Indonesia Volcano Run day 9

Move your arse, Dom! Charlie calls out from the car park as my luggage has not yet reached the truck. I'm on the way out the door anyway, so the extra 'encouragement' is not needed and leaves a slightly sour taste in my mouth until washed away later by high speed airflow...

We set off, only a few minutes late, and yes, I'm the last to leave. Dropping down the valley on a twisty road, we cross a river that has cut a deep channel into the landscape. 

We're now into proper jungle with palm trees, albeit with a busy road running right through it. And it's hotter at this altitude.

 

Where the jungle has been cleared, crops are grown, and in places crop burning is in progress or has been done. This is a current source of controversy with Indonesia's neighbours as smoke from these fires is drifting into their territories and causing respiratory and other problems.

Gradually we move out of the jungle environment. I note a white van in my mirrors and expect it to overtake at some point, but it seems content to stay where it is. The land becomes much flatter and more open, with paddy fields with workers wearing the traditional douli hats. 

Instead of hedges, the field boundaries are marked with rows of tall palm trees. Curiously, I think I can smell the sea. Crossing a bridge there are two guys with rifles pointing down into the river below. They're not army or police, so we can only assume they were hunting fish... But how?

Charlie overtakes us and chats with Miller up front. Not long after, we detour off our planned gpx route, following a dirt and gravel track for about 1km. 

And then we see it, it IS the sea, the Indian Ocean in fact.

We stop just short of the actual beach because there's a creek running parallel to it, and no obvious sign of a way to cross it apart from what looks like a small passenger ferry tied up on one side. So near and yet so far.

The dark sand is clearly of volcanic origin and partly explains why agriculture is so successful on Java, because the soil will be volcanic based too. Still, standing on a small mound, we can see the sea and the white topped waves crashing on to the beach. Christopher and I do our best meerkat impression from there.

We stop for watermelon and munch munching takes place.

Once again I note the same white van in my mirrors; that's strange, is it following us? My Spidey senses briefly kick in, until I realise it's our support truck! 🤦🏽

Our next stop is at a fish market. Steve loves a market, and he's in his element taking pictures of people and things that catch his keen eye.

Unfortunately, there's also a rubbish dump next to it, which adds a pungent tang to the already pungent fish market smell. 

As always, the people are amazingly friendly, wanting to say hello and practice their English. Sufiyan says hello; his English is pretty good and I ask from where did he learn... YouTube apparently! That and gaming. He's bought a big bag of fish for 30,000 Rupiah, about 1.50 euro. 

Then, to the beach! We arrive and within a few minutes I've stripped off and I'm in the water! I came prepared, wearing my swimming shorts underneath my riding gear. The others follow once they've changed and we have a lovely swim before lunch is served - fresh fish!

The beach is idyllic with a long sandy stretch and fishing boats tied up just offshore.

At the other end it's rocky with several large masses dominating the beach.

Lunch is delicious grilled fish and other seafood. The only thing that spoils it are the swarm of flies that are gradually attracted to the food. They increase in number as the meal progresses, not wanted to miss the feast we are enjoying.

Drying off and de-sanding after the swim, we gear-up and leave, noting the tsunami evacuation signs on the way and the last view of beach.

Another 70km to the hotel. A scooter shoots past me, the rider wearing a NASA logo on their back; so that's how those things are able to go so fast, rocket power!

En route the skies darken and the atmospheric flood gates are released. Just before that, we stop as the first drops splash our visors and put on our rain gear. This time I'm one of the first. But after the taps are turned to full blast and having ridden through lots of standing water, my feet and legs are soaking. My gloves are wet too. My rain jacket seems to be doing its job. 

The rain eventually stops and we spend the rest of the journey trying to dry off in the airflow, but the humidity means that it's not very effective. A quick pitstop for drinks allows us to wring out our gloves, but for the rest, we'll just have to stay wet.

We arrive at the hotel after climbing into the hills again, still wet and drape our gear over every edge we can find in our rooms.

About 200km today. 

Indonesia THE Volcano Run day 8

Alarm at 02:45, out at 03:30. Windproofs on as it's chilly out - who knew it got cold in Indonesia? We climb on the bikes and then climb the mountain in the dark. With only the weak headlight beam to guide me on the twisty road, it's quite disorienting, making the ride tricky.

As usual we're passed by a few locals screaming by with their loud end cans. We later realise these are probably taxi riders.

The road at the top is lined by Toyota 4x4s and there's a car obstructing further progress so we park the bikes right there. According to the map there's at least 500m more to go and it's all uphill. It's a struggle but we make it; Hugo leading the way, while I'm panting far behind him. I'm puzzled that somehow Steve is ahead of us; I don't remember him leaving before us.... But no, he used a taxi, which he later said was well worth the £2 spent. When we reach the top, we see it's getting crowded.

It's still dark but there's an orange glow on the horizon. I find a spot on the barrier and watch the orange patch expand. Unlike so far on this trip we can actually see some stars in the sky, one is particularly bright, probably a planet.

At some point I realise I'm looking at the sunrise and not Mt Bromo so I reposition. We get a good corner spot, as the volcano appears from the dark, silhouetted against the lightening sky 

As the light appears we can see that the scenery is decidedly alpine, with conifer trees growing on the side of the hills.

There are some amazing views and a particularly well defined cloud that's sitting in front of the sunrise. There's a buzz in the air as people await the spectacle. The sun comes up right through a dip in the cloud's upper surface. 

I lose track of how many photos I've taken - I'll sort them later!

The sun's up and the view constantly changes; more pictures! 

Rob and I do our customary leap, but it's hard work at nearly 2800m altitude. We try a few times until a reasonable image stands out.

Group photo, but Christopher is nowhere to be found. 🤷🏻‍♂️

Back down to the hotel and a quick snooze before breakfast. It's not even 6am yet!

We pack our bags and set off at 8:30.

Some of the buildings remind me of those I've seen in Tibet and other mountainous regions such as in the Himalayas. 

It's alpine scenery as we follow the side of the valley and then the ridge line.

We pass into the Mt Bromo old caldera and the views are equally amazing. 

Winding our way down the hillside we gather at the bottom. This is the Sea of Sand, a 10km stretch of sand, deep in places - this should be fun! 😬

Rob has not ridden this much sand before, and with its 19" front wheel, his bike is not the ideal. But he does well and doesn't fall over. Christopher in his Honda CRF250 and it's 21" from wheel and proper knobbly tyres powers ahead. 

More pictures and poses ensue.

Rob survives!

We pass the so-called Teletubbie hill. It does vaguely look like those rolling green hills from the kids TV show.

Our next stop is lunch followed by a visit to another waterfall. This one is quite dramatic. It's supposedly the largest in Indonesia and at over 100m justifies that claim.

After that is a short run the the hotel for the night. It's a lovely set of villas and tonight I have my own room. 

Before dinner I go for swim in the hotel pool. Cary arranges for the support truck driver to take us back to the waterfall so we can explore more of the trails in the area. We sit in the back of the truck for the short journey. Christopher and I have planned to do a short run and we manage to persuade Cary to join us, I'm sure she regrets that the decision. 

We descend into the ravine and get drenched as we walk to near where the water hits the ground.

There's a bridge across the water flowing away from the waterfall and we cross it to reach the other side.

On the other side there is another set of stairs leading back up the waterfall. The views from the other side are just as spectacular.

We jog back to the waterfall carpark to meet the truck.

Christopher and I decide to run back, so we jump out of the truck before it reaches the main road. It's another 2km, but worth the effort.

Only about 120km today, but seems like a very full day!

Tomorrow we have more distance to cover, but will be having lunch on the beach.

As I write this, the rain has just started and it's making a very loud racket on the roof of my villa.

Indonesia Volcano Run day 7

Ok, I hold my hands up and admit it was me. I'm that one who delayed our departure today. 

After a good night's sleep, a very brief breakfast, and the treat of seeing a burqa'd wife chasing her husband in running shoes...

...my wallet decided to hide somewhere in my luggage. Not wanting to leave the hotel with 1% chance that I had misplaced it somewhere in the room, I had to almost completely unpack checking pockets (several times) in the process. After finally finding it buried in my running gear, I then had to repack. By now it was 7:03 and I was late for the off. A knock on the door and Charlie is checking that I'm ok. Of course the elevator does it's 'calling all stops' to the ground floor, which delayed us further, but I finally reach the others who are standing around waiting for me and I do the walk of shame... Then it's full on as we leave, only about ten minutes late.

A fuel stop and we're set for the long day. It's Sunday, and like the world over, people are out leisurely enjoying the day. Sunday drivers, and Sunday riders. The flow is slower than the manic weekday traffic, but we are able to blast through it. We think we're going at a fast pace, but there's always a local wearing their trackday flip-flops who will overtake you nonchalantly. 

First liquid pitstop of many and the heat is rising as we drop into the valley floor, after having started the day with a climb to around 1900m. That climb and drop was fun, as all twisty mountain roads are. Motorcyclists live for twisty roads, and mountains are usually where they are at. When doing rides myself, I will always look for such roads. But now on the flat, the road is less interesting. Traffic, of course, so we duck and dive as we go, making progress. 

It's 10am and already super hot. At 11, it feels like it's mid-afternoon. Another pitstop, more fluid, Pocari Sweat is now our preferred beverage. I'm on my second Kit Kat latte of the day. 

Before leaving our pitstops I routinely soak my arms and the buff around my neck to provide some cooling once underway. Standing on the pegs helps too. The effect lasts for 30mins or so, by which time your own sweat will have kicked in.

I see a road sign pointing to Alun-Alun. Apparently this is a large, central, open lawn square common to villages, towns and cities in Indonesia. 

We continue at valley floor level, stopping for lunch at a roadside cafe, where soup and rice provide sustainance and salt.

The group is briefly separated at a level crossing, the barriers catching the tail enders. While waiting for them to catch up, I stop and take some photos of the many people fishing in the canal running alongside the road.

Just upstream of this area, the water is thick layered in waste, mainly plastic bottles by the looks of it. Typical, but sad to see.

We pass through what looks like a military town of sorts. In the centre of a roundabout there's some kind of monument. A few people are gathered including a group of scooter riders.

The road becomes more twisty and the traffic more dense. Normally this would be a very enjoyable road, but it's hard work with all the traffic; you need to stay very focused. The approaching coaches demand special attention as they swing around the bends, taking up our lane as well as theirs in the process. 

Eventually we depart from the main road and start climbing uphill again. We stop briefly and drink freshly prepared coconut water, watching the server chop and slice them with a large, very sharp, chopping knife. It's reassuring to see that he still has all his fingers.

Climbing again, there's not much traffic now so we have the road almost to ourselves bar a few locals on scooters. Those don't seem as fast as usual and we pass them easily on the straights or in bends where we can see through the corner. 

It's getting dark now, but there's a lovely sunset before we say goodbye to its warming glow for the evening. 

We climb to over 2000m, where's it's decidedly cooler, before descending slightly to arrive at our hotel for the night. 

Delicious food, and there's a pool and karaoke room! But alas there won't be time to enjoy these luxurious as it's a 03:30am start tomorrow as we are aiming to say hello to the sun again as it rises over Mount Bromo, an active volcano that only a few days ago, spewed a 500m high plume of lava.

About 290km ridden today.