HELLOOO!!!
Nobody around me has ever heard of Ijen Volcano ( Yuhooo! ) And i would say this is probably one of the best places you NEED to visit on earth. I finally got the chance to visit this active volcano and believe it or not it's one of the WORLD's MUST-SEE VOLCANOES because apparently this Ijen Volcano Crater has the world's largest acidic volcanic crater lake which, the water is actually in UNIQUE turquoise color! Imagine how cool is that! THIS TIME, We are here for the sole purpose of visiting this crater because this turquoise colored-lake within the crater is quite famous for it's color and the local miners normally call it the Kawah Ijen. This crater is located right on top of the Mount Ijen where you have to hike 3km from the bottom starting all the way up taking the one way narrow and steep trail to reach the top. For a novice like me i would say this is quite challenging to walk and climb in the dark with a torchlight that provides barely enough visibility to see what's coming your way in a few meters. I got light-headed and almost pass out a few times, thankfully i have this one friend ( almost same like me she can't hike the steep mountain trail for too long ) so i wasn't that embarrassed to ask for a short rest. *because i'm pretty sure she needs to rest too ! HAHA!
It was a 5-6 hour drive from the airport to Sempol and stayed in ( forgot what name ) homestay which, quite lacks of amenities but overall it was comfortable because we just need the room to bathe and sleep for a few hours for the hiking adventure at 1am!
At 2.30am : ( Breakfast provided ) We were then being transferred by the same driver to the Ijen mountain ( 1 hour drive in the dark jungle such a thrilling experience plus i was taking the front seat next to the driver ) where someone then took over to lead us up the mountain. ( The freezing temperature is a killer! )
Sulfurs glow in the dark
Plenty stuff to see along the trail
Me, Lulu, and our guide
While hiking and climbing up you can see a lot of old sulfur miners ( some barefooted ) marathon-ing using the same trail carrying a basket each as if racing with each other to reach the top to dig minerals, sulfurs or whatsoever they have to dig to sell it for money, leaving us behind staggering and struggling to make each step forward in reaching the same point of mountain. This is too exhausting but worth the effort when you can start smelling something like the blardy rotting eggs and food as you climb higher because it means that you're about to reach your destination, the GREEN LAKE! THE WORLD LEGENDARY GREEN LAKE PEOPLE! *Shouting
4.30am : The sky slowly turns bright.
Ijen Lake Crater ! Didnt manage to see the bluefire because by the time we reached it was already too late- around 4.30am ( that blue flame will normally appear at around 3am ) We too slow la!
Smelly gas like rotten eggs we had to wear a mask
Me and Lulu
It just beyond word to describe how spectacular the view is. I hold my breath standing high on the peak of mountain overlooking the lake as the daylight breaks, watching the golden ray slowly appears in the dark blue sky that turns brighter as each minute passes early in this morning. Too pure, too fine, this beauty of nature is seriously killing me and hurting my eyes in a good way.
The a group of local i suppose came near me and wanted to have a picture with me. I think Asian girls are exotic in their country and that explains it all lol.
Those views as we climbing down the mountain
These photos are too beautiful not to share, too distant for human eyes to see
Try to take a closer look you'll notice that the water is actually in green color.
What a view!
Suck at writing the ending. The hike up was a real new and fun experience for all of us. A definitely must-visit-place when you're in Indonesia. Buh baeeeee!
Click here for my next Mountain Bromo adventure.
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