2.30 am. The alarm clock harshly rings us back from a short but deep sleep. More mechanically acting than fully realising what we are doing, we put on our warmest clothes — four layers should be enough — and help ourselves to a few sips of warm ginger tea from our thermos flask. Over a handful of biscuits, the excitement of what lies ahead comes to our dull senses. We tie up our hiking shoes, switch on the headlamps and, now fully geared, silently leave our homestay.

Outside, a pale, nearly full moon shines faintly over the hills, and innumerable stars twinkle above us as we start walking. The two-hour trail that leads to the summit of Gunung Penanjakan is steep, sometimes treacherous in the darkness of the night, and, despite the effort, undoubtedly cold as a freezing Hell; but none of this is able to temper our enthusiasm as we unrelentingly make our way to the top.

However, we are more than rewarded for our efforts as we arrive at the viewpoint: in the east, the sky turns from the deep blue of the night to the light blue of the morning; and as we sit there and watch, the sun rises behind the mountains, offering spectacular views over Mount Bromo and the other surrounding volcanos.