I've just moved to Jakarta and my husband has a business trip next week to Surabaya. I'd like to sightsee while he is in meetings on Friday, and then we are considering the feasibility of seeing Mt. Bromo on Saturday.

I'm guessing that we would have to travel to Mt. Bromo on Friday, as people get up before dawn to watch the sunrise. How do you travel there? Where do you stay? Anyplace nice? Am I even right? And what can I see in Surabaya itself?

Marmot, I see that you're the resident expert -- any special advice?

I haven’t spent much time in Surabaya so I’ll have to defer on the sightseeing question. I hope you’re staying at the Hotel Majapahit. It’s wonderful.

The only time I visited Bromo I stayed in Malang. I don’t know the driving time from Surabaya to Malang but it’s about 3-4 hours. If you want to see sunrise on Bromo you have to leave Surabaya around 2:00 or 3:00 a.m.

Alternately you could spend the night on Bromo and see sunrise at your doorstep. This is highly recommended as the area is extraordinarily scenic.

The accommodations on Bromo are very basic (actually pretty bad) but Java Banana is better than most. I haven’t stayed there myself, though. http://www.java-banana.com/

All of the hotels -- both in Surabaya and on the mountain -- offer tours of the Bromo area. They will provide transportation and guides. If you intend to stay on Bromo you can ask your Bromo hotel to pick you up in Surabaya. If you're staying in Surabaya just ask your hotel to arrange a tour.

This is a good overview: http://wikitravel.org/en/Mount_Bromo#Get_in

Thanks, marmot. The trip advisor reports all talk about how chilly it is -- will we really need jackets, scarves and mittens? After only two weeks in Jakarta, it is hard to imagine bundling up.

Yes, the temperature drops dramatically at altitude. We wore heavy sweaters and bought hats and gloves from the local vendors, which are silly enough to be charming. My twenty-something son still wears his, 15 years later.

Good to know -- but another weather related query. I'm not sure yet what "rainy season" means here; the earliest I've seen rain (in my whole two weeks!) is mid morning. Is this a bad time of year to visit Mt. Bromo?

The Wall Street Journal had an article about Trowulan, an ancient capital just 60 km outside of Surabaya. I'm not sure that would be fun in the rain either, but at least we wouldn't have risen at 3:30 am for sunrise that might be obscured.

Thanks Marmot for your help. I'm very grateful.

Hard to answer. We've had an intensely rainy year -- really non-stop since last November. The dry season never happened.

As a general rule it's good to stay two nights on Bromo in case you get rained out on one.

There are several archeological sites around Malang which in itself is a nice place to visit.