My friends and I wanted to get out of the city, so that's exactly what we did. Our plan was to go to Malang to visit Mount Bromo, Tumpak Sewu, and Goa Tetes. Here are my experiences and tips.

Mount Bromo

Sitting in the huge Tengger caldera exists a very famous volcano. The first and maybe most formidable activities at Bromo is catching the sunrise. So, wanting to see what the hype was about, my friends and I departed to Malang. Our local friend Dewa picked us up from our hotel at 1 am, drove through a black-sand desert, and arrived at the top of the mountain around 4 am. Waiting there for 1.5 hour more and witnessing the slow sunrise in the blistering cold of 2000 kilometers in altitude was a sight to behold.
My advice is thus to head to the viewpoint at Mount Penanjakan early in the morning. Watching the sun light up the caldera and the surrounding peaks, including the towering Mount Semeru, is a sight you won’t forget so easily. I probably will, so here are some other photos :D

Afterwards, and depending on how long you want to stay at the top, you can continue the jeep tour down again on the sand plain to head towards one of the craters, which you can climb with normal looking stairs. Hurray!

We were very tired afterwards (obviously) so as we decided that sleep was very important, we chose to take it easy and went for another adventure the day after.

Tumpak Sewu & Goa Tetes

Tumpak Sewu, a waterfall in the Lumajang district, is overshadowed by Semeru, an active volcano and the highest mountain in Java. The Glidik River, which flows down Semeru, is the primary water source for the waterfall, and which I so gracefully copy-pasted from Wikipedia 😊

The climb down and up again is exciting! Lot's of breathtaking scenery, adventurously placed rocks not meant to put your feet on, very wet at times, and most importantly, very fulfilling.

There are some parts without any railing or ropes in sight. Be careful out there!

The entrance has a shop where you can rent these water shoes, because the water can reach your knees, so it's better to be safe than sorry.

At the very bottom of the Tumpak Sewu is a jaw-dropping experience. 10.000 liters of water per second falling down so close to you makes you feel very tiny.

I suggest you go there yourself to experience if for yourself, as I cannot describe it any further than this.

Have fun out there!

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