Java's volcanos: Bromo et Igen

french version here

Day 16 to 18 - From 12/10 to 14/10

Making these volcanoes was an amazing experience. I went to Java mainly for that and chose to do this trip in an organized tour.

I wanted, originally, to do just Ijen from the North of Bali. But because of Mount Agung, I was afraid it would be too complicated to join Lombok after that. Bad idea, it was much complicated finally to do it from Java. But I took the opportunity to do Yogyakarta and Mount Bromo.

The organized tours are convenient, but not so well organized.

For me it was departure at 8:30am from Yogyakarta and we made 14h mini bus to reach Mount Bromo ... they had announced 8 to 10h. Arrived in Bromo, we spent the night in a hotel and had a departure at 4am the next day to see the sunrise overlooking Mount Bromo. Then we could climb up Mount Bromo to arrive at the top of the crater. Return to the hotel at 8am, breakfast, shower and departure at 9am for another 8-9h minibus direction Ijen. Good surprise for us we arrive in a hotel with pool and jacuzzi at 6:00pm.

I went to bed at 9:30pm as the departure was planned at 1am the next morning to see the blue flames of Ijen. Then no return to the hotel this time, we leaved directly for our various destinations. For me it will be Surabaya airport to take my plane to Lombok.

**Minardises**

Sometimes Minardises are not my clumsiness but just the fault to no chances.

• In this case, after 14h bus, arrival at the hotel in Mount Bromo, I am offered, in the place of my dormitory, a private room with a man around forties. Dorms with several people do not pose any problem but sharing a private room with a stranger bothers me. I refused and finally have my private room, but without water ... too bad I'm too tired to moan again, shower the next day after the volcano.

• Our driver goes to another hotel with my tickets for the next day, he comes back after a call from the hotel manager and gives me the tickets of another one... Well again 15 minutes of waiting and I finally get my tickets! (just to remind you the context: I just ended 14h bus and I was supposed to wake-up 3h later ...)

• Day 2, I lose the ticket, when they just do it again I win a private room instead of the dormitory!

Bromo

The tour is done by jeep, We went first to the point of view. I saw the sunrise with Mount Bromo in background. Bromo is a working volcano. From a distance you can see a cloud of smoke escaping. This view is beautiful.

You can see the vegetation stop around the volcano.

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**Minardises**

To escape the tourists and have an even higher point of view, I decide to climb. It was far too steep and blocked I got help from 2 Indonesians to go down. I ended up finding an easier way.

After that, I go back to the jeep that takes us closer to the volcano. The walk is easy to reach the top of the volcano and therefore be at the crater level. The climb must be done in about 40 minutes. It's not hard but I could feel my lack of sport lately. The landscape is lunar, smoke emanates from the volcano and an impressive noise. The sight is crazy, the sound deafening. I realize that I am at the top of an erupting volcano. All good ! :p

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2 petits bémols :

• Cette montée étant relativement facile (même s’il m’a fallu quelques pauses), il y a beaucoup de touristes

• Le second, les déchets, ça sera un problème récurrent en Indonésie. Il y a des déchets partout et j’ai vu de nombreux indonésiens jeter naturellement leurs déchets par terre. En haut du volcan, l’un d’eux a jeté un sac en plastique dans le cratère…

2 small negative points:

• This climb is relatively easy (although it took me a few breaks), so there are many tourists

• The second, waste, it will be a recurring problem in Indonesia. There is rubbish everywhere and I have seen many Indonesians naturally throw their garbage on the ground. At the top of the volcano, one of them threw a plastic bag into the crater ...

Kawah Ijen

To see the blue fires it is necessary to leave at night. I came for that, no question of not getting up.

The accumulation of fatigue and the rise at night will make the task more difficult. The climb takes about 3 hours to climb up and down the crater. Kawah Ijen is a sulfur volcano. The climb was tiring, but the descent, always in the dark and on slippery rocks is difficult.

It is the combustion of sulfur that creates these blue fires. It also creates a large amount of toxic smoke, which is difficult to breathe. Despite our masks, it is difficult to stay close to the smoke without coughing or crying eyes.

In this amazing place, miners pick up the sulfur. They are hard to see. Each time the cloud is more intense, they must move away and cough a lot. In addition, they have no masks, just a tissue in the mouth. Seeing these young people working in such conditions has made me feeling a bit sad. This really helps to relativize and take a step back.

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Gradually the day rises, revealing the astonishing beauty of the place. A turquoise water lake of warm water is in the middle of mountains with yellow sulfur. The smoke that gushes in the middle of out that. This place is breathtaking! I do not have other words.

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Then you have to go back up to get out of the crater. Again, the work of minors is hard to see. They must go up the sulfur by climbing in the rocks. They have between 50 and 70kg shared in 2 baskets connected by a stick.

One of the miners asks for help to one of the French who is part of my tour. He has a distorted shoulder and suffers from it. He is only 27 but looks like he is much older. The French guy was not able to help him. We offered to take some pieces of sulfur to relieve him. He refuses because it could be unbalanced. He climbs slowly. For him it is difficult, it is less for others. They make two trips a day and sell the sulfur per kilo.

At the top, the view is incredible again. This place is full of emotions and I think that its print will stay in my mind. It releases at the same time a malaise because of the minors’s work and an exceptional beauty.

We go back down to the minibus. No shower, we keep our clothes dirty and our sulfur smell.

I see the disorganization of the tour. We make a stop at the port, where most of the travelers go down to Bali. For my part the driver had forgotten that I was going to Surabaya and decided to take his breakfast. Someone else will take me back to the tourist office where I will take a public bus to Surabaya.

Surabaya is a big city where speaking English is complicated. I had a hard time finding an Uber or Grab to get to my hotel. It's a stopover city, I spend the night in a hotel next to the airport. I enjoy a private room and a shower just for me to relax and rest.

Advices:

• If you want to do Bromo and Ijen, I advise you, even if you take a ride to get off by train. Your tour will pick you up at the train station and it will be much faster. For the return, go down to Bali, it's the simplest and the shortest way.

• Cover yourself, in the morning it is very cold