Banyuwangi to Cemoro Lawang

As we had our tickets booked we felt a lot more relaxed. We woke up showered with more than enough time to grab breakfast and our lovely homestay host made us banana fritters. To be honest we were even more thankful as it was absolutely pouring down with rain so saved us getting soaked. We then tried to grab a grabcar to no avail and ended up jumping on grab bikes and hoping we both arrive at the station! We did and with plenty of time to spare for the train from Banyuwangi to Probolinggo. The train was pretty smooth and I was able to get a bit of kip which was great. Next adventure somehow getting from Probolinggo Station to Cemoro Law ang where we will stay before climbing Mount Bromo. We stepped out the station instantly saw the angkot (cheap public transport in Indonesia like VW campers) so headed straight for it and away from the taxi scammers. Initially they were trying their luck but then realised it wouldn't work and ended up being super helpful.

Now a bit about angkots also known as bemos. Angkots as mentioned is the public transport that can be found everywhere in Indonesia but without being a local it's really difficult to know when and how to catch them. They usually have a specific coloured van for the area that you are in and the driver will take you to any destination once he has received the full cost he says. So for example if we want to go to Cemoro Lawang by angkot it costs 550,000 Rp for the whole van so if 2 people want to go on their own and are wiling to cover the cost then fine otherwise the angkot with wait until it is full and/ or receives the full amount. Sometimes you could be waiting 10 minutes for others to come, sometimes it could take hours! The drivers happily wait the whole day if they need to get the full amount.

This angkot driver was super honest and said we needed to get an angkot from the main bus terminal but he would take us. He actually did one better and took us straight to a random guy who said he could take us in their bus all the way to Cemoro Lawang for 40,000 Rp. Well as the min cost of the angkot was only 5,000 less we happily got off and got a ride with him instead. While waiting he also advised us on where we should go next and he said he would take us on the 27th to Surakarta for cheap too so we happily agreed. Ah it's nice when a local just gives you tips and sorts stuff as now we don't need to plan for a while! We got a quick Nasi Ayam takeaway and then jumped on the bus. Ah I miss these rickety, pretty sure they aren't road safe, definitely don't have a big enough power to get up hill buses, stops every 20 minutes to pick up or drop off deliveries and this one even had a lovely 1970s paisley designed carpet covered seats haha oh the luxury 😂 It wasn't the most comfortable journey but it was definitely worth the price 😊

When we arrived it was super foggy and we still needed a place to stay. Fortunately we did a bit of a Google before looking and had a couple in mind, went to the first one and was able to book for our 2 nights and save 100,000Rp off the booking.com price.

We then headed straight out for dinner and met a lovely couple from Canberra, Australia and ended up chatting with them all evening and then had an early night before our 3am wakeup again.Read more