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 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. There are crowds at the top.

It's still dark but there's an orange glow on the horizon. I find a spot on the barrier and watch it gradually get bigger. 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 see the volcano appear from the dark, silhouetted against the lightening sky 

As the light appears we can see that the scenery is decidedly alpine, with conifer trees.

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 individual villa.