Yogyakarta & Surabaya : Part 9 - Kawah Ijen

21082012 : We reached Kawah Ijen at 2.40am. It was so cold upon reaching the Homestay. I was actually jumping just to warm myself up. The alarm was set at 4.30am so that we can take our own lovely leisure time to walk up to Kawah Ijen. Apparently, it takes about 1.5 hours but my sister was doubtful of her own speed. Plus, we would want to take lots of photos! I did not sleep at all, though. It was so cold, and I was shivering under my covers. 

We were ready to leave our rooms by 5am.

Before we left, we had a cup of tea to warm ourselves. This was the view from the restaurant. The smoke you see is from Ijen Crater.  Breakfast was packed in a box and was given too. It consists of 3 slices of bread, butter sachet, chocolate rice and a hard-boiled egg. We ate the egg on the way to Ijen Crater.

It was 9 degree Celcius that morning at the Homestay.

Along the way, we saw a little stream which was water from the Crater. The water was greenish in colour.

After 35 minutes on the road, we reached the entrance to the start of our walk.

It was a 3km walk to the Crater and it was going to take us 1.5 hours. Let's hope it is.

I requested to borrow sticks, and we got the sticks from the grocery store nearby. Now, sticks are needed for me at anytime because I always rely on my walking stick on my treks. It is a good thing we had them anyway because the walk was slightly ascending, and hence, I use the stick to pull myself up. Entrance fee to the walk was Rp15,000 (about RM5) per person and camera is charged at Rp30,000 per set. So, I put my camera in my bag. *cheating*

The initial path was flat. It was still very cold then.

I saw a small village and thought we have reached. But it turns out to be another 1km to go. In the village, we saw the baskets of sulphur that the workers had carried from the crater. You would not believe the weight of the baskets. They weighed between 75 - 90kg. That is more than the worker's weight! 

A worker carrying a generator look-alike. I was not sure what was it for.

There are many gorgeous views along the way.

We saw someone approaching. It was easy to know you are approaching the Crater because you can smell the sulfur.

After 1.5 hours, we reached the Crater. Notice the people on the left. That is where we are heading to.

There you have it - Kawah Ijen! The yellow stuff you see at the bottom left is where the sulfur mining activities are going on.

I decided to go down towards the sulfur mining operation. Many people had gone down, and I wanted to see it for myself too. Sister did not follow.

It was a 500m distance towards the mining activity. Walked down some rocky steps. I went down with a guy from Jakarta. So, we helped each other to snap photos. 

Approaching Crater. Fumes not so strong yet. It was 7.37am.

Rocky steps have become uneven. Have to find a stable rock to step on. Or you may slip. Which I did twice.

7.41am. Still can breathe good air. See that large place in the middle. I am going there to snap a good photo.  It looks so near but is actually not. It was not a straight path down.

The large place where the view is clearer. It was 7.52am, and the smell of the sulfur was getting significant.

Looking back, this was the path I took. I don't remember how I walked down. Not remembering is a bad thing, because I got myself into a bad situation trying to get back. I know I am bad in remembering directions, but this was just dangerous.

There were loads of sulfur stone along the way. The sulfur stone looks so smooth.

Here is me and the guy from Jakarta. He rode his superbike from Jakarta to Kawah Ijen which was about 1500km. I am glad I met him because he was my life-saver. If it was not for him, I am very sure I would not be reaching back in time, and I will be breathing in sulfur... 

Down the path, I saw engine that brings cold water to the ceramic pipes. Do you remember the generator look-alike that the worker carried? It is at the top of this post. So, this was where the generator was put. 

It was 8.18am, and I have reached the Crater - the site of the sulfur mining activity. The smell of the sulfur was so strong. There was a hut for the workers to rest and eat.

I crossed the bridge to get a closer view of the site mining activity.

There was a network of ceramic pipes. Escaping volcanic gasses are channeled through the pipes, resulting in condensation of liquid sulfur. Sulfur, which is deep red in color when in liquid form, pours slowly from the ends of these pipes and pools on the ground, turning bright yellow as it cools. Cooling process takes about 6 minutes. Then, the miners break the cooled material into large pieces and carry it away in baskets. I saw that some of the workers did not wear mask, and some did. It is quite sad considering that this is a hazardous job. I can't stand the sulfur gas for 5 minutes, let alone the whole day. 

I crossed over to the other side with the guy from Jakarta. Soon, his friend came along and they lingered for a bit.

 

I like how the view looked so surreal. And this I present to you - the Ijen Crater. The background is so light against my sharp colours.

Brittle rocks that break easily. I saw it was 8.30am, and I told the guy from Jakarta that I will go back first. I thought the way back should be easy. But because I am so bad in directions, I took the wrong path, facing porous rocks that crumbled under my grip and steps, and the dust just enveloped me. I saw the guy from Jakarta, and waved at him. His friend noticed me, and the guy from Jakarta went to my help. He waited for me, and directed the right route down. The walk back up was not easy as the sulfur fumes became stronger. I was coughing and in tears as I walked up. There was dust in my throat and the smell was suffocating. I used my shawl to cover my mouth. I thought the walk up was never going to end.. 

I thought I was going to fill the headlines - "First life lost in Kawah Ijen"

At 9.15am, I reached back up. I called for my sister, and I was so thankful to hear her voice. I really thought I was going to pass out on the way up. The driver did mention to leave the place by 9am, and now I know why. If you attempt to go down at that time, wear a mask.

By the way, the sulfur smell still stayed in my clothes despite a 3rd time washing. 

We walked back the same route. I like the view of 3 combinations - clouds, greenery and sandy earth.

The stick helped a lot too while walking back, as it was a descending route. I saw a few people who slipped while walking down as the path was sandy. And some almost fell while running downwards. With the stick, I managed to stop myself from falling frontwards. After 1.5 hours, we reached the exit.

This is how the surrounding area looks like. There were homestays here too.

It was a ride back through the coffee plantation. We were actually in a National Park.

Coffee fruit. In this coffee plantation, the civet cat eats the coffee fruit, but the seed is not digested. So, the seed is passed out. These seeds are collected, washed with red earth (to remove the smell), sun-dried, grind, roasted and sold. The coffee is known as Kopi Luwak (Civet Coffee). 

Back at the Homestay, kopi luwak was sold. Arabica Coffee is produced in the area. Each sachet has 12g of coffee powder, and is sold for Rp75,000.

And the Homestay we stayed in is called Arabica Homestay. The area has only 2 homestays, and belongs to the government.

This is the house we stayed in.

About 1pm, we left the Homestay and was headed towards Mount Bromo. It was a 7-hour ride.

The same road we took last night does not look so eerie during the day.

Along the way, we told the driver to stop to snap this view. I like the different layers of trees. It is as if they are arranged and planted in a line. Well, maybe they are arranged, as we are in the National Park.

I like our reflection against the mirror of the van.

There was a 6km stretch of bumpy road.

In the car, the driver has an array of ports to charge any kind of handphone! How clever!

We stopped for food along the way. We were going to have our meal in this hut.

We were having rojak (mixed vegetables and rice with peanut sauce).

4.5 hours later, we reached Probolinggo District. We stopped at a beach to see the sunset, which we did not managed to catch. It was too late.

Probolinggo is famous for its mangoes. We bought 3 mangoes and agreed that they are sweet.

For dinner, we ate at this famous eatery. The driver mentioned that this place is always crowded and has the best meatball in town. Even local artistes come here too. Well, not that I know any Indonesian artistes, but having the photos hung on the wall must mean something.

A bowl has 6 meatballs which costs Rp9,000.

If you would like a bit of taste to the soup (well, the soup is fine itself), you can add tomato paste.

Followed by a bit of chili paste.

And you get a lovely red bowl of meatball soup. It was a bit spicy due to the chili paste, but nothing I cannot handle.

At about 9pm, we reached our place of stay at Mount Bromo. It is Yoschi Hotel. We slept immediately upon arriving at the room. It was a good sleep, not chilly at all.

Mount Bromo, here we come!