Continuing the trip series, now trekking in Indonesia. Volcanoes, beaches, and waterfalls not far from HK.

The map.

In our case, we visited all these in two separated trips, but you could do it in just a longer one.

Start in Rinjani. If you are fit enough you could do it fully in a long trail running day. We joined a tour though.

Up the jungle.

With the tour crew preparing the lunch.

It can get crowded in high season. And the monkeys demand their share of food.

Leaving the tree line behind.

Into the ash, slippery paths.

Views from the top.

Seeing the sunset among the clouds next to the bonfire.

Dinner.

And a cold and windy night on the top. Some had problems with their tents.

After the sunrise.

All the “expeditions” around.

Finally being able to see the crater within the lake within the crater.

If you run on your own or join a two-night tour, you go down to the lake and up to the peak. We just went back down instead.

Lombok has a very picturesque coastline. It remains still way less developed and pristine than Bali.

Tanjung Aan beach with its pepper sand.

And paths around to trail run a bit

completely deserted beaches still and with very good surf and snorkel around.

From there you can go to Gili Islands

You can dive there,

and mainly chill down.

I liked them less than expected. The main Gili Trawangan is a bit too crowded and the corals were not as nice as in other parts dived in Indonesia. From there to Bali, where waves can be huge.

And with the monkeys

seeing the sunset from one of the various temples.

There are several volcanoes to hike in Bali, but I didn’t do any of them, as they were rated even easier than Rinjani. Something that I have done several times there, since the early 2000s, vintage looking pic, is surf.

You can join courses here if you are new to this. Refresh your skills as I was doing up there in an easy wave in Kuta. Or go to the big ones in Uluwatu: fun big stuff.

From there jump to East Java. Contact some local agency who set a driver, hotels and full tour for us. From the airport of Surabaya to the small village of Sempol, with its waterfall.

Before a super early start well before the sunrise to Ijen.

Get your cameras and above all gas mask ready.

seeing the sulfur miners working, incredibly tough job.

And the blue lights coming from within the earth.

We missed the lake pic, here from Claire André in Flickr.

And on our way down.

within the mist.

Next early morning wake up was to see the Mount Bromo. 4×4 up the hill to one of the lookouts well before the sunrise. Here the camera in normal mode

Full iso, super long exposure etc.

I actually liked it even more than the pics we took 25 minutes later with the real sunset light. Here behaving like the locals 😀

You can go down then and hire a horse

or walk in the crowded path

up

to the rim.

Most people stop just after the stairs, but you can continue walking on your left and visit more.

Up the ash dune like rim.

Impressive views.

Going down again.

Rafting was the plan for the last day. But after quite some misunderstandings with the organizers stayed in Surabaya. Not specially nice city, so playing golf in one of the dozen clubs there. I didn’t look so bad for being the first time trying the real thing.

Affluent Indonesian are in love with the game. Not exactly my cup of tea.

Another visit in the area Tumpak Sewu waterfalls. They were also part of our initial plan, but again we needed to cancel, due to some problems with the agency.

It is worthwhile reminding: Indonesia is full of natural wonders and I would highly recommend visiting it. The infrastructures and organization though can be quite lacking. So be patient, don’t rush & try to enjoy most!