previous story... Gulma vs Baluran National Park
After Baluran National Park, we went to Ijen Crater. I didn't know exactly the way that our driver chosen to go to Ijen Crater, because along the way, there was no 'spamming' things.
Roumors said, if we go to Ijen Crater by ourself, using private car, people there will stop you and force you to go out from your car and rent theirs (some kind of jeep), which is very expensive per car. They will not allow you to use your own car to get into Ijen Crater. Hm... lucky us I think ;)
Honey
When we drove on the street to Ijen Crater, I saw an interesting view, boxes among the trees. Why there were so many boxes there? And when I saw bottles in a table next to the street, I asked our diver, what was that? he said it was bottle of honey.. "
"Ow.. can I buy that?"
"Yes, of course, they sell it."
And then we stopped. I walked through a man who looked busy checking boxes. When he saw us, he smiled and approached us.
"How much is this honey?"
"120K each."
"How about 100K? I'll buy 2."
He said ok.. I smiled happy ^^
After bought some bottles of honey, we went back to our main goal, Ijen Crater..
It was around 4 pm when we arrived at Ijen Crater tourist attraction. The air was so freezing when I walked out the car. I hold my jacket tight but it can't pull it out.
There is a basecamp area before people go for hiking to Ijen Crater. This basecamp consist of office, parking lot, large field, and some "warung" (shop/small local restaurant).
The things that became a serious problem in this area is (I think-), there were only 3 restroom/toilet, which is one of them was closed!
So, there were only 2 toilets left! what the f*ck.. (@_@)
can you imagine? we have to wait in a very long line to get pee/pup?? ridiculous!
And we have to pay for IDR 2.000 everytime we used the toilet! Should it be free??..
And then we walked to the main gate, for buying ticket to Ijen Crater. When we got there, the officer said that Ijen Crater was closed until 2 am in the morning! what???
As I read from internet, Ijen Crater open from 4 pm. But the situation has changed since Ijen Crater was full of smoked of poison. Status of the crater was bad for the past one month.
The smoke like a poison gas, It can kill people who suck it. This poison gas came up around 1 pm - 1 am. That is why, the gate open at 2 am.. (but for more information about this, please check their web..)
I checked my watch and it still 4 pm.. It means we have to wait for about 10 hours more before hiking to Ijen Crater! OMG! It will be a nightmare for me.. (T_T)
I was starting to freak out.. I knew what happened with my body if we insist to stay in this place. It will be bad..
Then I asked Ika to leave this place, go back down to the city, wait there until midnite, and then go back to this place again. Why? because I can't stand in this freezing air. The air was too cold for me, my body won't stand that longer, 10 hours..
Ika wouldn't do that, she said it just wasting our time, she motivated me that I can stand in this freezing air. And our driver also refused to drove me back to the city because it was 2 hours rode to the city, too long, he said.
I just quited. Didn't know what to say.. It was hard for me to say that my body can't resist the cold weather. I have asthma, and the cold weather is number one enemy for asthma's. I knew I can't breath well in the next few hours..
And then we waited in a warung. Lucky me, this warung had stove that using firewood. But I can't stand there along night, because there were people who want to make their body warm too.
We can't sleep in this warung also, prohibited. So, we just talking and talking along the night. Around 7 pm my body began to shake. I checked the temperature at the wooden wall (every warung has a thermometer to check the temperature-), it was 13 'Celcius, and it will continue to fall. They said at 2 pm, the temperature might around 5-10 'celcius. OMG!
Blue Fire
Some foreigner went into warung, two of them tried to looking for the servant. They stood in front of stall, and start to calling the servant. But no one came. They looked confused, tried to ask some men who stood near them, but no one help because they didn't understand english.
Those two women began to frustrated.. Then I tried to communicate with them.
"Miss.. do you want to order something?"
They looked shock but very glad when heard my voice.
"Oh.. thx God," she smiled. "Yes please, I like to order... (bla bla bla)"
Those foreginers were from Republic of Cheko. This was the second time she came to Ijen Crater by her colleges. When I asked her about the blue fire, she said the blue fire was not like her expected. "The fire is too small.. I thought it was large.." she said while shaking her head.
Well.. I never see the blue fire, so I don't know what it looks like.
For your information, the blue fire is a nature phenomenon in Ijen Crater. It looked like fire on gas stove, the fire is blue.. Blue fire can be seen in the dark.
That is why people hiking Ijen Crater at 2 pm, to catch the blue fire on 4 pm (approximately took 2 hours hiking). This blue fire became a phenomenal thing that hunted by people who came to this place.
Around 8 pm my body got worse. I can't breath by my nose. The air came into my lungs by my mouth open. And then I asked Ika to do what we should do before, leaving this place.
When she saw my condition, Ika felt sorry for me and asked our driver to leave, went back to town. I knew I had dissapointed her, she really wants to see blue fire at Ijen Crater. And because of my condition, I can't make her dream come true, so sorry Ika.. :(
The next thing was, we drove back down to the city..
The steam will flow into the pipes and then come out from the other mouth of pipes where a stone which looked like a cave standing there. The steam of brimstone will flow to the cave and hit by the air. And 10 minutes later, the steam will be hard and become a rock (brimstone).
After 1 hour spent time at Ijen Crater. We decided to went back down.
After Baluran National Park, we went to Ijen Crater. I didn't know exactly the way that our driver chosen to go to Ijen Crater, because along the way, there was no 'spamming' things.
Roumors said, if we go to Ijen Crater by ourself, using private car, people there will stop you and force you to go out from your car and rent theirs (some kind of jeep), which is very expensive per car. They will not allow you to use your own car to get into Ijen Crater. Hm... lucky us I think ;)
Honey
When we drove on the street to Ijen Crater, I saw an interesting view, boxes among the trees. Why there were so many boxes there? And when I saw bottles in a table next to the street, I asked our diver, what was that? he said it was bottle of honey.. "
"Ow.. can I buy that?"
"Yes, of course, they sell it."
 |
| (left) Real honey. (Right) These boxes are bee hives |
And then we stopped. I walked through a man who looked busy checking boxes. When he saw us, he smiled and approached us.
"How much is this honey?"
"120K each."
"How about 100K? I'll buy 2."
He said ok.. I smiled happy ^^
 |
| Bee... can you find d queen? The clue is, she has no strip in her body ;) The queen was imported from Australia. It cost IDR 1,2 million /each. |
After bought some bottles of honey, we went back to our main goal, Ijen Crater..
It was around 4 pm when we arrived at Ijen Crater tourist attraction. The air was so freezing when I walked out the car. I hold my jacket tight but it can't pull it out.
There is a basecamp area before people go for hiking to Ijen Crater. This basecamp consist of office, parking lot, large field, and some "warung" (shop/small local restaurant).
 |
| Trash!.. at the parking lot. |
The things that became a serious problem in this area is (I think-), there were only 3 restroom/toilet, which is one of them was closed!
So, there were only 2 toilets left! what the f*ck.. (@_@)
can you imagine? we have to wait in a very long line to get pee/pup?? ridiculous!
And we have to pay for IDR 2.000 everytime we used the toilet! Should it be free??..
And then we walked to the main gate, for buying ticket to Ijen Crater. When we got there, the officer said that Ijen Crater was closed until 2 am in the morning! what???
As I read from internet, Ijen Crater open from 4 pm. But the situation has changed since Ijen Crater was full of smoked of poison. Status of the crater was bad for the past one month.
 |
| Ijen Crater and its smoke |
 |
| Ijen Crater |
The smoke like a poison gas, It can kill people who suck it. This poison gas came up around 1 pm - 1 am. That is why, the gate open at 2 am.. (but for more information about this, please check their web..)
I checked my watch and it still 4 pm.. It means we have to wait for about 10 hours more before hiking to Ijen Crater! OMG! It will be a nightmare for me.. (T_T)
I was starting to freak out.. I knew what happened with my body if we insist to stay in this place. It will be bad..
 |
| freezinggg... |
Then I asked Ika to leave this place, go back down to the city, wait there until midnite, and then go back to this place again. Why? because I can't stand in this freezing air. The air was too cold for me, my body won't stand that longer, 10 hours..
Ika wouldn't do that, she said it just wasting our time, she motivated me that I can stand in this freezing air. And our driver also refused to drove me back to the city because it was 2 hours rode to the city, too long, he said.
I just quited. Didn't know what to say.. It was hard for me to say that my body can't resist the cold weather. I have asthma, and the cold weather is number one enemy for asthma's. I knew I can't breath well in the next few hours..
And then we waited in a warung. Lucky me, this warung had stove that using firewood. But I can't stand there along night, because there were people who want to make their body warm too.
We can't sleep in this warung also, prohibited. So, we just talking and talking along the night. Around 7 pm my body began to shake. I checked the temperature at the wooden wall (every warung has a thermometer to check the temperature-), it was 13 'Celcius, and it will continue to fall. They said at 2 pm, the temperature might around 5-10 'celcius. OMG!
Blue Fire
Some foreigner went into warung, two of them tried to looking for the servant. They stood in front of stall, and start to calling the servant. But no one came. They looked confused, tried to ask some men who stood near them, but no one help because they didn't understand english.
Those two women began to frustrated.. Then I tried to communicate with them.
"Miss.. do you want to order something?"
They looked shock but very glad when heard my voice.
"Oh.. thx God," she smiled. "Yes please, I like to order... (bla bla bla)"
Those foreginers were from Republic of Cheko. This was the second time she came to Ijen Crater by her colleges. When I asked her about the blue fire, she said the blue fire was not like her expected. "The fire is too small.. I thought it was large.." she said while shaking her head.
Well.. I never see the blue fire, so I don't know what it looks like.
For your information, the blue fire is a nature phenomenon in Ijen Crater. It looked like fire on gas stove, the fire is blue.. Blue fire can be seen in the dark.
That is why people hiking Ijen Crater at 2 pm, to catch the blue fire on 4 pm (approximately took 2 hours hiking). This blue fire became a phenomenal thing that hunted by people who came to this place.
Around 8 pm my body got worse. I can't breath by my nose. The air came into my lungs by my mouth open. And then I asked Ika to do what we should do before, leaving this place.
When she saw my condition, Ika felt sorry for me and asked our driver to leave, went back to town. I knew I had dissapointed her, she really wants to see blue fire at Ijen Crater. And because of my condition, I can't make her dream come true, so sorry Ika.. :(
The next thing was, we drove back down to the city..
Brimstone
The next morning, at 8 am, we were back to Ijen Crater tourist attraction. After paid for the ticket, we begin for hike.
The sun shine very bright that morning, Ika walked too fast in front of me, I can't catch her because this hiking has really drained my breath.. :p
 |
| The path.. |
But the path was easy to follow, you won't get lost. Along the path, there were so much people whose hiking and walking down. Man, woman, young, old, kids.. they were all looked happy and.. exhausted hahaha..
 |
| (above) If you too tired of walking, you can rent that vehicle, around IDR 100K, but only for walking down not up. (below) if you bring your kids and they are tired of hiking, you can rent the mine worker to help you carry your kids, cost IDR 100K-120K /kid. |
But what I liked when hiking in this place, is the scene.. so beautiful..
the sky was so blue, the mountains, peaks, and the forest, were so green and relaxing when I saw them..
the sky was so blue, the mountains, peaks, and the forest, were so green and relaxing when I saw them..
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| Green forest and blue mountains |
 |
| I don't know its name, but Its gorgeous ^^ |
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| The beauty of the scene.. |
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| Titanic in the mountain hehe.. |
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| The peak.. |
Some mine worker looked come and go carrying yellow stone. That yellow stone is a brimstone. Each of worker can carry 70-85 kilos on their shoulders.
They should walk about 3 km from the mine (which is at the bottom of the crater) to the main gate (where we start the hike) with fluctuating contour of the path. In one day, they do it twice! Can you imagine how strong they are??? :O
They should walk about 3 km from the mine (which is at the bottom of the crater) to the main gate (where we start the hike) with fluctuating contour of the path. In one day, they do it twice! Can you imagine how strong they are??? :O
At the main gate, a truck waiting for them to carry the brimstones to the factory.
How much they get pay for their job? each kilo of brimstone costed IDR 925.
So, in one day they can bring cash: (70 x 2) x 925 = IDR 129.500 /day.
So, in one day they can bring cash: (70 x 2) x 925 = IDR 129.500 /day.
(life is hard dude... :O)
 |
| Passing mine worker |
Why they are still hanging in this difficult, hard, and exhausted job??
"We can make cash easily, with short time work here," said one of the worker.
"We can make cash easily, with short time work here," said one of the worker.
"First it is hard to do, but later it became usual," he talked. He also said, don't know what to do unless mining. This is the only job they know.
 |
| Mine worker and brimstone |
So, my advice to you if you come to visit this place, please.. buy their brimstone. You can buy their brimstone for any cost, IDR 5K, 10K, 3K,.. the cost is all up to you.. They will be happy if there are visitors who want to buy their brimstone.
Brimstone is good for skin, specially for itchy skin. You can mashed the brimstone and mixed by water and taking bath with it. It will help your itchy skin.
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| Welcome to Pondok Bunder 2214 mdpl |
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| Brimstone for sale.. |
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| Try to pull it up but it didnt move at all, not single inch.. :p |
There were 300 people who work at brimstone mine. With that much worker, the brimstone that they can produce around 16 tons/day.
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| Mine workers were walking up from the crater |
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| So far away.. |
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| Graffiti on stones.. This is bad :( |
How to mining the brimstone?
According to one of the worker that I talked with, by taking brimstone steam through the pipes that connected to the source of brimstone.
According to one of the worker that I talked with, by taking brimstone steam through the pipes that connected to the source of brimstone.
The steam will flow into the pipes and then come out from the other mouth of pipes where a stone which looked like a cave standing there. The steam of brimstone will flow to the cave and hit by the air. And 10 minutes later, the steam will be hard and become a rock (brimstone).
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| cloud and sky |
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| me! ^^ |
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| sun shine brightly |
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| Almost there.. |
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| 200 m more to Ijen Crater |
Ijen Crater
Finally.. I hit the top of Ijen Crater..
More than 2 hours to get here.. Feel so exited and happy.. yeayyy... alhamdulillah ^^
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| Finally, I can do it! ^^ |
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| The path at the top |
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| In front of Ijen Crater |
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| Looking for the beauty of Ijen Crater |
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| More pic please ;) |
After 1 hour spent time at Ijen Crater. We decided to went back down.
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| Between dead trees |
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| The cloud and peak |
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| looked cool? haha..:)) |
Olrite.. that is it for now. See you again on my next story... ;)
Salam
Ifa Abdoel
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