2nd Day...East Java

trust me.. waking up at 3am, in the blistering cold, to catch a sunrise.. is a super ordeal. this is not a holiday i told tim, this is boot camp!*LOL* it was like.. soo cold.. but heh, my nose didnt bleed. we drove to penanjakan, to watch the sunrise. karin took the jeep w/ us (as expected). due to the biig mouth.. her jeep ditched her *LOL*. we couldnt see where we were driving to but it was pretty scary cos i know there r bumps & holes everywhere. but the jeep driver, pak yoga.. was super.

anyways, to cut long story short. there was no sunrise. it was all clouds & fogs & all the wisata (tourists) were very dissapointed. how can i forget that february is their wet season??! another note.. we paid Rp20,000 for the winter jacket. at the foot of penanjakan.. u can get it for Rp5,000. the hotel will hustle u for everythin.. "mbak, mau jacket. jacketnya udah tinggal dikit (bs!!)".. "mbak.. jeep nya harus di booking malam ni. takut kehabisan" another bs.

proceeding to the mt bromo was a better view. we drove through the black sand area, where it looked like sea from above.. it was amazing. we took a shortcut by taking a pony up the mountain (the mat salleh all jalan.. terer merer). it was freaky for me. so not good at it. i think the pony hates me too *lol*and climbing up the stairs was.. crazy! i thought i was gonna die & be buried in sulphur! *grin* but the view was amazing.

later in the afternoon, we drove to Malang by Pak Yoga and we tried to charter it for Rp300,000, but the lowest was Rp350,000. driving through the savannah.. goodness..it was picture perfect. a reminder.. do not bother to stop by the waterfall on the way to Malang. we walked sooo far & still didnt reach it. all we could seee was a stream. so save your Rp5,ooo for the entrance. its like paying to walk to nowhere *grin*

Malang is a nice small town.. the people are friendly.. the food are super yummy.. and its breezy..we went apple picking at the Agro Wisata in Batu Malang. strongly recommend the bakso of malang. yummy. but if people tell u to try rojak cinggur.. its rojak made of the mouth of sapi (cow). so.. hmm..

again, the people of Malang, proves our point that they are indeed the nicest. the manager of the bus we took to Solo that night was even kind enough to ask his driver to drop us right in front of the Grand Setiakawan Hotel, as he says the Solo bus terminal is just unsafe for backpackers in the wee hours of the morning (we were expected to arrive at about 4am).

it was a long day indeed & i was so ready to crash when i got in the bus to Solo at 8pm. its gonna be another long day on the 3rd day..

btw.. here's what we spent on the third day (for 3 pax):

Sunrise jeep : Rp300,000 (return)
Pony ride : Rp120,000 (return)
Jeep to Malang : Rp350,000
Cab to Batu Malang : Rp70,000
Cab from Batu Malang to terminal Arjosari : Rp95,000
Entrance of Agro Wisata : Rp72,000
Food : Rp52,000
Bus to Solo : Rp180,000

Total : Rp1,239,000

more info : Wikitravel