Mount Ijen

Crater Ijen

(Kawah Ijen)

Mount Ijen or Crater Ijen - Kawah Ijen in Indonesian, is an active stratovolcano situated in Banyuwangi residency of East Java. It is common to smell sulphur at any of the Indonesian volcanoes but Ijen happens to be the only crater where sulphur is mined.  From the base one has to trek 3 km up to the lip of the crater. The track though steep and slippery is well made because there’s a sulphur processing factory at the base and the raw material from the crater bed is ferried along this well made track.

Sulfur Smoke emanating from the crater bed

After traversing a little over two kilometres of the track, smell of sulphur starts entering the nostrils. Time to put on gas masks. The masks were supplied to us by the travel agency. From the lip of the crater we had to trek down 800 metres or so in order to reach the spot of fumaroles by the crater lake. Sulphur smoke rises heavily from these fumaroles. Miners break the slabs with iron jumpers and claws.

This descent is arduous. There is no marked safe track or erected side supports here. Slippery boulders and narrow track is dangerous to negotiate. The chances of a sprained ankle or a nasty injury are high should you let your attention waver even a bit. The miners coming up with a load on their shoulders have first right to use the track.

The acidic water Lake covered by sulfur smoke

The  900mX600m milky water lake is upto 200 m deep and the largest acidic volcanic water body. The water is hot and unpalatable. They advise against dipping your hands unless you want some burning sensation. I touched the acidic water, nothing happened except for the stench from my fingers that lasted almost the whole day.

The Blue Flames

The Blue Flames I could barely catch

Close to the fumaroles in the bed of Kawah Ijen we can see blue flames. These are gases which catch fire when in contact with the environment. They say this blue flame feature is native to only two volcanoes in the world. One is in Iceland and the other one is this. Sighting of blue flames depends on two factors. One, these are visible only before the sunrise, and two, intensity of the wind. If the wind is stronger, blue flames can be blown away in a streak of blue. However, on a calm night / early morning the flames present a spectacular scene.

We started our journey at 0100 hr past midnight in Banyuwangi, some 40 km from Ijen where we were putting up. We were a group of six. At the crater base we were provided some refreshment and put on a larger group with two guides. The guides took good care of the group of 20.

Strong sulphur smoke

We were not that fortunate as to have a peaceful time at the crater. Though we were there by 4 am we could only see mild / faint blue flames. Despite a fast glass mounted on my Canon and best of my skills I could barely catch a discernible streak of the blue flames. That morning a strong wind was blowing in the direction of tourists.

We had to duck under boulders eyes closed and breathe slowly into the mask which was not capable of blocking the acrid and chocking sulphur smoke. I wondered how painful death people would have suffered in the gas chambers of Hitler. It was terrible. But the good thing is that the strong winds quickly dissipated the acrid smoke and we felt relieved with only teary eyes. This continued during our two hour stay over there.

The Miners of Devil’s Gold

This miner visibly unwell / infirm carries only a small load uphill

The miners who break solidified sulphur slabs in the crater are probably the toughest in the profession of mining. I have seen tough life of coal miners during my several visits to underground coal mines as a part of a dissertation project. However, these miners of Devil’s Gold working under inhuman conditions present a picture of the toughest. They continue to mine sulphur in those acrid plumes of sulphur smoke with just one outdated gas mask. And they carry a load of 70 to 80 kg of sulphur up a steep and dangerous slope 800 m in length upto the lip of the crater. From there they can either take a trolley to ferry their load or continue with manual labour to the processing unit at the base. And all this for a pittance. The factory pays the miners IDR 1000 per Kg of sulphur bars. This 1000 Indonesian Rupiah (IDR) returns only 8 US cents or less than 5 Indian Rupees (INR).

A miner with full load (double basket, anything between 70 and 80 kg).
He is holding souvenirs for tourists to buy.

These miners sell souvenirs made of sulphur. I think tourists should generously buy these items. Those miners deserve this generosity.  

Of all the four Indonesian craters so far trekked by me this one was the most dangerous but equally adventurous. The trek is not as tough as to Mount Batur but the conditions down the crater where sulphur clouds rise are really challenging.

(It was in Oct 2017)

The track to / from the crater

A miner with wooden batens on his bare shoulders

Sulfur loaded on wheel carts