Bromo and Ijen 2D1N, Leaving at 23:30 with the Blue Fire Before Dawn

Two volcanoes inside two days, and the honest way to describe the schedule is that you sleep when the vehicle is moving. The driver and guide collect you at 23:30, from a hotel, the train station or the airport in Surabaya or Malang, and it is three hours to the Bromo area at Probolinggo. A 4WD takes over for the bumpy climb to Mount Penanjakan, which is the sunrise viewpoint. Once the sun is up the road drops down across the vast sea of sand left by Bromo's eruptions, and thirty minutes on an easy track gets you to the top. From the crater rim you look into the active crater and out over the caldera, with Mt Batok and Mt Semeru, the highest mountain on Java, behind it. The Hindu temple down on the sand carries the history of the Majapahit Kingdom with it. Then the long drive to a hotel in Banyuwangi or Bondowoso, and a few hours of rest. Day two starts at 1 am with the pick-up from the hotel, and then an hour's trek up to the Ijen crater. The blue fire disappears the moment the sun comes up, which is the whole reason for the hour. After that, the drive back to Surabaya, which takes most of the day.