The largest acid barrel on our planet is absolutely worth an expedition. At 2300m it bubbles: Kawa Ijen – as the active volcano on Java is called – and its turquoise green crater lake. A lake of sulfur. The most exciting thing to see is the blue fire, unique in the world. Blue flames blaze in the crater at night due to the released sulfur gases. In the middle of the volcano I feel like on another planet or rather satellites, because the landscape around me reminds me of the moon: only rocks and everything in white. Plus the yellow sulfur rock.
But back to the beginning: The adventure starts in Bali. Our group consists of three French, four Russians, one Polish, one Englishman and me, one German. With two vans we start the tour in the evening at 6 o’clock from the south of Bali up to the north, northwest, to take the ferry to Java. The journey takes 4 hours, 5 hours with breaks. 11pm we reach the ferry. It takes about one hour to cross to the neighbour island, Java. Another hour by car to reach our destination, the foot of the volcano. And another hour until we finally start: it is already 2:00 am now.
The ascent is no walk in the park: it’s steep uphill and the air is thin. There are “taxis” waiting along the way: locals with wheelbarrows in which you can sit. One million IDR (about 60€) for up and down, 300.000 IDR (about 20€) for down. Relatively much compared to the local prices, but perfectly okay, considering the severity of the work. Uphill 3 men can be needed to pull the loaded cart safely up onto the volcano. Of course we conquer the height with our own power.
Once we reach the top, we descend into the crater. The descent is dangerous. It is dark (headlamp necessary!), completely foggy and the path slippery and steep. No brackets or barriers. The path consists of stones that lie on top of each other. Often you slip away, despite trekking shoes (important equipment!) and the guide always reaches out to give you a hand. There were already deaths on the descent, accidents anyway. Real adventure!
GLOVES TO PROTECT OUR EYES
We wear gloves to protect our eyes. Read correctly Hand protection for eye protection! Because of the danger of slipping, you hold on constantly everywhere, i.e. to the large boulders that adorn the roadside. These are full of sulfur. The road is also dusty. What happens when dust comes into the eye? A natural reflex: rub with the hand in the eye! Which is a very bad idea if it is contaminated with sulfur, because that means itching and burning for 6-8h. There’s nothing you can do about it except wait and stand the pain. Since this is anything but useful in this situation, you wear gloves. Because nobody gets their eyes touched with cotton. What we also wear on the descent are warm clothes and a gas mask. The smell of sulfur is extreme and the gases are dangerous for the respiratory tract. A single descent without the mask would be harmless it´s said, nevertheless we were equipped with masks and asked to put them on when the air is composed accordingly.
Breathing under the masks is difficult, but feels safe. This let us feel more strange to see the miners without respiratory protection. What seems to me like a mystical moonscape is a dangerous workplace and what for me a super exciting adventure is their daily bread! On the way into the crater the strong men pass us regularly. Since the route is narrow, we stop and make the space they need to climb up with their heavily loaded smoldering stretcher baskets. 70-100kg per load. Bone job. Hardest work.
Shortly after 5 we reach the middle of the crater. Just in time to catch a glimpse of the blue flames, because if the sun rises, the spectacle of nature is over.
I meet the workers, watch them at work and feel not only deep respect but also deep gratitude for my life. And yet they smile, some of them with the motivation to get a few rupees for the photo or small yellow sulfur chunks or even figures, which is absolutely understandable given the severity of the circumstances.
The turquoise-green sulphur lake is magical. I can’t turn away and would love to sit on a rock and enjoy it´s sight forever, too much I’m enchanted by what I’ve never seen before.
But we must ascend again. The place is not a place to stay. So we leave the magic crater, meanwhile it is brighter day, it is warm and we can finally take off the masks again. So the way back to the foot of the volcano is fun and we enjoy the beautiful green landscape around us.
We’ve earned breakfast with a local family.
After exactly 24 hours we reach our domicile in Bali, we are mega exhausted and at the same time happy to know how special the experience was we were allowed to experience together.
Absolutely recommendable! Pure adventure! Nature extreme!
Special planet experience!
Necessary:
– Small backpack (as little luggage as necessary)
– 1 bottle of water + 1 cereal bar or similar
– Flashlight (in best case: headlamp)
– Trekking shoes or those with good grip)
– Warm clothes (it gets very cold at night in the crater)
– Remove jewellery beforehand (silver reacts with sulphur and turns black)
– Gloves and masks are provided by the guide
- trek is not recommended for problems with knees, hips or similar body health problems
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