New Delhi, Oct. 23 -- We set the alarm for 2.30am.

It was a week night and our guide Toni felt that was sufficient for us to make the sunrise at Mount Bromo. On a weekend we would need to leave the hotel at 2am or even earlier, he said.

Bromo is one of the active volcanos in Indonesia. And sunrise on Bromo and nearby Semeru has long been on travel blogger bucket lists worldwide. My partner had booked us into cabins in Bromo so we didn't need to go too far. But Toni insisted we needed to get up at 2.30am to make it to the sunrise viewing point in good time.

As we rolled out of the hotel in inky darkness, I understood why. Stars glittered above us but below us it looked like Orion's belt was snaking through the Sea of Sand. "All 4x4s goi...