From Yoschi Guesthouse in Cemoro Lawang, a van took us to our travel agent in Probolinggo. Then we transferred to a big bus and headed to Denpasar (Bali’s capital). The transportation was still part of our Gunung Bromo tour package.
If you’re not traveling under a package, Probolinggo’s bus station is 5km west off town. An angkot (a micro-van) can take you there. Trips to Surabaya (two hours), Yogyakarta (nine hours), and Denpasar (nine to eleven hours depending on traffic) are available. A train to Surabaya and Yogyakarta is also an option.
At Denpasar’s bus station, we hired a cab (haggled for 40,000) to Legian. The driver dropped us off Jalan Double Six. While we were still in Yogyakarta we contacted Tamie, our Couchsurfing host, through the net and asked for a place to stay.
Our Indonesia trip thus far. View Probolinggo-Denpasar in a larger map
He apologized that he couldn’t accommodate us in his house because according to him it is ‘too hot’ there, so he only offered us his guidance around the area. He sent us an SMS that he’ll meet us at Jalan Double Six, so that’s where we went – though it had been two hours since he last replied.
Shervin and I ordered a very cheap nasi goreng (4,000 Rp) at a small warung along the same street, and started planning on where to go just in case Tamie doesn’t show up anymore.
He did show up, looking like a Pinoy action star with his long uncombed hair, donning a denim jacket. He apologized for being late because he fell asleep. Since it was already wee hours, it would have been difficult to go around looking for guesthouses. So we ended up staying at his place – which wasn’t really ‘too hot’.
[This blog is part of the South East Asia in Six Weeks series which took place May-June 2009. Price of goods, transportation and so forth may already be different.]
