Indonesia 101. Second day - Volcano night.

Indonesia 101. Second day

Indonesia 101. Second day.

Indonesia 101. Second day.

Indonesia 101. Second day.

Indonesia is full of volcanoes and it is a widely known fact that this country has largest collection of active volcanoes in the world and there are frequent eruptions and earthquakes. The location of these islands in the Pacific “Ring of Fire” adds to the magic and intrigue and interestingly enough, the volcanoes are called “gagung” in the local language which literally means “Fire Mountains”.

As adventurous as we are, we decided to climb one of those Fire Mountains called Ijen near Banyuwangi in East Java. Not to climb one would be such a sin.

A lot of people suggested that we take a tour from Bali and back with a tour group, but to be honest, we are not touristy enough to understand the utility of tours. We like to travel on our terms – wherever and whenever.

Off we do! On our way with a couple of backpacks and lotsa beautiful views for company. We managed to get a one of those bumpy buses to Gilimanuk Harbour - Ferry Port. Denpasar is at the southern part of Bali and it is almost 160 kilometers from there to Gilimanuk. You can always rent a car if you like to travel fancy.

After a 4-hour bus ride with stops here, there and everywhere, we were finally in the ferry sailing towards Ketapang. The ferry took us around an hour. Well, it’s not really a ferry. It’s a mid size cargo ship which has a little deck for people to get to Java. The breeze, the smell of the sea, the full moon, and a couple of co-travelers helped us get through that slow “ferry” ride to Java. Got to add that Indonesia is littered with lots of friendly, giggling natives – we met a few on the ferry who were more than happy to share their Wi-Fi with us in exchange for getting photographed with us. There was a snack bar which only served different versions of rice – boiled, spicy, flakes, cakes – u name it, u’ll probably find it.

It was around 9PM when we arrived at the Ketapang port (remember that you have to turn back you watches an hour because of the time difference between Bali and Java). Now the confusing part - there are no “Grab” rides here. We asked around and asked “bemo” (local van) drivers but they gave us the most gangster answer: “we fight with “Grab”.” No other questions then!

Luckily, we managed to connect to the Wi-Fi in a local store and call our hostel owner and tell him our exact location. He was very kind to us and sent us a pick up. The driver took us straight to Banyuwangi, to the hostel that we booked – Osingvacation. We recommend it to everyone, especially if you are more of a traveler and want to experience living with the locals to the fullest! The host is really friendly and speaks English. Decent rooms, nice people, friendly atmosphere with local music and a friend of his drove us around and we got dinner together in the locals’ favourite diner.

There were locals from the same town near our rooms having a jam session and playing traditional Javanese music. We love Traditional Live Music – especially with Sim’s background in singing folk music and Wrick’s in acoustic guitar and drums. They shared some local delicacies with us making us feel very welcome and their music added a soothing flavor to our stay.

We had so many plans on our bucket list for Indonesia that we forgot to rest. We did not sleep enough before the climb. The other backpackers thought we were crazy to be climbing Ijen that night. We recommend you have a good night’s sleep or at least a good nap in the evening before climbing Ijen. It is a very long and tiring path with rocks, steep slopes and fallen trees. Beginners will find it quite challenging – be prepared.

When we went to sleep after packing the essentials and taking a quick shower, it was already around 11 PM. We had just about a bit more than an hour of sleep. We woke up from the loud knocking on our door because our alarm didn’t work (or we didn’t hear it because we were so tired). It was the driver of the jeep. We jumped out of the bed and just scooped our backpacks from the floor, jumped into our shoes and ran out. We left at around 40 minutes past midnight.

To get to the foot of Ijen you MUST take a jeep or a BIKE (if you are with a local who knows the way to get there). Roads are very slippery, bumpy, muddy, narrow and there are not many street lamps in the wilderness. However, the jeep driver was clearly a fan of GTA driving and there were 4 backpackers including us that were bouncing on the seats like potatoes. Not ideal to get your power/beauty nap.

NOTE ABOUT DRESS CODE:

1. Do not forget something warm and rainproof. It’ll be chillier than you think close to the TOP. It is not very cold when you are climbing the mountain fast enough because you will be sweating out all that rice you ate in the past few days in Indonesia. It is also quite cold near the crater (ironic that it is very cold IN the crater). It gets better as soon as the sun comes out. However, make sure you have enough warm clothes.

2. Don’t try and show off your fanciest shoes and clothes there (I still cannot get rid of the sulphur from my shoes). It is quite a climb. It is muddy, dusty, and slippery. We saw people tripping, falling, and sitting on whatever they can find – mud, fallen trees, grass, rocks, ground. Moreover, as you start climbing down into the crater you WILL BE covered in sulphur gas fumes and sulphur dust and you WILL get dirty. It takes a few washes to get rid of the smell.

The views are magnificent. You would want to be out of the crater by day break. At the start of the climb from the base station they let us borrow huge masks for free. But if you want, you can bring yours. Just make sure the masks have filters and can protect you from the Sulphur fumes. Breathing in sulphur is not the best feeling you will experience. Even though we were wearing masks, we felt our lungs were burning and the respiratory tract felt unusually dry. You will need the mask when you get closer to the peak and when you are going down the crater.

On our path, closer to the peak we saw miners who were returning from the crater and were carrying huge baskets full of sulphur. They also offer taxi service – basically pulling you up or down the mountain in a wheelbarrow if you cannot move. It is a very good thing if you get hurt or there’s an emergency. Climbing the Ijen is all about challenging yourself to experience magic and wild nature.

On the way to the peak we found two resting stations selling small packs of snacks, drinks and offering a place to sit down and rest, but they are usually swarming with climbers so we didn’t stay there for long. A friendly guide Rudy shared his snacks all the time and was telling us about the place even though his English was not the best!

The climb to the very peak is about 3 km (almost 2 miles). And then awaits the exhausting and quite dangerous climb down the rocky crater in the dark for about 1 km. Try and make way for the miners who are carrying the baskets full of sulphur rocks. They also sell sculptures made of sulphur along the way but be careful! We heard that not all airlines allow these detailed figurines on the plane since they are inflammable. It’s advisable to contact your airline to know their regulations on sulphur products.

A lot of people mentioned that you cannot see the blue flames if it rains. In Banyuwangi, it rains quite frequently. We were lucky! There was no drop of rain, we got there on time and we got to see it up close. The sight is magnificent – totally worth the climb! In the crater, we spent about an hour – sitting, walking, tripping, taking photos, and talking with fellow climbers and in general just regaining our strength because the climb back is quite steep and rocky.

The sulphur makes it very hard to breathe down there, so again – make sure you wear a proper mask.

The blue flames… well you must see it yourself – it is hard to describe it. It is truly a magical sight!

As soon as we climbed up the crater, the sun was already peeping in the horizon creating even more breathtaking views of the crater and hills and volcanoes far away. The blue fire was gone as soon the first ray of sun came out so do not expect it to see it during the day. If you climb at night and stay until the dawn you will make the most out of your climb like us – we saw several blue fires lighting up the sides of the crater and as soon as the sun came out – picturesque horizons and a turquoise green lake in the crater.

The climb down was longer than we expected it to be! As soon as we got into the jeep, I fell asleep because I was dead tired but Wrick was awake the whole time talking with driver, driving through Equatorial forests, taking photos of coffee plantations, landscapes and the volcano from far away. As soon as we got back to our room there was warm breakfast and fresh coffee waiting for us! It livened us up and made us feel more human and less zombie. We took a quick shower and thought that sleep is only for the weak so we packed our bags and set out for our next adventure.

A friendly guy named Owok, who gave us a ride the first time from the ferry port to the hotel offered to give us a ride around Banyuwangi. On our way, we got into the conversation with him regarding cultures and he took photos with us to keep it in his “foreigners he met” collection. Banyuwangi has a little bit more to offer than she gets credit for so he took us to the Mayor’s Palace which was completely unexpected and at the same time a pleasing experience. The security lent us the traditional Javanese costumes and allowed us to walk around the palace and its gardens freely. It has a nice garden, traditional architecture, history… basically it is like a tiny museum and not commercial at all. We were extremely flattered by such a gesture and it was a perfect finish to our stay in Banyuwangi.

For more questions and details, you can drop us a private message on Facebook on our page “Counting Souvenirs” or simply write an email to us.