I Fell in Love with BONDOWOSO

Bromo was so great and we enjoyed every moment there. We wished we could stay there longer but we had a long journey to do all the way to Ijen Crater on the further East of Java Island. It would be a very long journey from Cemoro Lawang to Probolinggo and later to Bondowoso before heading to Sempol nearby Ijen – all on different buses.

A : Probolinggo B : Bondowoso C: Sempol D : Ijen

I did not quite like Probolinggo. I was only there for about an hour or so but I could not wait to get out of there. In addition to the stupid tour agent who claimed himself as a good friend of Agoda, I couldn’t help but thinking that everybody in Probolinggo tried to cheat tourists in one way or another.

First when we asked for directions from somebody who looked like a policeman or something, he led us to some stall and asked us to stay put when the bus to Bondowoso was actually only a few hundred yards away. I later figured out that he’d make a deal with the driver by marking up the price and get some commission out of it. Damn.

We left and walked over to the bus station where the bus to Bondowoso was already waiting. Even so, we found out later that we actually paid double than what other passengers did. No wonder the conductor wouldn’t give us a receipt until we insisted. Only then he gave it to us but without the price on it. Grrrr!

Then there were hordes of peddlers streaming continuously into the bus selling all kinds of stuff. Some of them would just put their stuff on your lap whether you like it or not and come back to collect it later.

Every now and then a group of music performers would come in and perform and later collect money from passengers who are kind enough to give. I kind of liked it at first but when there seemed to be too many of them, I began to get disturbed by their presence. I guess all of these are normal practices in East Java or Indonesia as a whole. They just need a little bit of getting used to.

The distance between Probolinggo to Bondowoso could not be more than 100 km or probably a little bit more. The road is good but it runs across towns with some traffic obstruction so the ride was dragged to up to 4 hours. You know you’re nearing the town of Bondowoso when the bus begins an uphill ride with beautiful greenery along the way.

I liked Bondowoso the moment I arrived there. Coming from Surabaya and later Probolinggo, Bondowoso really was like heaven.

First, it is so clean that it doesn’t look like a typical Indonesian town at all. I’m not saying that other towns in Indonesia are not clean, but it’s just that the people in Bondowoso seem to sweep their floors all the time.

Then the shop lots are so beautiful and very well-painted. Each of the buildings seems so well-arranged and complementing with each other. Each of the entrances to the residential sections has a beautiful gate. I guess Bondowoso inherited them from the colonial time.

The pavements are so beautiful and very pedestrian-friendly that I felt like rolling on the floor as I traversed my way on them just to show how excited I was. LOL!

There’s something so relaxing about the town of Bondowoso. Even the people there seem so relaxed and going about their own businesses without the least of care in the world.

It’s very easy to fall in love with them too. They are so friendly that it made me think what I did to deserve their friendliness and good hospitality.

There aren’t many taxis in Bondowoso. Most people mobile around on paddled tri-cycles which makes the town of Bondowoso so unique in its own right. Even the tri-cycle drivers are not pushy at all despite their large number.

They are like all over relaxing around and they seem more like sun-bathing instead of waiting for a passenger.  Most of them wouldn’t even say the amount of fare so you would have to decide on how much is reasonable to give to them.

Bondowoso really is a green town which makes it even more appealing to me. Right in the middle of town is a beautiful park called Alun-Alun. There’s nothing much to see there during the day but it turns into a vibrant spot at night.

There’s a night market that sells quite a bit of stuff and a row of stalls with a variety of local food to choose from. I was especially fascinated by the tables that they set up at the stalls. They reminded me quite a bit of the tables in Vietnam, only these ones without chairs so you have to sit on the floor while enjoying you meal and the relaxing atmosphere.

A few hours through my stay in Bondowoso and I already decided that I could stay there forever. Yes, I liked Bondowoso to that extent. LOL!

We checked in at a hotel that I found out about while browsing through the internet on the bus ride. The name was Anugerah Hotel and it is the kind of hotels that you’d find yourself wowing at when you first see them. It seems like an old hotel when it is actually not.

The rooms are quite spacious but you have to be OK with not having a basin and a mirror in the bathroom. The hospitality is something to be learned by hoteliers in Malaysia. They’d serve you with coffee the moment you come out of the room in the morning. I just wish they knew how to put the right amount of sugar.

WE actually liked Anugerah Hotel very much until we found out that it is only separated by a wall from an old cemetery. I HAD no problem with it at all but my travel buddy seemed to be freaked out by it.

Being friends since childhood, I really thought I knew him well enough. He always portrays himself as the tough kind of guy so just knowing that he is actually scared of cemeteries (or ghosts for that matter LOL) made me chuckle in amusement.

I actually suggested that we sneaked into the cemetery which I believed was the only way to conquer his fear but that idea made him freak out more. Haha!

We actually returned to stay another night in Bondowoso after we were done with Ijen.  This time I took more time to explore the beautiful town and tried to take in as much of it as I could within the very short stay that I had there.

Of course we didn’t have much time to find another hotel so my travel buddy wasn’t so happy when we had to return to Anugerah Hotel before continuing on to Surabaya the next day. LOL!

The only problem with Bondowoso is probably the inexistence of Money Changers as we initially thought. We walked all over to look for one and a few suggestions had led us to a bank nearby Alun Alun.

Apparently, changing money at a bank is not an easy task to do in Indonesia. They want your money to be in a good condition and a little bit of crumples would drag the value down. The year in which your money was produced is also a matter of concern.

And all of these are not even for them to decide. They’d still have to call their HQ to consult on the exchange rate based on the condition of your money and whether your money is even acceptable or not. Meh. I gritted my teeth and stormed out of the bank before I said anything nasty.

We later found a money changer nearby the bus terminal which had no care in the world of how crumbled your money is. They’d even take in small notes – even as small as MYR5. I chuckled at how stupid it would have been for me if I pressed on changing my money at the bank.

With a little bit of extra money in hand, we were ready to hit into Ijen – our ultimate destination in East Java. I really thought Bromo was going to be my favorite destination on this trip.

But of course that was because I knew very little of Ijen.