rich text editor filekawah ijen - a mountain of surreal pain and beauty - kembara jawa timur part iv

7/29/2019 Rich Text Editor FileKawah Ijen - A mountain of surreal pain and beauty - Kembara Jawa Timur Part IV

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Kawah Ijen - A mountain of surreal pain and beauty - Kembara Jawa Timur Part IV

Kembara Jawa Timur Part I - Mount Bromo from Mount Penanjakan

Kembara Jawa Timur Part II - Mount Bromo & Ranupani VillageKembara Jawa Timur Part III - Bromo from Gardu Pandang & Madakaripura Waterfall

Kembara Jawa Timur Part IV - Kawah Ijen - A mountain of surreal pain and beauty

Kembara Jawa Timur Part V - From Kalianyar Village to Papuma beach

Kembara Jawa Timur Part VI - Human interest around Surabaya

After the visit to Madakaripura Waterfall (see Part III), we went straight for our

second main destination, Kawah Ijen. Well.. not totally straight, our guide thoughtwe could make it to Papuma beach for sunset so we try to go there first. Luck is

not in our side as we were at least 30 minutes behind the time. So we end up

shooting sunset at some paddy field not far from Papuma Beach.

Kawah Ijen with its scenic green acidic lake amid the blue sky
http://landscapeshutter.blogspot.com/2010/08/kawah-ijen-mountain-of-surreal-pain-and.htmlhttp://landscapeshutter.blogspot.com/2010/08/human-interest-around-surabaya-kembara.htmlhttp://landscapeshutter.blogspot.com/2010/08/from-kalianyar-village-to-papuma-beach.htmlhttp://landscapeshutter.blogspot.com/2010/08/kawah-ijen-mountain-of-surreal-pain-and.htmlhttp://landscapeshutter.blogspot.com/2010/08/bromo-from-gardu-pandang-madakaripura.htmlhttp://landscapeshutter.blogspot.com/2010/08/mount-bromo-ranupani-village-kembara.htmlhttp://landscapeshutter.blogspot.com/2010/08/bromo-from-mount-penanjakan-kembara.htmlhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/drziner/4517115300/http://landscapeshutter.blogspot.com/2010/08/kawah-ijen-mountain-of-surreal-pain-and.html


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After sunset we continue our journey towards Kawah Ijen. We stay at Catimor

Homestay Resort at Blawan, Sempol, Bondowoso which is a luxury resort to our

standard (normally we only stay at budget hotel to minimize our cost) but at a

very affordable rate. To my surprise when i do a google search on this hotel, i

found few bad review about this resort at tripadvisor. I believe most of the visitor

that wrote bad review about this homestay at tripadvisorforgot that they are not in

the middle of any city, instead they are at a rural area which depend

on agriculture product such as coffee for a living.Its akin to someone who

expecting five star motel/resort with world class service at Kg Bantal, UluTembeling, Pahang (incase you didnt know, Kg Bantal is a village that you can

reach after 4 hours journey only by boat from Kuala Tahan, Malaysia National

Park). If you expect five star hotel with super comfort condition then stay at your

home or go travel to London instead of a rural district at Bondowoso, Jawa Timur,

Indonesia. Period.

Kawah Ijen (2386m) is part of volcano complex in East Java that include Mount

Merapi (different from the central Java Merapi).It is part of several volcano

complex within the 15km diameter Ijen Caldera. It's heighest point is at 2,386

meters high from the sea level. Among the distinctive feature of Kawah Ijen is the

green acidic lake within its crater. This beautiful lake is more acidic from your car

battery acid due to high level of sulphur within it. The sulphur dioxide combined

with the air and water became sulphuric acid.

Sunset at a paddy field at Jember, Jawa Timur.

Sulphur miner/carrier amid the sunrise at Kawah Ijen
http://www.flickr.com/photos/drziner/4516692222/http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g1052738-d1030561-Reviews-Cartimor_Homestay-Jember_Java.htmlhttp://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g1052738-d1030561-Reviews-Cartimor_Homestay-Jember_Java.htmlhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/drziner/4513749672/


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Kawah Ijen is also the site of a gruelingly labor-intensive sulfur mining operation.

A total of around 200 miners collect and carry pure yellowish physical sulphur

from the bottom of the crater until a weighing station (Pondok Bunder - 2214

meters) through a 4km of hiking up and down. Each trip the miner carried about

60-100kg depending on their strength and ability. The more they can carry the

more the money they can get. For 100kg load they would be paid around 60,000

rupiah (roughly about RM18). Normally they would be able to do only two trip per

day.

Capturing the photo of this human labor intensive industry is the main reason why

i longing to visit Kawah Ijen since last year after viewing photos taken by my

friend, arey. I definitely wonder how they could survive as i cant even carry their

60-100kg of load for more than few second - tried it- but they need to carry it for

several kilometers hiking! [Being there watching this would make you more

grateful of your life and you'll stop complaining about your own job

environment,promotion, etc. - Bosses should sponsor a trip to Kawah Ijen for their

worker.. hehhehe]

B&W of Kawah Ijen Crater
http://www.flickr.com/photos/drziner/4521928401/


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The next day, early morning around 3am we already on our way to the crater. I

initally thought the journey to Paltuding Base Camp from the resort would only

take 45 minutes maximum as the driver and the guide say its near already.

Instead i believe it took almost 2 hours to reach paltuding. We start to trek

immediately before stopping midway for Subuh prayer. I trek as fast as i could as

among our main target is to capture the sunrise at Kawah Ijen but it seem time is

not on our side as we were told the hike itself will took almost 2 hours.

A worker with his keranjang (basket)


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After approximately 90 minutes of brisk walking from our starting point (the

starting base at Paltuding basecamp is already at around 1850m) .. we finally

reached the volcano crater. The beautiful lake and perfect sky waiting for us.. we

missed the sunrise.. next time we must try to reach the caldera before sunrise.

To achieve that, next time we should start at 1am from our homestay to catch the

sunrise. The path was easy as it is not steep at all with 3m wide almost all along

the way. There is several hut provided along they way if you want to rest for a

while

.

Another setback is on the day that we hike it is a libur (holiday) day for the

worker. So there is far less worker than usual. Only around 15-20 harvester work

that day. When its libur day, the worker can still gather the sulphur but the

weighing station will be closed and they wont get their pay that day. So anyone

keep working on any libur day must store their sulphur somewhere temporarily. I

actually wonder why wouldnt they keep working as their effort would still get paid

albeit later.

Dr Jamal Rahman.. our inspiring trip leader for this Bromo-Kawah Ijen-Surabaya trip under theLuarbiasa Photography umbrella.. Visit his flickr at www.flickr.com/photos/jamalrahman/ or his

website www.tembeling.com

Dr Jamal amid the background of Mount Raung. I'm interested to hike this mountain but whentold there is no water source there (which mean we need to carry water) i lost my interest..

heheh.. better to target other mountain..
http://www.flickr.com/photos/drziner/4514344444/http://www.flickr.com/photos/drziner/4513195399/


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During my hike i coincidently keep trekking with a worker called Pak Rudi.. He

worked here for at least 15 years carrying the heavy sulphur for a living.I first met

him when i'm running away from the thick sulphur smoke that head to my way

while i'm almost near the mining area (i wish i just continue to the mining area.. but

i'm scared to death to see the thick poisonous smoke heading towards me.. but if

the worker survive years of working in this hazard condition then i should survive

few minutes of it ..hahaha.. my eyes burning like crazy when the smoke finally

reach my position...) .

Pak Rudi on his way out from the Kawah Ijen volcano crater to the weighting station.


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A documentary by National Geographic state that the average lifespan of the

worker here is only 41. Not surprising considering these miner work under great

duress within inhuman condition extracting sulfur from one of the most beautiful

volcanoes in the world. Back to Pak Rudi.. as i trek down along with him, i took alot photos of him. I wish i could be back to Kawah Ijen in time and hand printed

photo of him to him. I even met him again at a stall operated by his sister at

Paltuding basecamp.

"The world is a book and those who do not travel read only a page - Saint

Augustine"

Kawah Ijen is definitely special mountaineering expedition and for some it might

be a lifechanging journey. Watching those people working to their maximum

capability for a living definitely wreck your heart and make you more grateful of

A dead tree around the crater at Kawah Ijen. The continuous sulphur smoke make l ife for thetree harder here.

Pak Rudi, the sulphur miner/carrier with his 70kg of solid sulphur startimg to descend KawahIjen from its edge..
http://www.flickr.com/photos/drziner/4525668142/http://www.flickr.com/photos/drziner/4520273626/


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what you have. I will 'bookmark' this page of mine and hopefull would be able to

revisit it next time. And i wish my wife would join all my future travel.

rich text editor filekawah ijen - a mountain of surreal pain and beauty - kembara jawa timur part iv

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