Scientist estimate that between
100-150 of these volcanoes are still active, containing 75 percent of all
active volcanos on the planet. the one country is Indonesia.
These volcanoes form the backbone of Sumatra, Java and
Bali. Kawah Ijen (Ijen Crater) in the nature reserve Ijen Park is located
between Banyuwangi and Bondowoso District, East Java, Indonesia. The crater is
located at the exact top of Mount Ijen, one of a series of volcanoes in East
Java including Raung, Bromo, Semeru and Merapi.
With an elevation 2,799 m (9,183 ft), air
temperatures at the crater are cold, usually around 10° Celsius, although
sometimes the temperature drops as low as 2° Celsius. The cold ambient air
temperature combined with the heat escaping from the volcanic crater increase
the sensation of the experience of visiting Kawah Ijen. Various plants that
exist only in the highlands can also be found here, including edelweis flowers
and pine.
The principal attraction at Ijen is the large Crater
Lake that has much sulfur, which lies hidden between sheer walls of deeply
furrowed rock at more than 200 meters. The Ijen crater itself lies at
approximately 2,300 meters above sea level. It forms a twin volcano with the
now extinct Mount Merapi. The enormous Crater Lake, which is 200 meters deep
and covers an area of more than meters, a million square meters, contains about
36 million cubic meters of steaming, acid water.
Ijen crater shows a special type of
volcanic feature common to Indonesia, about 1 kilometer in diameter and 175
meters deep. The floor is covered completely by a warm lake, milky blue green
in colours held back by a dam built many years ago by the Dutch, in order to
keep the hot, mineral laden water from raining the crop lands below.
This
beautiful warm crater lake with its blue-green water looks very inviting, but
it is corrosive and dangerous! The crater of Kawah Ijen is about 960 meters x
600 meters with a depth of 200 meters and contains water so acidic that it can
dissolve clothes and human flesh. The acid measure is almost zero (pH)
The best time to start hiking to Kawah Ijen is in the early
morning, around 3 or 4 AM (some enthusiast hikers and photographers start out
even earlier). This will allow you to reach the crater just in time to watch a
beautiful sunrise peeping through the mountain tops.
The crater can be reached from either the
east or the west by any kinds of vehicles, but the second part of the trip
covers distance 3 km on foot (jungle track). However, the latter is more
popular approach, since the climb from the road's end to the edge of the lake
is only one and a half hours. And a walk around the lake takes a full day.
The temperature drops at night, near the crater
rim it can fall to about 5° Celsius. The road ends at Jampit, where very basic
shelter is available. It is also possible to sleep in the old vulcanology
station further up the hill, now used by sulfur collectors, but permission must
be obtained in advance.
The sulfur is transported entirely on
foot. In the past, horses were used but they were found to be less practical on
the hazardous terrain. Today, the mine yields nine to twelve tons of sulfur per
day.
Men carry individual loads of up to 70 kg,
often barefooted, up to the rim of crater and then 17 km down the mountainside
to a factory near Banyuwangi. The porters are paid by weight. The most
important advice if you are traveling to Ijen is: "If you lose your way,
just look out for the sulfur trail". The meaning was clear, since a
continuous flow of two ways traffic, carrying the sulfur down the mountainside
from the lake and trudging up again to re-load, had left a yellow trail on the
well-worn path.
A morning trip to the crater is imperative. By around 10 AM the wind starts to blow the acidic sulfur smoke towards the walk path. It is difficult to climb down or up when covered by the smoke. If you find yourself in this situation and you don’t have a mask, pour some water on a tissue or handkerchief and use it to cover your mouth and nose. Breath through your mouth and stay low behind the rocks. Don’t panic! By 2 PM the access to the crater is closed due to heavy white sulfuric smoke that makes hiking impossible.
