The hardest part of climbing Indonesian volcanoes was getting there

We spent March 2026 in Indonesia, mostly staying on Lombok. During our short one-week break, we decided to travel to Java to explore its famous volcanoes. There was only one problem: we accidentally planned the trip during Eid al-Fitr, one of the biggest holidays in Indonesia. When we started looking for tickets from Lombok to Java, we discovered that everything was sold out. Flights, trains, all the convenient options — gone. Finally, I found out about ferries connecting Lombok and Java. Even those seemed fully booked, but it turned out that ferry schedules are often released only a few days before departure. We waited, and luckily, tickets appeared at the last moment. The journey took more than 24 hours. The ferry was definitely not a luxury experience, but it became one of the most memorable parts of the trip. We were the only tourists among hundreds of locals.