HORSEBACK RIDING ON A VOLCANIC CRATER – MT.BROMO, INDONESIA

We trudged along the ashy floors of the Mt.Bromo caldera, scoffing at the others who mounted guided horses to get to the crater a short distance away. Admittedly, the thought of riding along the caldera on horseback looked pretty novel and fun but I couldn’t get past the fact that it was such an obvious tourist-trap. The sandy ground beneath us was demanding a lot more effort than we had anticipated and the huff-factor was making the walk quite challenging. Along with our eagerness to get up to the crater rim, we decided to finally give in to the touts and their magnificent beasts for hire. I mounted the horse after reluctantly settling on an inflated price - apparently, riding a horse on a caldera of one of the biggest volcanoes in Indonesia does not come cheap.

It was still morning and the vast plain, the Sea of Sand, glowed all around us. The view was even more magnificent when we finally got to the crater’s rim after scrambling up on hands and knees. A straight drop lead to the mouth of the crater from which smoke bellowed out and made a deafening sound. As I watched the clouds in such close proximity, forcefully expanding upwards, my expectations of what I would see at this crater’s edge was blown away. This mountain was alive; breathing heavily and making its vitality known. We sat on the edge, as humbled visitors, peering somewhat hesitantly in to the darkness from which the clouds came. I glanced over at the other onlookers and then to my friends who stood next to me. Their faces shared the same shocked expression and as our eyes met, we all started to giggle just as unexpectedly as our current situation had found us. By the time I had grasped the reigns of my horse and looked out onto the surreal vista, I thought about how I would look back on this experience. I made a grave realization at that very moment. Years from now, I will be more disappointed by the things I didn’t do than by the ones I did do.