The mother of all adventures: an emotional high on Mt Bromo

After an unpromising 3am start, Jo Thompson is mesmerised by sunrise over Mount Bromo on the Indonesian island of Java.

After a monumental 14-hour drive we arrive at our next destination. The journey has been exhausting. It is a small bus and seats have been allocated to some passengers who are ill. I spend the journey on the floor of the bus, my temper fraying.

The hotel is a welcome sight. The temperature, however, is a shock. It is the first time I have felt cold since September and I remember how much I dislike it and why my heating bills have so many noughts on them. I have no warm clothes as I sent all mine home way back in Istanbul, so three of us head off to rent coats in the village. This is easier than I imagined. As we wander down a hill in the dark, a man on a motorbike pulls up and says: “You rent coat? I get.” He zooms off and reappears minutes later with three coats before zooming away again into the misty darkness.

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