More Volcanic Adventure – Ijen Crater, East Java – Indonesia
7 Comments December 11, 2009 / Posted in Travel
Mai at Ijen Crater
While visting Mount Bromo, I decided to stay a little bit longer to explore a less touristy mountain (Mount Ijen 2380 meters above sea level) which is further east of Java island.
First of all, it’s less touristy because it’s hard to get to. I would recommend you follow closely to what is advised in your typical guide book (mine’s Lonely Planet) in terms getting there. DO NOT try to go there by public transport, other than the fact that you probably can’t, you really don’t want to get lost in the middle of nowhere. The best way to get there is to hire a driver for the entire day or two. Drivers in Indonesia are generally pretty cheap, expect to pay around AUS$30.
The road towards Mount Ijen is not one of the nicest road you could experience, in fact it may be one of the worst - So your travel time can be tripled because the car has to drive at snail pace.
Ok so I’ve mentioned all the bad thing, do I think it was worth it? You betcha. When you finally reach the top it was like another world. A massive crater on top of the volcano, inside the crater surrounds a lake of sulphuric acid.
Getting up to Ijen Crater
Unless you really love a hike, getting up the Ijen isn’t the easiest nor the funnest thing to do. It is a 3km hike up of rubbles, gravel, dirt path. At some point the incline was 45degrees. If you do plan to do this, definetely grab yourself a pair of hiking boots.
While hiking up I was fascinated by the number of local people carring 40 kg basket (locals told me up to 70kgs) of sulphur up and down the mountain (I guess I shouldn’t be complaining huh?). When you see these hardworking people, make sure you buy souvenir (nicely crafted sulphur in the shape of animals) of them as I was told they only make $4 a day.
The crater of Ijen looks beautiful. It has a wonderful color (torquish) and feels magical. If you look at my pictures (yes, look carefuly), you can see the tiny people standing around a massive crater. It’s smokey because of the sulphur., ie the volcano is active. You can go down to the creater but I suggest not to because it can be dangerous. A french tourist fell down the crater some time ago!!! But if you do decide to go make sure it’s before noon! As it approaches noon the sulphuric cloud gets bigger and bigger. Don’t fall into the trap of being down there when then cloud hits you. It is NOT plesant :S
One bonus was we managed to see a flying chicken when we were up there. It flew all the way down. Since when can chickens fly??
I love Ijen Crater, it’s beautiful and I was privileged to have the opportunity to visit it 
.
-
- Mai at Ijen Crater
-
- Mai with Mount Raung as backdrop
-
- Ijen Crater with smoke from the sulphur
-
- Walking around Mount Ijen Crater
-
- A sulphur mine – make sure you buy this souvenir of them
-
- Sulphur Miner – a truly tough job requires him to go up and down slippery path carrying up to 10kg of baskets full of sulphur
-
- Sulphur mining – egg smell
Related posts:
Wow, awesome pictures Mai Lin, just dropped by to say its been facinating seeing all your travels, very envious! =) Have a good Xmas & New Years and stay happy and be yourself! Your awesome!
Thanks Shy for dropping by
. Despite the opportunity to travel with work, I do catch the travel bug 
. Keep dropping by, you’ll never know where I end up next time 
Hi Mai,
Would you mind telling me your itinerary to Bromo and Ijen? I plan to visit both places and hope that the trip can be done in 6 days. (Will fly to Surabaya.)
If you think it is not appropriate to write here, you may also drop me at e-mail.
Thanks in advance!
Hi Khengsiong,
I started in Bali (Denpasar City). Then I drove (hired a driver and a car) to Ijen, then to Mount Bromo.
I hired and organised my tour via:
Mr Hendrikus Tawur
PT. BALI CIPTA BAHARI TOURS & TRAVEL
Address: Jalan Benesari no. 19 Legian Kuta – Bali 80361
Phone: +62 361 7834512, 76583, 763803
Mobile/Cell: +62 817621851, +62 81337803336
E-mail: bcbtour@centrin.net.id
Just let him know that you’re mai lin blog’s reader and he’ll be able to assist you with your Ijen and Bromo trip.
Ijen’s a very tricky mountain to hike (as per my blog post – wear proper hiking shoes) but the view’s worth it
.
Let me know how you go
.
HI Mai, beautiful photos
My friends and I are doing similar tour – Mt Ijen and Mt Bromo next week. Just need to check with you how’s the temperature at both mountains.I read that it’s about 5′C at Mt Bromo. What about Mt Ijen? Do we need thick clothing? Thanks!
Reall glad that you’re enjoying my blog post on Mt Ijen and Bromo. Mt Bromo can be a little bit cold if you are from tropical climate. I only wear a thin jacket with a long sleeve when I went there. I’d suggest you wear a polar fleece type of jumper/sweater. In Mt Ijen, don’t bother wearing a thick jacket as by the time you did a 45 degrees walk, you’ll be hot and sweaty. So my suggestion is to wear a light weight jumper/sweater on top of a t-shirt in which you can strip off when you get hot. With Mt Ijen, Travel light on clothes as the hike will give you a bit of a challenge and definetely keep your heart beat up
. Let me know how you go 
dear Mai! I just went to kawah Ijen and i only wanted to let you know that the basket the miners are carrieing is not weighing 10kg, but sometimes up to 80kg! It’s really the worst thing i have ever seen and i felt really misplaced ther, watching them doing all the hard, dangerous work. I felt a bit ashamed. the miners have to walk with the heavy baskets for 17km (from the crater, downhill and then to the fabric). they make 600rupia per kg and they won’t get older then 40-45years. they try to get up and down the crater 2 times a day to make some money, only to make sure they have enough food for their family, house and maybe a better future for their children so they don’t have to work at ijen. the sulfur smoke causes lunginjury and is very toxic. because the miners are their own boss, they don’t have any protection or rights. they don’t have the money to buy things like gassmask or normal walkingsnoes. Some of the miners wear only flipflops(!)
if you look at you tube you can find a film/documentary made by discovery channel about ijen, and i’m sure you will be horryfied about the true stories the miners are telling, and then you will understand the true sad story about ijen …..
(my english is not that good so i hope you understand what i mean
i really hope you post my answer at your page so everybody knows how it woks at ijen)