Hi Readers!
I’m not travel much lately, but I finally did it! I went to Banyuwangi to visit Indonesia’s most popular “blue fire”: Ijen Crater (Kawah Ijen). There are only two “blue fire” in the world and one of them is here in Indonesia. I heard that Ijen become popular since NatGeo published an article about this mountain, and fortunately social media’s also getting hype nowadays. It makes people easily access information about this beautiful crater.
I dreamed about this since early 2017, when local travel blogger posted a picture of how great this blue fire is. At that moment I even don’t know that Blue Fire is exist in nature. The only blue fire I know is come from my stove, haha! Ijen itself is a active volcano about 3km above the coastal city of Banyuwangi. You need to walk at least an hour to reach the top of this mountain, and go down to see it’s crater closer.
NatGeo has explained on their article that “Those gases emerge from cracks in the volcano at high pressure and temperature—up to 1,112°F (600°C). When they come in contact with the air, they ignite, sending flames up to 16 feet (5 meters) high.” But, so sorry I can’t give you clear picture. I touched down around 4.30 and those flame are almost gone. Normally, you can see that breathtaking view around 2 until 4 am because sky is still dark and you can see more clearly.
If you don’t have much energy to walk down, don’t worry. You can enjoy Ijen Crater’s view from above. You can see lake of Ijen crater which become green because it has high level of hydro-chloride acid. As beautiful as the blue fire, this lake also become most favorite view for tourist who come here. But, please don’t try even once to touch the water. It’s contain high acid that extremely dangerous.
Here, you can also meet the miner who come everyday to mine the sulfur stone. Believe me, all of them are strong. The strongest man I’ve ever met. They used to carry those sulfur stone which is total almost 1-2 quintal (around 100-200kg)/day on their shoulder walks up and down. Crazy, I can’t imagine that they have done this since they were young. I talked with one of them and ask when they started doing this stuff. He said that he already became a miner since age 14. God, for sure, I’m very blessed You give me this beautiful-effortless life. And do you believe that they only get IDR 1250/kg for their huge effort? I do not believe but that is real.
If you want to buy a gift for someone special, they also sell some handicraft made by sulfur which you can buy around IDR 10.000-70.000. I’ve got the big one and it’s only IDR 50.000. Next time I will put those handicraft that I bought in this article.
How to get there? I took train from Solo named Sritanjung (IDR 94.000) to Karangasem Station Banyuwangi. From there, you can rental a motorcycle or car and it’s took around 2 hours from Karangasem to reach Patulding. Or if you’re not sure with the road, you can ask a guide. In train station area, you can easily find some trip agent that can guide you to Ijen Crater, but I’m not sure with the cost. Maybe around IDR 200.000 for a day. After arrive at Patulding, you can start hiking around 2 am. Oh, please be reminded that after 12PM you have to back to Patulding.
When is the best time go to Ijen? I suggest you to go there around June-August. At this moment, if you’re lucky, you can also see the great milky way at the sky. It’s a bonus right? Also, you can’t be bothered with rain because usually June – August is a dry season. If you plan to go there, don’t forget to use thick jacket because sometimes Ijen can be very cold.
I highly recommend Ijen to those who want to see the unique view at mountain. You’ll never dissapointed because Ijen has a very beautiful view that you can’t find anywhere else. See you on the next mountain!
Cheers,
domeytrav.wordpress.com 