Kawah Ijen - A mountain of surreal pain and beauty - Kembara Jawa Timur Part IV

Kawah Ijen with its scenic green acidic lake amid the blue sky

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Kembara Jawa Timur Part I - Mount Bromo from Mount Penanjakan
Kembara Jawa Timur Part II - Mount Bromo & Ranupani Village
Kembara Jawa Timur Part III - Bromo from Gardu Pandang & Madakaripura Waterfall
Kembara Jawa Timur Part IV - Kawah Ijen - A mountain of surreal pain and beauty
Kembara Jawa Timur Part V - From Kalianyar Village to Papuma beach
Kembara Jawa Timur Part VI - Human interest around Surabaya

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After the visit to Madakaripura Waterfall (see Part III), we went straight for our second main destination, Kawah Ijen. Well.. not totally straight, our guide thought we could make it to Papuma beach for sunset so we try to go there first. Luck is not in our side as we were at least 30 minutes behind the time. So we end up shooting sunset at some paddy field not far from Papuma Beach.

Sunset at a paddy field at Jember, Jawa Timur.

After sunset we continue our journey towards Kawah Ijen. We stay at Catimor Homestay Resort at Blawan, Sempol, Bondowoso which is a luxury resort to our standard (normally we only stay at budget hotel to minimize our cost) but at a very affordable rate. To my surprise when i do a google search on this hotel, i found few bad review about this resort at tripadvisor. I believe most of the visitor that wrote bad review about this homestay at tripadvisor forgot that they are not in the middle of any city, instead they are at a rural area which depend on agriculture product such as coffee for a living.Its akin to someone who expecting five star motel/resort with world class service at Kg Bantal, Ulu Tembeling, Pahang (incase you didnt know, Kg Bantal is a village that you can reach after  4 hours journey only by boat from Kuala Tahan, Malaysia National Park). If you expect five star hotel with super comfort condition then stay at your home or go travel to London instead of a rural district at Bondowoso, Jawa Timur, Indonesia. Period.

Sulphur miner/carrier amid the sunrise at Kawah Ijen

Kawah Ijen (2386m) is part of volcano complex in East Java that include Mount Merapi (different from the central Java Merapi).It is part of several volcano complex within the 15km diameter Ijen Caldera. It's heighest point is at 2,386 meters high from the sea level. Among the distinctive feature of Kawah Ijen is the green acidic lake within its crater. This beautiful lake is more acidic from your car battery acid due to high level of sulphur within it. The sulphur dioxide combined with the air and water became sulphuric acid.

B&W of Kawah Ijen Crater

Kawah Ijen is also the site of a gruelingly labor-intensive sulfur mining operation. A total of around 200 miners collect and carry pure yellowish physical sulphur from the bottom of the crater  until a weighing station (Pondok Bunder -  2214 meters) through a 4km of hiking up and down. Each trip the miner carried about 60-100kg depending on their strength and ability. The more they can carry the more the money they can get. For 100kg load they would be paid around 60,000 rupiah (roughly about RM18). Normally they would be able to do only two trip per day.


Capturing the photo of this human labor intensive industry is the main reason why i longing to visit Kawah Ijen since last year after viewing photos taken by my friend, arey. I definitely wonder how they could survive as i cant even carry their 60-100kg of load for more than few second - tried it- but they need to carry it for several kilometers hiking! [Being there watching this would make you more grateful of your life and you'll stop complaining about your own job environment,promotion, etc. - Bosses should sponsor a trip to Kawah Ijen for their worker.. hehhehe]

A worker with his keranjang (basket)

The next day, early morning around 3am we already on our way to the crater. I initally thought the journey to Paltuding Base Camp from the resort would only take 45 minutes maximum as the driver and the guide say its near already. Instead i believe it took almost 2 hours to reach paltuding. We start to trek immediately before stopping midway for Subuh prayer. I trek as fast as i could as among our main target is to capture the sunrise at Kawah Ijen but it seem time is not on our side as we were told the hike itself will took almost 2 hours.

Dr Jamal Rahman.. our inspiring trip leader for this Bromo-Kawah Ijen-Surabaya trip under the Luarbiasa Photography umbrella.. Visit his flickr at www.flickr.com/photos/jamalrahman/ or his website www.tembeling.com

After approximately 90 minutes of brisk walking from our starting point (the starting base at Paltuding basecamp is already at around 1850m) .. we finally reached the volcano crater. The beautiful lake and perfect sky waiting for us.. we missed the sunrise.. next time we must try to reach the caldera before sunrise. To achieve that, next time we should start at 1am from our homestay to catch the sunrise. The path was easy as it is not steep at all with 3m wide almost all along the way. There is several hut provided along they way if you want to rest for a while
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Dr Jamal amid the background of Mount Raung. I'm interested to hike this mountain but when told there is no water source there (which mean we need to carry water) i lost my interest.. heheh.. better to target other mountain..

Another setback is on the day that we hike it is a libur (holiday) day for the worker. So there is far less worker than usual. Only around 15-20 harvester work that day. When its libur day, the worker can still gather the sulphur but the weighing station will be closed and they wont get their pay that day. So anyone keep working on any libur day must store their sulphur somewhere temporarily. I actually wonder why wouldnt they keep working as their effort would still get paid albeit later.

Pak Rudi on his way out from the Kawah Ijen volcano crater to the weighting station.

During my hike i coincidently keep trekking with a worker called Pak Rudi.. He worked here for at least 15 years carrying the heavy sulphur for a living.I first met him when i'm running away from the thick sulphur smoke that head to my way while i'm almost near the mining area (i wish i just continue to the mining area.. but i'm scared to death to see the thick poisonous smoke heading towards me.. but if the worker survive years of working in this hazard condition then i should survive few minutes of it ..hahaha.. my eyes burning like crazy when the smoke finally reach my position...) .

A dead tree around the crater at Kawah Ijen. The continuous sulphur smoke make life for the tree harder here.

A documentary by National Geographic state that the average lifespan of the worker here is only 41. Not surprising considering these miner work under great duress within inhuman condition extracting sulfur from one of the most beautiful volcanoes in the world. Back to Pak Rudi.. as i trek down along with him, i took a lot photos of him. I wish i could be back to Kawah Ijen in time and hand printed photo of him to him. I even met him again at a stall operated by his sister at Paltuding basecamp.

Pak Rudi, the sulphur miner/carrier with his 70kg of solid sulphur startimg to descend Kawah Ijen from its edge..

"The world is a book and those who do not travel read only a page - Saint Augustine"

Kawah Ijen is definitely special mountaineering expedition and for some it might be a lifechanging journey. Watching those people working to their maximum capability for a living definitely wreck your heart and make you more grateful of what you have. I will 'bookmark' this page of mine and hopefull would be able to revisit it next time. And i wish my wife would join all my future travel.

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Some other link/travalogue about Kawah Ijen:
http://www.indovolcano.com/gunung-ijen.php
http://www.tembeling.com/blog/?p=1262 - blog entry by Dr Jamal, our trip leader/organizer

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Bromo from Gardu Pandang & Madakaripura Waterfall - Kembara Jawa Timur Part III

Beautiful sunrise from Gardu Pandang, Cemoro Lowong, Bromo.

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Kembara Jawa Timur Part I - Mount Bromo from Mount Penanjakan
Kembara Jawa Timur Part II - Mount Bromo & Ranupani Village
Kembara Jawa Timur Part III - Bromo from Gardu Pandang & Madakaripura Waterfall
Kembara Jawa Timur Part IV - Kawah Ijen - A mountain of surreal pain and beauty
Kembara Jawa Timur Part V - From Kalianyar Village to Papuma beach
Kembara Jawa Timur Part VI - Human interest around Surabaya

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On the 3rd day, some of us went to another view post located at another hill near the village where we stay. Assisted by several ojet, we went to the start of the few hundred metres hike (i think the hike is around 300m vertical up). Unlike Mt Penanjakan where the sunrise and bromo is at different location, from this hill you can see both location combined (provided you reached the peak before sunrise). We were late a bit and the sun rise first before we managed to reach the peak (me myself even went to a wrong jalur). A total of 3 person managed to scaled to this mini peak which is Azri, Jasni & Zali. Few other friend scouting around the village for sunrise scenery.

Compared to Mt Penanjakan, this view point has its own strength also. From my observation this area were once used as the view point as there were some structure built there for this purpose.This abandon place should be revived as an alternative to the view point at Mt Penanjakan. I personally prefer this place more. From this location you can also catch and capture the misty atmosphere at the Cemoro Lowong village. Below is the picture series taken from this view point.

After shooting sunrise, we continue shooting around the village. Vegetable farm, trees and people became our photography subject.

Vegetable farm at Cemoro Lowong Village

Beautiful scenery OTW to Madakaripura Waterfall

Beautiful tree formation around the village

After taking the breakfast, we went to Madakaripura Waterfall , a great waterfall not far from Bromo. After a short trekking about 20-30 minutes when we finally reach the waterfall everyone suddenly became amazed with elegant waterfall. Some even said it were more like the scenery from avatar movie. Sadly the picture wont do justice to this magnificent place. The rain and water spray made it almost impossible to capture the beautiness of this place without exposing your camera to the risk plus with the wide range of exposure needed. One point that might be helpful for potential visitor is about the help extended by the villagers there. The help is not for free and they expected some tips from their help. During our trip most of them requested 50,000 rupiah. Their asisstance is very helpful considering the risky and slippering surface but agreeing on the rate at the beginning would be better than when you suddenly came into a situation where you dont actually need their help but requested to pay for it.

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Mount Bromo & Ranupani Village - Kembara Jawa Timur Part II

A scenery OTW to Ranupani Village, we'll be back for Mt Semeru :D

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Kembara Jawa Timur Part I - Mount Bromo from Mount Penanjakan
Kembara Jawa Timur Part II - Mount Bromo & Ranupani Village
Kembara Jawa Timur Part III - Bromo from Gardu Pandang & Madakaripura Waterfall
Kembara Jawa Timur Part IV - Kawah Ijen - A mountain of surreal pain and beauty
Kembara Jawa Timur Part V - From Kalianyar Village to Papuma beach
Kembara Jawa Timur Part VI - Human interest around Surabaya

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After spending a few hours at Mt Penanjakan (until every tourist gone back already), we went straight to Mount Bromo area. The jeep stop a about 500m distance from the crater and then we continue on foot. Some of us opted for horse riding towards the crater.

One thing that our authority should learn from them is how their local government distribute the wealth of tourism.The villager provide the accommodation, built some stall/warung for breakfast & lunch. Others provide the transport (jeep) from the accommodation to the Mt Penanjakan & Mt Bromo .. and then at Mt Bromo the jeep can only send to a certain distance only so villager with horse can provide horse riding services... everyone get a share of the cake..

In Malaysia how they do it? They simply privatised everything (accommodation,food catering, local guide & even porter) (read: MONOPOLY) to a single company that will dictate exorbitant price making local hiking far more expensive than oversea hiking.

Upon reaching the crater, instead of hiking the Mt Bromo crater, i with Jasni decided to venture to another part of the area. We scout the canyon like area between Bromo & Batuk. After spending around an hour in Mt Bromo area, we proceed to Ranupani Village. Ranupani village is the highest village in East Jawa. Residing at 2100m, it is the starting point to hike Mt Semeru. I always dream of hiking Mt Semeru but this hiking trip is simply not for beginner. We were told that hiking Mount Semeru is among the toughest hike compared to other more famous volcano mountain in Indonesia. Well, next year we target to hike Mt Merbabu (& most probabily Mount Merapi as well) followed by Mount Jade in Taiwan and then a repeat of Mount Rinjani. If all successful then can start thinking of Semeru hike in 2012 maybe. :D

The canyon like area between Mount Bromo and Mount Batuk

Horse rider at Bromo

Ranu Ranupani Lake

Regulo Lake

Ranupani is just an ordinary village. Located strategically at 2100m above sea level provide it with agriculture advantage coupled with its fertile land. There is two small lake here, name Ranu Ranupani and Regulo. Both are just an ordinary lake. Unlike Ranu Kumbulo Lake which is really beautiful with majestic scenery. I take this opportunity to snap some macro picture here.

Ranupani village boy, every boy bring sabit with them as they need to cut grass to feed their livestock

Before going home, we ate lunch at one of the houses in the village then proceed back to our hotel. I promised myself this would not be the last visit to Ranupani village, but we'll return to conquer Mount Semeru later... insyaAllah.

The Bromo jeep

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