jaya (%0357-304 4560) or Purwo Widodo (%027-445 1690).
There's very little public transport around Pacitan. Motorbikes with surfboard racks can be rented from some Pacitan guesthouses (50,000Rp per day).
Around Pacitan
About 13km southwest of Pacitan via a rough hilly road, stunning Watu Karung is an evocative fishing village with an arc of fine white sand and turquoise water offshore. This is one of Java's best surf beaches, with rights and lefts and occasional barrels. As a result, more and more guesthouses have sprouted up in the area, and over 20 were in operation at research time. In many cases, fishermen have sold their boats to finance the homestays as the town tries to transition into a surfing hotspot. It remains to be seen if the economy can support such a shift or if the homestay bubble is about to burst. Case in point: Watu Karung is only busy during high season and still feels like a wonderfully sleepy tropical village most of the year.
This is also agate country, and hawkers sell reasonably priced polished stones and rings.
Watu Karung is not served by public transport; you'll need to hire a car in Pacitan or arrange transport with your guesthouse.
1Sights & Activities
At Punung village, on the Solo road 30km northwest of Pacitan, is the turn-off to some magnificent limestone caves. Goa Putri is 2km from the highway, and the much more impressive Gua Gong, 8km away, is the largest and most spectacular cave system in the area.
The turn-off to the more famous Gua Tabuhan (Musical Cave) is 4km north on the highway beyond Punung, and then another 4km from there. This huge limestone cavern was a refuge for prehistoric humans 50,000 years ago. Pay the resident musicians here and they'll strike up an impressive ‘orchestral’ performance by striking rocks against stalactites, each in perfect pitch, and echoing pure gamelan melodies. You must hire a guide and lamp.
4Sleeping
The homestays rent motorbikes and surfboards.
Pasir PutihHOMESTAY$
(%0852 8102 3187; s/d 150,000/200,000Rp)
Offers modern rooms with private patios overlooking the beach.
Watukarang Jungle HomestayHOMESTAY$
(%0821 4370 7246; r incl breakfast 85,000Rp)
Book a simple brick room with shared bathrooms. It also offers massages (one hour, 60,000Rp).
Istana OmbakRESORT$$$
(istanaombak.com; Jl Kerapu Milak 151; all-inclusive surf packages from US$240, walk-in room only from 800,000Rp; W)
The only resort in the area is a stunner, with comfortable thatched cottages and villas, wired with wi-fi and satellite TV. It offers solid local surf intel and spectacular family-style dinners, not to mention a luscious stretch of beach. Owned by a former pro surfer from Australia who lived in a bamboo shack while he built the place, it is by far the best sleep in the area.
Guests can use mountain bikes and pick-up in Yogyakarta and Solo is offered.
WORTH A TRIP
WHALE SHARK TOURS
Each year between January and March an annual migration causes quite a stir in Probolinggo. Twenty or more whale sharks, some measuring up to 8m, gather in the shallow seas off Pantai Benter, 8km east of the town. Boats take camera-toting local tourists on trips to see these marine giants, the world's largest fish (a harmless plankton feeder). In Javanese they're known as geger lintang ('stars on the back'), a reference to the star-like spots these sharks can be identified by. Boats only charge 10,000Rp or so per passenger. As the sea is usually very murky, snorkelling does not tend to be very rewarding.
Probolinggo
%0335 / Pop 217,000
For most travellers, Probolinggo is a bustling, featureless transit point in the fertile plains on the route to Gunung Bromo. You probably won’t want to hang around here long, but the innovative tourist information people might try to change your mind. Better to keep moving.
Dangers & Annoyances
Probolinggo's bus terminal has a poor reputation with travellers. It’s by no means dangerous, just not very honest and has more than its fair share of ticket touts eager to make a buck.
The main scam involves overcharging for bus tickets. Some reputable-looking ticket agents ask for double or more the standard price. You can check departure times and prices on the monitor in the waiting area, or head to Toto Travel. Unless it's a holiday (when you might want to book ahead) often the best thing to do is find the bus you need, and pay the fare onboard.
Also, when travelling to Probolinggo, make it clear to the ticket collector you want to be dropped off at the Bayuangga bus terminal; we’ve received emails from travellers complaining of being left at random travel agents and charged exorbitant fares for bus tickets.
Thieves are common on the buses in East Java, especially on buses departing from Probolinggo.
4Sleeping & Eating
Sinar HarapanHOTEL$
(%0335-701 0335; Jl Bengawan Solo 100; r 120,000-200,000Rp; aW)
This new hotel has a contemporary feel, but its shine is fading. It rents out motorbikes for 60,000Rp per day.
Sumber HidupCHINESE, INDONESIAN$
(Jl Dr Mosh Saleh II; mains 14,000-30,000Rp; h11.30am-10pm)
Large restaurant on the main strip that serves good Chinese food and Indonesian dishes. Doubles as an ice-cream parlour.
8Information
The efficient Tourist Information C
entre (%0335-432420; www.dispobpar-kotaprobolinggo.com; Jl Suroyo; h8am-3.30pm) by the train station is trying hard to change people's perceptions of Probolinggo. Staff organise city tours and can hook you up with local schools that are looking for English speakers to help students; you only need to spare an hour or two of your time.
The main post office and most of the banks are also on Jl Suroyo, which leads off the main drag Jl Panglima Sudirman.
8Getting There & Away
Bus
Probolinggo’s Bayuangga bus terminal is located about 5km from town on the road to Gunung Bromo. There are TV monitors here with bus departure information. Buses to Banyuwangi, Bondowoso and Surabaya depart frequently; most transport to Denpasar is between 7pm and 11pm. If want to make an advance reservation head to Toto Travel (%0335-443 8267; Bayuangga bus terminal ), where the owners speak English fluently.
Angkot run to/from the main street and the train station for 3000Rp.
BUSES FROM PROBOLINGGO
Destination Cost (Rp; Economy/Air-Con) Duration (hr)
Banyuwangi 40,000/50,000 5
Bondowoso 20,000/30,000 2½
Denpasar 125,000/150,000 11
Jember 20,000/30,000 2½
Malang 20,000/30,000 2½
Surabaya 20,000/30,000 2½-3
Yogyakarta 90,000/150,000 10-11
Minibus
Gunung Bromo minibuses leave from a stop just outside Probolinggo’s Bayuangga bus terminal, heading for Cemoro Lawang (35,000Rp, two hours) via Ngadisari (12,000Rp, 1½ hours) until around 4pm. Overcharging tourists is common on this route. Late-afternoon buses charge more to Cemoro Lawang when fewer passengers travel beyond Ngadisari. Make sure your bus goes all the way to Cemoro Lawang when you board.
Train
About 2km north of town, the train station is 6km from the bus terminal. Probolinggo is on the Surabaya–Banyuwangi line. There are four daily exclusive- and business-class trains to Surabaya, both called Mutiara Timur. Two leave late at night, at 2:21am and 2:29am, and two leave at a more reasonable 1:24pm and 1:32pm (business/executive 90,000/125,000Rp, two hours). Trains travelling east to Banyuwangi leave at 10:59am and 11:07am, and at 11.52pm and 11:59pm (economy 60,000Rp to 100,000Rp, business/executive 105,000/140,000Rp, five hours).
Angkot D (5000Rp) connects the train station with the bus terminal.
Taxi
Taxis and freelance car drivers meet trains and wait for business at the bus station. A trip up to Cemoro Lawang costs around 350,000Rp to 400,000Rp after bargaining; more if it’s late in the day.
Gunung Bromo & Bromo-Tengger-Semeru National Park
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A lunarlike landscape of epic proportions and surreal beauty, the volcanic Bromo region is one of Indonesia’s most breathtaking sights.
Rising from the guts of the ancient Tengger caldera, Gunung Bromo (2392m) is one of three volcanoes to have emerged from a vast crater, stretching 10km across. Flanked by the peaks of Kursi (2581m) and Batok (2440m), the smouldering cone of Bromo stands in a sea of ashen, volcanic sand, surrounded by the towering cliffs of the crater’s edge. Just to the south, Gunung Semeru (3676m), Java’s highest peak and one of its most active volcanoes, throws its shadow – and occasionally its ash – over the whole scene.
The vast majority of independent travellers get to Bromo via the town of Probolinggo and stay in Cemoro Lawang where facilities are good. There are other options in villages on the road up from Probolinggo.
Additional approaches via Wonokitri and Ngadas are also possible, but due to irregular public transport and poor road conditions they're only occasionally used by small tour groups.
Gunung Bromo
Gunung Bromo is unforgettable. It's not the mountain itself, but the sheer majesty of the experience: the immense size of the entire Tengger crater, the supernatural beauty of the scenery and the dramatic highland light that will saturate your brain with tranquility – for at least a little while.
Virtually all tours are planned to enable you to experience the mountain at sunrise. This is when the great crater is at its ethereal best and colours are most impressive. But visibility is usually good throughout the day in the dry season (June to September), even though the slopes below Cemoro Lawang may be covered in mist. Later in the day you’ll also avoid the dawn crowds – things get especially busy during holiday periods. In the wet season it’s often bright and clear at dawn but quickly clouds over.
It's a short, enjoyable hike to Bromo from Cemoro Lawang. The 3km (40-minute) 'trail' wanders down the crater wall and across the eerie Laotian Pasir (Sea of Sand) to the slopes of Bromo. White stone markers are easy to follow during the day but can be more elusive in the dark. Make sure you climb the right cone; Bromo has a stone staircase. Some hikers, disoriented in the dark, have attempted to climb neighbouring Batok. If you're lucky you will share the rim with groups of Balinese or Javanese Hindu pilgrims who have come to pray to one of the three most sacred mountains in Hindu lore and make offerings in the hopes of satisfying the volcano and the gods.
After ascending the 253 steps you’ll come face to face with the steaming, sulphurous guts of the volcano. There are sweeping views back across the Laotian Pasir to the lip of the crater and over to Batok and the Hindu temple (open only on auspicious days in the pilgrim calendar) at its base.
Mercifully, there's little of the tacky commercialism (bar the odd souvenir seller) that besmirches many Indonesian scenic spots, though there is ample plastic litter on the rim (please pack your bottles and trash out). The local Tengger people may press you into accepting a horse ride across the crater bed but there’s no serious hassle. No matter how many folks are gathered on the rim, it’s still easy to connect spiritually with this sacred peak if you wander around the lip of the Bromo cone, away from the main viewing point.
History
Unsurprisingly, the eerie landscape of Bromo and its neighbouring volcanoes has spawned countless myths and legends. It is said that the Tengger crater was originally dug out with just half a coconut shell by an ogre smitten with love for a princess.
But Bromo is of particular religious significance to the Hindu Tengger people who still populate the massif. They first fled here to escape the wave of Islam that broke over the Majapahit kindgom in the 16th century. The Tengger believe that Bromo once fell within the realm of the childless King Joko Seger and Queen Roro Anteng, who asked the god of the volcano for assistance in producing an heir. The god obliged, giving them 25 children, but demanded that the youngest, a handsome boy named Dian Kusuma, be sacrificed to the flames in return. When the queen later refused to fulfil her promise, the young Dian sacrificed himself to save the kingdom from retribution.
2Activities
The classic Bromo tour peddled by all hotels and guides in Cemoro Lawang (and other villages) involves a pickup around 3.30am and a 4WD journey up to the neighbouring peak of Gunung Penanjakan (2770m). This viewpoint offers the best vistas (and photographs) of the entire Bromo landscape, with Gunung Semeru puffing away on the horizon. After sunrise, 4WDs head back down the steep lip of the crater and then over the Laotian Pasir (Sea of Sand) to the base of Bromo. It's usually easy to hook up with others for this tour to share costs. Private jeeps cost 500,000Rp. If you pay for a single seat, expect to be crammed in with four or five others, though the price (150,000Rp) is right.
Alternatively, it's a two-hour hike to the top of Gunung Penanjakan, the so-called second viewpoint, from Cemoro Lawang. But King Kong Hill – perched just 20 minutes beyond the first viewpoint, and also on Penanjakan, set on a ledge jutting out from the main trail – has even better views than the top. From here looking toward the west you'll see Bromo bathed in that dawn light, along with Gunung Batok, with Gunung Semeru photobombing from behind. It can take up to an hour to reach it, but it's a stunning walk. Just up from the village, the slopes are planted with scallions, potatoes and cauliflower. You won't see them in the dark, but they make a lovely vista on the easy downhill stroll. Trekkers can also
take an interesting walk across the Laotian Pasir to the village of Ngadas (8km), below the southern rim of the Tengger crater. From here, motorbikes and 4WDs descend to Tumpang, which is connected by regular buses to Malang.
zFestivals & Events
In June, Jiwa Jawa hosts a jazz festival, Gunung Jazz (www.jazzgunung.com) with performances from international and domestic artists held in the open-air hotel grounds.
KasadaRELIGIOUS
The wrath of Bromo is appeased during the annual Kasada festival, when Tenggerese Hindus come to Bromo to make peace with the mountain, and pray for health and good harvests. During this time, local daredevils descend into the crater and attempt to catch offerings in nets (money, food and even live chickens) thrown down by others above.
It's a risky business and is as dangerous as it sounds – every few years someone slips and the volcano claims another victim. The park’s PHKA offices can tell you when Kasada occurs.
TIPS FOR VISITING BROMO
Bromo's popularity means that during high season (July, August, Indonesian holidays and the Christmas period) and weekends, the two main viewpoints can get very crowded between sunrise and the early morning. Organised tours all follow the same schedule, so consider visiting Gunung Penanjakan and the Bromo crater at other times of day.
Walking from Cemoro Lawang to the Bromo crater only takes around 40 minutes, and enables you to take in the scenery and get your boots dusty in the grey volcanic sands of the Laotian Pasir (Sea of Sand).
At any time of year it’s cold in the early morning and temperatures can drop to single digits or near-freezing. Guesthouses rent out jackets for around 30,000Rp.