EAST JAVA
BROMO TENGGER SEMERU
Bromo Tengger Semeru is a national park located in East Java, to the east of Malang City. The journey here from Malang is about an hour to the entrance of the national park. Shortly after the entrance, visitors would have to switch to a 4x4 vehicle to traverse around the area. Several major attractions within the national park include the mountain viewpoints (Bukit Penanjakan 1/2, Puncak B29, and my favorite, King Kong Hill!), the Bromo crater, whispering sand dunes, and the Teletubbies hills. Roughly speaking there are 3 kinds of travel packages offered for tourists visiting the area, the most frequent being the sunrise tour, and the other two are sunset and stargazing tours. This series of photographs are taken from dawn up to the early morning hours.
TUMPAK SEWU
Tumpak Sewu is a waterfall formation located southeast of Malang City, within the Lumajang Regency. The name literally translates to "A Thousand Falls", and I think the name is an accurate representation of the area. Each major waterfall stream from the top form several smaller streams below.
From the top, you can expect to have a panoramic view of the area. But to get the full experience, visitors can opt to make a descent to the base of the waterfall. The hike down is a challenge as you navigate through the not-so-sturdy ladder systems, but what's even worse is the journey back up as you hike against gravity (especially when carrying a load of camera gear as I did on my trip).
Having reached the bottom area, visitors would have to walk a little bit further to reach the waterfall base, where they will be greeted by the glorious view from beneath and the sheer, immense power of the falls.
JODIPAN RAINBOW VILLAGE
Settled beside the Brantas River flowing through Malang City, Jodipan Rainbow Village was at the brink of eviction by the local government because it was unfit to live in. A group of undergraduates saw potential for tourism within the village, and sought to revive it through fundraising from interested parties. To their avail, a local paint company sponsored them through tins of paint, which got the village a whole new rainbow makeover.
More recently, a village across Jodipan (now called the Arema Blue Village) also got a new blue paint job. The color blue represents hometown football club Arema Malang.
