When I arrived, I had to pay a 10k entrance fee. For some reason the Grab driver decided to wait for me.
I took a motorcycle tour, the guy intially said 100k but 10 mins into the ride started asking for 250k which I managed to get down to 150k for barely 15 mins of riding.
When I got back, the grab driver and the other motorcycle guides all started pressuring for tips. All seemed like gangsters so I gave them money and could hear them laughing when I walked away.
We visited the Lapindo Mudflow after hearing about it several years ago. A haunting place and a sobering experience when you encounter those affected by the disaster. Beyond what has already been written, here are a few practicalities:
1. We took the train from Surabaya Gubeng to Porong (57 minutes / 14K). Porong station is the closest to the mudflow.
2. Took a Grab car from Porong station to the mudflow (5 minutes / 20K).
3. Paid 100K for a 1 hour ojek tour of different vantage points around the eruption. We were dropped off at Porong station afterwards. It was interesting hearing first hand from the guides about their experiences with the eruption.
There was no entry fee, and there were no touts of any kind. We also didn't see any other people around. The only thing we would change is to go to Sidoarjo station on the way back, as there is nothing around Porong station while you wait for the train.