Mount Bromo, The most attractive tourist object in East Java

Mount Bromo (from Sanskrit: Brahma, one of the highest Gods in Hinduism), is an active volcano in East Java, Indonesia. This mountain has an altitude of 2,329 meters above sea level and located in four districts, which are Malang, Lumajang, Pasuruan and Probolinggo. Mount Bromo is famous tourist object in East Java. As a tourist object, Bromo become attractive because of it is still an active volcano. Mount Bromo included within the Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park.

Mount Bromo shape mesh between valleys and canyons with the caldera covered by sea of sand  approximately 10 square kilometers. Mount Bromo has a crater with a diameter of ± 800 meters (north-south) and ± 600 meters (east-west). While the dangerous area is its circle with a radius of 4 km from the center of the crater Bromo.

Historical eruptions

Between 20th - 21st century, Mount Bromo has erupted several times, at its regular intervals, which is 30 years. The biggest eruption occurred in 1974, while the last eruption occurred in 2011.

Bromo as a sacred mountain

For residents around Mount Bromo, Tengger, Mount Bromo / Mount Brahma is believed to be as a sacred mountain. Once a year the Tengger community held a ceremony Yadnya Kasada or KASODO. The ceremony was being held at a temple which is located at the foot of Mount Bromo and be continued to the peak of Mount Bromo. The ceremony was held at midnight up to early in the morning of every full moon around 14 or 15 in Kasodo (tenth) according to the Javanese calendar.

Trip through the west side of Pasuruan city which is entered from Tosari village to get straight into the sea of sand is quite heavy enough because of the terrain should be taken is little bit impossible to do so by regular 4-wheeled vehicles. This is because the derivative of climbing towards the sea of sand is steep, but we do by hiring a jeep provided by travel organizer , even though there are travelers who wanted to walk to go to designated places. But if we go through the north side of the directions before enter Tongas which is located in Probolinggo area, we will be headed to  Cemoro Lawang village before going down toward the sea of sand which is not too heavy because the slope derivative  is not too steep so it could be done by motorcycles as well. Most of domestic and international visitor who wanted  to easily reach the sea of sand could to do so by through this route. But if you want to watch the sunrise which is often shown in photographs, it could be easier to be done by passing through the west side.

Finally, sea of sand is the mainstay of Mount Bromo, in the fresh mountain nature, we could see the desert and grass area. While most awaited of Mount Bromo is the view when the sun rises and sets because it seem obvious and stunning. Although trip to Mount Bromo is definitely dusty, but it does not feel anymore, because of the beauty of Mount Bromo itself is absolutely outstanding.

Go to bromo can be considered practical if you preferred as traveler type, and by through the north side, it  could be done within 12 hours. it could have been doing by started  from the city of Jember, Malang, Surabaya, and surrounding areas. The journey can be started from 12 midnight so you will be there around 2-3 early in the morning. You could take a break before seeing the sunrise. Food and beverage sold by trader are available  before 3 AM, so you could have some snacks and  hot coffee or tea before you started to climb to the peak of Mount Bromo. take a deep breath by enjoying the scenery until 9 AM at the top then go back and start to depart to the next tourist destination as scheduled.
Have fun folks.