This was a big friend group trip to Surabaya where we wanted some adventure and boy did we get it. Sadly when we went in Sep 2024, Mt Ijen was closed so we opted for a water rafting day instead.

So we booked ourselves a 4D3N tour: +62 85330410590

Price breakdown/pax: SG$583.02

Flight: SG$205.60
Food: SG$56.25
1N accoms: $19.76
Transport: SG$6.88
Travel insurance: SG$21.83
Tour: SG$272.70 (IDR2,950k/pax + IDR225k/pax for water rafting)

Day 1

The tour guide picked us from the airport and off we went! Our first stop was brunch before we headed to Malang Rainbow Village. It was originally a slum area but some University kids decided to paint it in bright colours and have paid admission to enter to try and help them.

After roaming the village, it was back to our van and on our way to our accoms for the night cause we had an early morning the next day.

Day 2

Good AM! We are exploring Tumpak Sewu waterfall today, a tiered waterfall standing at 120m (not the largest but maybe the most impressive). Come earlier to avoid the crowds cause it do be getting crowded and wow with some one-way steps, you have to play the waiting game. I would say the hike up and down to the base of the waterfall was more intense than I expected but the view was worth it.

It was pretty cold at the base of the waterfall so I suggest bringing a jacket and to be VERY CAREFUL climbing the rocks cause the constant drizzle from the waterfall just making everything wet and slippery.

Don’t be like me, slipping off a rock and needing to get stitches on my head, but all is well. Stay safe out there. So after an eventful afternoon, it was back in the van and on route to our next accoms. As you can see, this trip was just many long hours in the van, so bring something to entertain yourselves with or take many naps like we did too hehe

Day 3

Hello from 2am, we are starting early to catch the sunrise at Mt Bromo today! So suit up, it’s a cold morning up there. A 4WD off-road jeep will come pick you up and take you up to the viewpoint area.

If it gets too cold, don’t worry! There are sellers there selling beanies, gloves (IDR50k) and even renting jackets too. We stopped over at a cafe and got ourselves warm bowls of noodles and drinks to prep for the cold. After which, you can start heading up King Kong Hill around 4am+ to get yourself a good spot for sunrise. Now there are two view points you can head to, the lower one makes Mt Bromo look bigger in your pictures while the higher one can be a lil trickier to get to because it was so steep and our shoes could not grip the sand properly. Either ways, go early as it can get crowded since everyone wants a good spot. And now we sit in the cold waiting for the sun to do it’s job.

Once you’re happy with all your pictures, it is time to see how steep the hill was coming up. And remember how far your jeep was parked? Well it’s time to find it and you’ll definitely be stuck in a jeep jam going down so you might as well enjoy a cup of corn and take pictures while you wait. We’re heading to Mt. Bromo next.

The hike up to the crater was long, sandy and treacherous so I suggest you take the horse both-ways (we took 45mins to walk up and within 15mins by horse to get down WHAT). The sulfur smell can get a little much for some too so bring a face mask or scarf if you need to block some smell and sand from getting in.

Take some more pictures with your jeep and off to lunch we go! Before taking another big fat nap to get to the next accoms, where we had the evening to explore the night market and got ourselves some fried chicken at Goprek. The chilli was quite spicy but it was a help yourself to the rice and cucumbers situation and we were the only tourists there.

Day 4

Supposedly the most intense day hiking Mt. Ijen but it was closed so it was a not too early of a morning for us to head to water-rafting! We went with Pekalen Rafting Adventure and wow was it a fun time. They have a training session where they go through the Do’s and Don’ts of rafting and instructions like ‘Jiggy Jiggy‘ when you get stuck and when to sit more right or left of the raft.

Lunch was provided here too hehe

With a full belly, it was time to head to our accoms in the city and say goodbye to our guide. What did we do? We had a maggie party in our airbnb, watched a horror movie and slept like babies after.

Day 5

Our last day here and we decided to take it chill. Had lunch at Ikan Bakar Cianjur - Indragiri before walking over to All is Good Artisan Coffee & Dessert. After which, we headed to a shopping mall and that was it.