Another country (Indonesia) – another volcano (Ijen).

Just like in Kamchatka, in Indonesia (where last week we had our super-successful Security Analyst Summit), there are a great many really cool hot volcanoes! I should know, since I’ve checked some of them out a few times – in 2018 around New Year, and last year after a press event (when we scaled Mount Rinjani). Fast-forward to this year and it was time to leave Bali and head on over to Java – Indonesia’s main island – to check out the mighty Ijen (here)…

It’s not too tall a volcano (in all just 2769 meters above sea level) but we weren’t planning on getting to its peak anyway. Our (exclusively meditative) objective was to trek around the caldera and descend down to the lake therein ->

The crater is a goody – just over a kilometer in diameter, and the lake inside it is a wonderful shade of pastelly-green/turquoise. It also features plenty of sulfur emissions – with the corresponding smoke and stench!

Admittedly I’d been here before, but it was still decided to go back – this time to crater-walk it…

Indonesian volcanoes need to be checked out before sunrise, since by day it’s way too hot. And when I say before sunrise I mean that’s when you’re already up top. And that means setting off on foot long before then – like at 1-2am! Before the sun’s up you can see Ijin’s blue fire crater (invisible by day); alas – we missed it, even though we set off around 02:30! (More on this below.)

The walk’s a short one (around 3km), and the rise in altitude isn’t all that much (around 400m). The path’s a good one – albeit steep in places. All easily done in ~90 minutes (these pics were taken on the way back down when it was light) ->

Toward the top the path is practically horizontal:

For the less active – rickshaws (attention to which is attracted by their operators shouting out “Taxi, Ferrari, Lamborghini!” for some reason )…

So – back to how come we didn’t get to see the blue fire crater…

We made it to the top of the caldera and into the crater on time (still in darkness), but going any further (to the fumarole field) was forbidden, since three months ago something went off with a bang (volcanoes are like that) and it’s now deemed too dangerous for tourists to get a closer look (.

Curiously – workers digging for sulfur are allowed access (though there didn’t look to be too many of them). It’s only tourists that aren’t. Grrr.

Sulfur:

What the pipes are for I don’t know. I recall wondering about them last time too, and I still haven’t gotten an answer out of anyone ->

One of those there baskets full of sulfur weighs about 70kg. Workers get something like US$7 for each:

We head back on up; time for our caldera walk…

This viewing area is the furthest tourists are allowed to go ->

Meanwhile, inside the fumarole field things look like this (pic taken last time) ->

The stench is overpowering. Some tourists can’t hack it and have to get the heck away to fresher air.

Apparently they’re planning to re-open the fumarole fields soon; hope so: the blue fire crater is too good to miss. In the meantime, tourists have to settle for sulfur souvenirs ) ->

The dawn:

The caldera walk is a great one. Alas – the tourists are only allowed to complete half of it…

Erosive constructions – yardangs – up top:

Slowly but surely – the lake is illuminated by the rising sun:

Time to be heading back:

And that was that: a five-and-a-half-hour walk (there, around, and back) – done. And despite the lack of the blue fire crater – it was still a worthwhile high-caliber meditative trek. Highly recommended!…

The rest of the photos from Indonesia are here.