The volcano was way calmer than I was today

Today's theme: girl power. Soundtrack: Wonder Woman theme song. By our powers combined, three other ladies and I scaled a volcano, argued a beligerent driver into refunding me a good chunk of money, and challenged archaic gender stereotypes.

Everything started at 2am, when three Dutch girls, two Korean guys and myself met in the lobby of the hotel to go to the village of Ceromo Lawang. At the base of Gunung Bromo, this is where we would switch from our minivan to a 4WD Jeep. Despite the other 5 being told there would be two cars with a max of 5 passangers each and despite me being told there was no room, we all managed to squeeze into the back while another couple got in the front seat next to the driver. And away we went, bouncing through the pitch black and an endless supply of potholes.

Our first stop was the top of Gunung Penanjakan where we waded through a crowd of a hundred tourists. There's a surprisingly large number of Dutch visitors, despite the fact that they were unceremoniously kicked out of the country 45 years ago. There also seem to be plenty of Germans, and I realized today I've only met one other American on my trip, a girl diving up on Pulau Weh. What the heck? Where are all the Yankees? We probably get a bad name around the world because the only ones of us going anywhere are in the military. Geez, people, get out a little.

Anyway, sunrise over the volcanos was absolutely beautiful and the mist that coated the valleys was absolutely magical. No matter where you looked you got the feeling that you were on another planet or looking at a primordial Earth. I'm just not a good enough writer to describe the scene properly, so I'm going to get let the photos do it themselves. After that we drove to the very bottom of Gunung Bromo and hiked up to the top.  Not a horribly difficult climb, but you still worked up a bit of a sweat since the sun had come out and you had to climb 127 stairs at the final push.  It was an incredible trek, though, and it felt a bit like we were on a different planet: thin layers of mist, smoking volcanoes, giant black boulders, the smell of sulfur, gulleys washed down the mountains like fingers raked through the sand...it was unlike anything I've ever seen.  It brought you back to earth, though, to have a sales pitch for a horse ride thrown at you every thirty seconds or so.

At the end of it all we bumped and bounced in our Jeep again back down to Cemoro Lawang where we finally had the light of day to see the village. These folks live in a forest that seems to be an odd tropical/ Alpine hybrid, with palm trees, edelweiss, sugar cane and evergreens growing side by side. Give these people loads of credit, their fields are planted VERTICALLY. The hills here are so steep that you can see every row of cabbage as you look over the edge of the road. Their walking paths are cut at a diagonal so they don't go rolling down uncontrollably. It's one of the coolest things I have ever seen in my life.

But eventually we returned to the hotel and I had to deal with the little scam that had started the night before.

Backstory from last night:
When I asked Toga, the hotel manager, to join the group going to Bromo, I was told it was Rp200,000 per person, despite the fact that Lonely Planet says it's 240,000 for 4 and that the Korean guys had found another company to do the same trip we ended up doing for Rp70,000 per person for a group of five. I really got suspicious of the cost when he said a ride in the van to Ceromo Lawang, the next village, and back was 100,000 each, an outrageous sum! Then he says the park charges the entry fee when you go in AND come out?  Oh, and coats for the freezing-cold, pre-dawn ride are extra.  BULLSHIT.

However, he said the Jeep was already full with five people, anyway (remember how earlier I said nine of us got in it?), so I would have to go on the back of a motorbike, which would cost me 300,000 total. When I protested and mentioned I had planned to spend around 70-100,000 he actually made fun of me by handing me money from his wallet and said if I could find it for that price he would pay for it himself. I told him his behavior was unappreciated and that even though I thought he was charging much too much, I wasn't going to walk the streets at 11pm to shop around. But at least he agreed that if there ended up being room in the Jeep I could ride in that. I learned later that night that he had told the others before I arrived that there would be two cars for all seven people, leaving PLENTY of space for me.

But last night there was really nothing I could do about it, seeing as I arrived at about 10pm, but now it really infuriates me that not only did he lie and price-gouge all of us, but he's going to get away with it with the next batch of tourists who stay there. I mean, what can I do that would make any difference?

At least I managed to get some of my money back today. I asked to speak to Toga to get him to refund the extra Rp100,000 since I ended up in the same boat as the others, but they only sent our driver in instead. He claimed there was nothing he could do, I called him on his BS and explained how his boss had lied to all of us, he kept saying there was nothing I could do, I asked for his name (only Abdul, by the way, no last name if you can believe that) because I was going to complain to the police. He came up with a solution: he gives me 50,000 back. I say not enough; give me 50,000 and I'll leave your name out of the police report, but give me 75,000 and I'll forget the whole thing.

This was a fairly ridiculous bluff, by the way. I never intended to go to the police. It's not like I had a very strong leg to stand on in this whole thing, but what else was I supposed to say? "I refuse to leave your hotel until you give me my money, even if it means ending my vacation." Um, no.

At one point he went and sat down in the lobby to wait for his 'friend' to bring the 50,000 I said I'd take "as a start to the solution" and the Dutch girls came walking by. I explained what was going on and they offered to help since Toga had lied to them, too, and the Korean guys were ready to talk to the police if they came. Between the four of us girls standing over him, arguing that yes it was his business since he works for Toga and that if he can give me 50,000 he can give more than that and various other approaches, he must have started to feel overwhelmed. It got a little heated towards the end and at one point he just grabbed 75,000 from the register and threw it at me before storming out, pausing just long enough to say, "You need man to control you.  You crazy woman.  Find a man to straighten you."  Yep.  Story of my life, buddy.  Keep talking, I'm sure it will sink in at some point.

He was somewhat right, though, that this wasn't really his business. I paid Toga, not Abdul. I got my information and assurances from Toga, not Abdul. But since Toga told him to go in his place and take care of the problem, that's what we all felt he had an obligation to do. So like I said before, I'm not mad at him, I'm mad at that asshole Toga and the fact that this is going to happen to other people because there's nothing to be done about it.

So I guess to some extent today the ladies held their own, but only parts of it actually felt like a victory. I felt good about getting my money back for about half an hour then started to regret losing control of myself. I wish I could blame it on feeling sleep deprived and robbed of justice, but really if I would just develop more patience those things wouldn't be an issue. I have GOT to learn to relax more and control my temper. Too often I let something little get in the way of enjoying an incredible experience and I often regret it. Come on, Lauren, get your priorities sorted.

All right, well, I've boarded the bus to Bali (again being watched protectively by the elderly conductor and sleeping upright and pushing hard against my overweight neighbor and trying not to think about the cockroaces), so once I'm surrounded by laid-back surf culture it should be easy to let stuff roll off my back, right? Famous. Last. Words.