A Wild Ride Through the Night

Four years ago, I went on an internship in Indonesia. I was supposed to have my internship in Chelyabinsk, Russia but we had a hard time processing the visa. It was half way through the summer and school starts in 6 weeks so I decided to look for another internship. I found myself in Indonesia a week later, making my way to Malang. A great deal of the internship was spent on knowing the country and the people and one of the best memories I have of the internship was this particular night / dawn when we went to Bromo Mountain.

It was my first time to travel to a foreign country alone. I guess I was a bit more carefree then. I packed only what I could carry and just allowed myself to “figure it out when I get there”. I’m grateful for one thing though, there were people at the receiving end to host and welcome me so I didn’t really feel alone at all. I rode a van with my co-interns and with my host family. We stopped somewhere to ride 4x4s. We left Malang at midnight. I slept the whole way through so I had no idea how far we were into the travel when we changed vehicles. It was dark going to Bromo. I tried to keep my eyes open to remember the ride.

I wasn’t quite prepared for the cold.

When first light broke, it was amazing – it’s the kind that wakes you up. What’s even more amazing is watching it with strangers. For a few moments, you know that you’re all waiting for the same thing — being taken by the same view — being woken up by the same light.

When it was completely bright, we got to see where we really were – on top of a mountain I guess, and on the right is a monastery and Bromo Mountain. We made our way to the foot of Bromo Mountain after that.

 I still remember what I felt when I got down the 4×4 and sat foot on the desert. I couldn’t believe my eyes. I’ve always wanted to see horsemen riding around the desert and I saw just that. Four years went by so quickly. I learned so much about myself that time I spent in Indonesia however short it was. I’m glad I got myself on that internship when I did because somehow, it woke me up, and a part of me hasn’t slept since.