Our next adventure in Indonesia was to visit Mount Bromo, an active volcano located near Java. We decided this one would probably be a good idea to book through a tour company, so we signed up with MBA Tours. The tour ended up consisting of Kaitie, Caroline, a driver, and our 18 year old tour guide (who liked Taylor Swift, Oprah, and MTV Movies). We were picked up from our hotel at 8:30 am, and began our 4 hour drive across Bali, towards the ferry to Java. We got to see the beautiful landscapes and shorelines of Bali that most tourists would probably never see. It was beautiful! IF the scene wasn't stunning enough, our driver asked us if we would mind them putting on some music. What did they put on? Akon. Yes, blasting Akon along the shores of Indonesia. Hilarious!
We got to the ferry to Java, and this is where the trip turned super sketch..sooo grateful that we decided to do a tour! Our guides were even a bit scared, and were very insistent that we never left their sight. As Kaitie and Caroline seem to be an international phenomenon, we were once again hounded by the papparrazi. A few rows ahead of us were a family and thier baby (creepiest looking baby EVER..as her eyes were constantly bulging out of her head..she looked shocked at all times..even our tour guides both said "what is up with that babies eyes?!")As we could see this family slowly plotting how to get a picture with us, the father finally came over and asked our tour guides if it was ok. Hey! For once someone ASKED first before handing off their baby! Afraid to say no, we agreed and the mother immediately ran over over and pawned off her creepy baby to caroline. As the baby could sense caroline's fear, it began to cry. So they quickly took the picture, and then the mother held the baby, while sitting between the two of us for another. Then, they switched places. We took a picture with the father and the creepy baby. From this point on, our tour guide made constant jokes about us charging people for pictures..and that we were now "models".
The second part of the car ride was a little different than the first. Our 6 hour drive into the mountains was accompanied by monsoon rains. Were talking the heaviest terrential downpours ever, flooding the streets and making visibily minimal. Please note that this did not impede on the drivers need to be a Nascar driver. Also note that driving in Indonesia means 80% of the time you are in the oncoming traffic lane, narrowly escaping a head on collision, trying to pass any car in front of you. As if driving through the monsoons on flat ground wasn't terrifying enough, the final 2 hours of our journey was driving up into the mountains. The roads into the mountains were now narrower, soaking wet from the rain, fog rolling in reducing visibility even more, and wih no guard rails to save you from the death cliffs a foot away from your door. You would think this situation would encourage our driver to slow down and be a tad more cautious. However, this was not the case. With every turn, our lives flashed before our eyes, and our death grips tightened. When the vehicle finally came to a stop at our hotel, we began to breath again. Please note, it is still pouring out, its 8:30pm, and we are to be getting up at 3:30am to see the sunrise and climb the volcano tomorrow. Mother nature 1, Kaitie and Caroline 0. As we nestled into our horribly nasty hotel which was damp and freezing cold (5 degrees) we curled up in bed to the thoughts of our Natural Disasters course we both took in university running through our mind. What happens in monsoon rain season on the side of mountains? Answer: severe mudslides. What happens to the surrounding area if an active volcano happened to erupt? Answer: first, they would be engulfed by the pyroclastic blast, and then followed with liquid hot lava making its way to eat you! At least it would warm up our chilly room! We did not sleep well.
Early morning, we got up and luckily it wasn't raining too much. We put on our many lairs of clothes, our rain jackets, as well as the ski coats we rented, and make our way to our 4x4 jeep we would take up to the top of another mountain (the highest) to watch the sunrise. We thought our drive up last night was scary, wrong! We were now off roading up steep mountain cliffs in the pitch black. After a half hour drive uphill we reached the peak. We walked to the viewpoint and waited for the sun to wake up! Luckily the rain stopped and the sky was clear enough to see a bit of the sunrise, although it was still pretty cloudy.
After the sunrise, we got back in our lovely jeep and did the terrifying drive down. Much scarier in daylight! There were also no guardrails, and some of the road was washed out with much steeper cliffs on either side. The driver then took us to a temple at the base of the volcano where we were to catch our ponies to take us to the stairs to climb the volcano. They brought 2 ponies over, a blonde and a brunette. Kaitie, being an idiot, laughed and suggested "I'll tkae the brunette, you take the blonde!" You know, cause Kaitie's brunette! And Caroline's blonde! Bad idea, should have known that brunettes are bitches! Upon mounting her pony, Kaitie was almost immediately bucked off! Pony from hell! It then proceeded to try and kill her. As Caroline mounted her pony with ease. As caroline was laughing her ass of which brought tears to her eyes, all she could do was document the moment via pictures (keep an eye out for it in the album, you'll know what one it is, you can see the fear).
We climbed the stairs to see one of the coolest things thus far! An active volcano! You could stand right on the edge and look into the steaming crater. You would think that being on the side of an active volcano, that the volcano would be the most exciting thing? However, once again, enter the papparrazi! No only was it take a picture of the volcano day, but take a picture with the weird Canadians day! After countless flashes, we were finally able to take our own pictures! Volcanos are cooooooool!
After that, it was back onto the ponies. Lucky Kaitie. Back into the jeep. And back to the hotel for breakfast. It was now 8:30 am. Ready to pile back into the car for the 10 hour ride home. Same Sh*t, different day. However, extremely excited to arrive alive back at The Island Bali, and to our super comfy bed!
Please note: from this point on we were super sick and could not do much more with our time in Bali. Sadly, we never turned pro at surfing.
Also: As if monsoons and volcanos were not enough excitement, our final night in Bali, where we only had a few hours to sleep due to a super early flight departure, we were suddenly woken up by a constant shaking of our bunk bed for at least 30 seconds. Confused, and still very tired, we both rolled over and tried to fall back asleep. Half an hour passes, and Caroline turns to Kaitie and says "So that was an earthquake right?" Kaitie replies "Yup." Again, taking Natural Disasters disrupted our sleeping. Question: What other natural disasters can form after an earthquake? Answer: Tsunamis. Although an evacuation plan was thought about in our heads, the fact that the earthquake was relatively small (probably wouldn't feel it if not on a top bunk) we were fine. So long Bali!
