3 Days, 2 Volcanoes, 24hrs of Transport, 9hrs of Sleep

We knew we wanted to see Kawah Ijen and Mount Bromo; both are meant to be spectacular volcanoes in their own rights. Kawah Ijen is where miners hike up the active volcano and down into the crater to mine sulphur. Mount Bromo is a huge tourist attraction with mystical clouds and beautiful viewpoints.

We started with a tree hour bus ride to the ferry that joins Bali and Java. From there we road the ferry for an hour and were fortunate to meet up with a local woman who told us which hotel to go to in order to book a ride to Ijen. We also met a couple of guys from France on the ferry whom we would spend the next two days with and share transportation costs with (most annoying people ever!).

After lots of negotiation and a very short night of sleep, we would depart for Kawah Ijen at 1:30am. We arrived at the starting point of the trail at 3am. From here we had a steep 2km hike up to the rim of the volcano in the rain and darkness. On our path up the volcano we only crossed local miners working the night shift, themselves on their way to the top so they could climb in the crater and fill their bamboo baskets with sulphur. We reached the top in 90 minutes and were fortunate enough to meet a kind young miner, Antonio, who asked us to follow him into the crater.

The whole point of climbing Ijen at night, in the pitch-black darkness, is to see the volcano’s blue flames. 

The inside of the active volcano continues to be so hot that the sulphur gases released are blue. After witnessing the amazing flames, we asked our miner friend if we could go back up to the rim of the volcano. It was here that he explained that the only way out was to go all the way to the bottom of the crater and take a path out from the other side. Going back up where we came down would be too difficult, especially if the winds changed and we were caught in sulphur smoke. Having made it this far, and our “guide” telling us he wanted to show us where he got the sulphur from, we chose to trek on. It was really worth it.

Once we reached the bottom Antonio showed us how he would break off rocks of sulphur to fill his basket. He also showed us the liquid sulphur that still bubbled below our feet. Antonio used to fill his basket with 100Kgs, but has reduced his load to 70Kgs since he had his son; he was all too conscious of the toll his work would have on his life span. The sulphur would be sold back in the village 3 Km away for $0.06 per Kg. This 4hr trek back and forth would net Antonio approximately $4.20. He would do this twice a day, five days a week for two weeks and then rest (he would also do all this in flip-flops as he couldn’t afford shoes).

While in the crater we also had a chance to look at the acid lake. It is the biggest and most acidic lake in the world, with a diameter of over 1km.

With this done, we thanked Antonio, gave him some chocolate and money ($5) as gifts and trekked back to the bottom of the volcano where our driver was waiting. His reaction to our small gifts was incredible, a very special moment for us!

We were back at our hotel by 9am and would be on the road to Mt. Bromo by noon.

The drive to Bromo was supposed to take 4 hours, but because of Ramadan celebrations (Ramadan would start the next day), we were stuck in traffic for hours. We wouldn’t arrive to our guesthouse until 7:30 at night. After a quick bite, a couple of beers and a good hour of negotiating to prevent the tour from all of a sudden changing price half way through, we were off to bed. The drive to Bromo for the sunrise would start at 3:30am. We were quite excited to see Bromo, one of Java’s most famous volcanoes. Unfortunately, everyone else on the planet was equally excited. 

When we reached the look out point for the sunrise, we realized, this would be no Ijen. We were surrounded by hundreds and hundreds of other tourists. Locals were selling trinkets, renting winter jackets (it was pretty cold at the top) and generally looking to make a buck any way they could. Tourists jostled for position to get a good photo, it was nothing like what we hoped for. The view proved to be great, but the experience, mediocre. We watched the sunrise and got back in our jeep and drove to the foot of Mt. Bromo where we would hike up the volcano for a different view. Both were beautiful, but far from natural.

With this done, we headed back to our guesthouse at 8am for breakfast, and were on the road to Yogyakarta by 9:30am. We wouldn’t arrive in Yogyakarta until 10:30pm. It was a gruellingly long drive.

All in all, it was well worth the effort. Despite Bromo’s commercialism, it was still beautiful to see, but it was nothing compared to the adventure that is Kawah Ijen.