The sulphur mines of Ijen

The first time I learned about Ijen was in the movie Samsara (the sequel to Baraka). At that time it was just an exotic location some place far away. In a hostel in Jakarta I saw a clip from the BBC documentary “Human Planet”, which featured similar footage from Ijen. It put Ijen on the map for me, but still we had no concrete plans visiting it. Nor we had any idea it was possible to visit it. On the way to Bromo, we made a stopover at a tourist agency, where a cunning businessman told us about Ijen and happily sold a package tour to Bali via Ijen. Even though it seems we paid a little too much for the deal in the vulnerable mental state after an exhausting 10 hour journey, Ijen was totally worth it and in fact it was the highlight of Java for me. As with other volcanoes the best time to visit Ijen is during the dry season (from May to October). Although we couldn’t enjoy the views over Ijen due heavy impenetrable clouds, a trip down the crater fully compensated it.

The road from the nearby village to the crater is about 3,5km. All the way up.

Despite the warning most of the tourists descend down the crater and guides readily offer their help

There are about 200 miners working at the mine

Workers start early in the morning before the sun rise and make two trips a day

Miners carry loads from 75kg to 90kg

Up to 300m from the bottom of the crater and then 3km back to the village

Most workers do not wear proper respiratory protection. Some workers wear flip-flops in this quite demanding terrain

The water of the lake at the bottom of the crater is hot, but very acidic. Swimming is not advised

The bottom of the crater is full of toxic sulphur fumes

Quite a hell down there, but at the same time it is amazingly beautiful.

Sulphur fumes cool down into the solid form, which is collected by the workers.

There is no work automatisation of any kind. A simple mechanical elevator would help a lot, but no, everything is done scrupulously by hand.

Once out of the crater the load is weighed and then must be carried back to the village

Workers typically make $13 a day

Unlike it was pictured in Samsara, the atmosphere is very cheerful. Workers sing, make jokes and bum cigarettes. Protip: bring a pack of cigarettes with you for additional karma.

Bromo-Tengger-Semeru national park

Java has not got that many attractions given its size, but one of the must see things is Bromo-Tengger-Semeru national park. Situated in the East Java, it is a 12 hours intense bus ride away from Yogyakarta. The entry point to the national park is Cemoro Lawang, a sleepy village with not much to offer. Half of the village population is focused on farming potatoes and onions, while the other half caters tourists. It was windy and cold, especially in the night-time. Made us forget sometimes that we were in fact in a tropical country and not Lapland in the summertime. Here I experienced for the first time an altitude sickness with head-aches and fever. Any kind of exercise like walking uphill made me feel very out of shape. That took place at the altitude of 2500m. I shudder to think what it feels like at higher altitudes.

The volcano itself and the surrounding Moon-like landscape is simply stunning. Numerous travel agencies organise sunrise tours to one of the viewpoints, but we skipped that and opted for a day-trip to the crater and back. A wise choice in the retrospect as there was nothing to see in the morning due to heavy clouds. The crater itself is shrouded with sulphur vapours (read: the intense smell of rotten eggs everywhere). Although there is nothing much to see inside the crater apart from the vapour, the view over the valley was well-worth the exhausting walk through a dust-storm and almost a ruined camera. Note for the future dust storms and cameras do not mix, no matter how stunning scenery is.

Cemoro Lawang, a village closest to Bromo. Cool climate and highland lifestyle.

At times it feels like Russian countryside with crumbling infrastructure

And potato fields

Except that locals carry things on their heads

The entrance to the Bromo valley

Bromo on the left, Batok on the right

The mighty Batok. I have never realized that a volcano can look like in cartoons

There was a dust storm so we had to improvise with the gear

The river bed that flowing lava made back in the day

Local teenagers come here with their scooters for a day-trip

A view over the valley from the top of the crater. There is something beautiful that they built a temple in a place like this. If the volcano erupts, it will be most definitely destroyed.

Local teenagers insisted to take a picture of them.

And this is what walking through a dust/ash storm does to you.

My ego traps

a journey into the centre of the heart

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Tag Archives: Volcano

The sulphur mines of Ijen

Bromo-Tengger-Semeru national park