THE BEAUTY IJEN CRATER AMAZE FOREIGN TRAVELERS

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.