After three wonderful days & nights in Yogyakarta, we took our third Indonesian train trip across Java. Hard to tell, but this first batch is all about trains: the engine in the locomotive, the train station, a dining car lunch, and the view! Choo choo…
We had to drive over an hour after our train trip to get to the Seloliman Nature Reserve – PPLH. Nestled in some jungly mountains, this ecotourism destination was more rural, very green, and hot. First up, some of us walked up to one of many Hindu temples – Jolotundo – in the local mountains. We observed some people taking the sacred waters, some homies hanging out, some unrestored ruins, a closed museum, and an open store nearby. It was a steep walk up, and a slippery one down. Back at the lodge, we had a wonderful homegrown dinner…
The next morning we walked through the Seloliman Nature Reserve – PPLH – discovering the herb & vegetable gardens, the many native plants & flowers, a few critters, and the swag in the souvenir shop…
Going beyond the Seloliman Nature Reserve – PPLH – into the neighboring village we discovered more flora, flowers, fungus, farming, and families, not to mention bugs, chickens, and 1945 – the year of Indonesian independence, etc…
More of Seloliman, especially the terraced rice paddies…
Back at the PPLH ecolodge, we had some lunch, then a demonstration on how to make secang tea…
An early dinner, because the next morning we were off at 3:00 am to explore Mt. Bromo…
After a vigorous drive up a windy road in Toyota Land Cruisers – which everyone uses – we arrived at the top of Mt. Pananjakan, overlooking Mt. Bromo in the Tengger Caldera – an active volcano. It was still dark, but a full moon lit the area as the sky lightened with the rising sun. In addition to the rising steam, we were offered an explosion of smoke that rose from the volcano in classic form. There were crowds and clouds, but it was a magical experience (except for the nimrods with the headlamps)…
More from the top of Mt. Pananjakan…
A little bit after 6:00 am we went back to our Toyota Land Cruisers and drove to a view spot…
Then, we drove to the base of Mt. Bromo in the Tengger Caldera and hiked up to the rim to look in. It was a long walk, first through sand, then up stairs to get there, but it was spectacular…
Many take horses from the parking area to the base of the stairs, but we did the whole thing on foot. As did a lot of fellow travelers. We saw the sights and made our way back to the vehicles…
After going back to our hotel for lunch and to freshen up, we drove on to Kalibaru and checked into the Margo Utomo Eco Resort. Along the way we saw some celebrations, and I took a dip in the pool before dinner…
This last batch is another collection of pix from our Whatsapp group taken by others…
