IJen Plateau

Coming from the national park Meru Betiri I only took the minibus to Banyuwangi where I have been before. On the way I see people doing their laundry in the river and further on using these as their personal shower. From there I am advised to take a bemo to the village Sasak Perot and then switch again in a van to Lijen.

Unfortunately, I am still not at my final destination after a long day; there are no bemo’s/minibusses leaving from here. A boy points to a scooter and I have little choice. My big bag is thrown on the steering wheel and I’m towering above the boy’s head in front of me in the back. Most of it is uphill and I have to get off on some parts because it’s too steep. The scooter is heavy and for a moment I am afraid that the boy is driving away with my bag in the front.

On top of the hill I get back on my seat and we continue the ride. 

I arrive at a kind of plateau where a number of wooden houses are standing and where the PHPA post is located. I meet some men here and they point me to a small hut that belongs to a kind of hostel. I make it clear that tomorrow morning I would like to walk to the crater. In one of the shacks I get some food.

I eat with a small oil lamp because it has already become dark in the small restaurant nearby. Then I walk back to the wooden house which is my room. Electricity is not here and I'm going to bed early - it's cool, dark and I have to get up really early. I deeply dive into my own sleeping bag and am glad I took it because many blankets are not here. 

My alarm goes at a quarter to five when it is still very dark outside. Half an hour later I close the door behind me and start my hike to the crater. It starts to become a little light enough to start my 3 km walk although it’s kinda creepy to walk here just by myself. The path is steep, sometimes slippery and I’m happy to see that by some pieces wooden railings are attached that you can hold onto. After an hour of walking you arrive at the observation post on a ledge. Here is also the dam.

But it is still half an hour of climbing to the edge of the crater. Finally I get there; now I can see the clouds of sulfur (and smell). You can walk down the crater by a narrow path full of stones and rocks to the little lake in the centre. You are now at about 2200 meters altitude and is close to an active volcano.

When you arrive at the bottom of the crater you standing next to a beautiful turquoise blue lake. Although I can not see more than half of the sulfur fumes, it seems to have a diameter of more than a kilometer big. The lake is one of the most acidic in the world and the stench is almost unbearable here.

The volcano seems to have erupted several times in 1936 and 1952 and is sometimes closed for months because of fear of a new eruption. I walk a few laps here and am the only tourist here. Men with large pieces of cloth around their mouth walk around with large baskets on their head. Along the edge of the lake, sulfur is constantly being extracted and the sulfur fumes also increase continuously.

The sulfur is melted in a mold and guided to the outside via ceramic pipes. There it solidifies and forms a yellow mass that is chopped into pieces and carried down on the shoulder in wicker baskets. Although it looks like yellow styrofoam, this weighs on average 90 kilograms. It is a walk of about two and a half hours. One runs an average of 2 times a day and gets paid per kilo which comes down to € 5 per catch.

I walk up the path again and take a look further for the beautiful view of the other volcanoes that are nearby; this should be the Merapi which is almost 3000 meters high and Raung volcano (3332 meters). On my walk back that goes much faster than the walk this morning I see what I missed this morning because of the darkness. Beautiful green coffee plantations, high mountains with bare peaks and lots of forest. Back in the village, I get my stuff, order a cup of coffee and wish everybody a good day.