Complete Day to Day Itinerary
Day One
The group gathers in Bali for the first night where we stay at the beautiful Segara Village Hotel in Sanur. Dinner will be on the beach and a few cocktails to start the trip.
Day Two
Fly to the historic town of Malang in East Java. Malang is one of Java's hidden treasures, a large town of around one million people and a great base for exploring the area. Malang is a very well planned city with many parks, tree lined streets and old Dutch architecture.
After checking into the beautiful historic Tugu Hotel (http://www.tuguhotels.com/malang/) we will start our photography adventure in the nearby bird and flower market and mix with the local friendly Javanese. We will catch the late afternoon light and do some street photography around the canals and small kampongs of this wonderful city.
The Tugu is one of the most beautiful historic hotels in Indonesia and a photography project in its own right. We will dine in a special historic part of the hotel this night.
Day Three
We will leave early in the morning and traverse by four-wheel drive up the western slope to the Mount Bromo area stopping to photograph in the villages on the way. With the surrounding Volcanoes as a backdrop this is one of the most spectacular landscapes on the planet. In fact there is no other volcanic terrain in the world that can compare to the spectacular Tengger region.
We will stay that night at the Lava Lodge and catch the late afternoon sun as it casts its rays on the famous sand sea crater. An early night as we have a very early start in the morning.
Day Four
Up at 4 am and we will travel by jeep to catch the sunrise way up high above the crater below and photograph Mt Semeru Java's highest peak at 3,676 meters. But there are many other Volcanoes in this area, it's a sight that has to be seen to be believed.
Dave has been to this area on four previous occasions (he loves it so much) and knows other different angles to photograph this amazing landscape.
We will then head down to Mt Bromo itself and catch horses ( or walk ) to the top of the crater and photograph a live active Volcano and the Tengger horseman as they gallop across the sand sea, like a scene out of Lawrence of Arabia.
Back to the hotel for lunch and a rest and then a visit to the charming Tengger Villages in the area. The Tengger are hobbit like and the last remaining group of Hindu's in Muslim dominated Java. Very friendly they will invite us into their homes and we can get some charming portraits.
Late in the afternoon we will head back to the Tugu for a well deserved rest and opportunity to download thousands of photographs!
Day Five
Early start to photograph the sunrise over the Volcanoes surrounding Malang and a visit to the tea plantations and the workers in the fields.
Back to the hotel for late breakfast and rest, then we will take the spectacular back road to the small historic town of Blitar, passing terraced rice fields, rivers and Volcanoes. Some great photo opportunities along this road so we will take our time.
In Blitar we will stay at another Tugu Hotel and a feast of Java cuisine awaits us.
A long day so it will be nice to relax around the hotel and review some photos.
Day Six
Blitar is in the heart of the Brantas Valley one of Indonesia's most historical areas. Over several centuries numerous temples and monuments were constructed and some of these we will visit and photograph during this day.
There are also many active Volcanoes in this area making for some wonderful backdrops. This area is really the heart of Javanese spirituality and is classic Java that seems unchanged in thousands of years. Very few tourists visit this area so we will be able to wander around these archaeological sights and have them to ourselves.
One of the highlights of the trip will be this particular evening when we dine in front of Candi Panataran which dates back to 1200 and took 250 years to complete. It is in fact one of the largest remaining Majapahit sanctuaries in Java.
We will arrive just before sunset to photograph this beautiful structure and the Tugu staff will set up our private dinner. But first we will have an opportunity to watch and of course photograph some dancers from the local village perform traditional Javanese dance.
Day Seven
For something completely different we will board a train in the morning and travel to Yogyakarta. The 4 - 5 hour journey passes through the heart of rural Java and classic green rice fields so typical of this fertile, Volcanic Island.
We will arrive early evening and check into the magnificent, colonial Phoenix Hotel where we will stay the next three nights.
Yogya is one of the only two traditional court centers remaining in Java's ancient hinterland. A small busy town Yogya is home to many educational centers and some fascinating street art.
Day Eight
A restful morning reviewing photographs we will visit the Keraton, royal palace by becak and some good opportunities for more street photography, especially in the main street named Jalan Malioboro and we will visit the central market.
Back to the hotel for rest and dinner as we will be leaving around 3 am to get to the largest Buddhist temple in the world.
Day Nine
Borobudur is a spectacular sight and we will be there to photograph the star trails over this amazing monument, then the sunrise as the first light hits the many stupas. To the north and east, a majestic procession of Volcanoes soars to heights of more than 3000 meters, making for an unforgettable sight. We will wander around the foundations photographing from different angles, so a wide-angle lens will be very useful.
We will slowly make our way back to Yogya stopping for lunch at the magnificent grounds of the Mesastila resort, another wonderful place to photograph.
If the weather is clear (June is the best time of the year for good weather), we will see mighty Mt Merapi, the most active Volcano in the world and the spiritual heart of Java.
There will be plenty to photograph on the way back as we pass through lush green valleys with waterfalls, and rivers flanked by steep hillsides.
Early night after such a long rewarding day.
Day Ten
A full rest day, editing photographs, reviewing with Mark and Dave, some light room tips from Mark.
In the evening we will photograph and catch the Ramayana ballet, a spectacular dance performance and very colorful. Before this evening performance we will witness a traditional Javanese Wayan Puppet show.
Day Eleven
Fly back to Bali direct from Yogya in the morning arriving back in Bali around 12 noon.
