Why go to Ijen?

After I brought my flight ticket to the Surabaya, I did my research on what to do in the East Java island. Firstly, I found the famous Mount Bromo but

later on, my eyeballs get attracted by the electric-blue frames photos. Knowing that Ijen is the only two places in the world that can see the natural blue fire phenomenon (the other one is the Dallol Hydrothermal Site in Ethiopia), I just put the trip to Ijen into my itinerary.

Best time to visit

The Ijen National Park is open all year around. However, it is considered that the best time to visit Ijen is during the dry season ( from April to October) as the view of blue fire and amazing Ijen Crater Lake can be blocked by thick fog in wet season ( from November to March). Also, it is recommended to start the climb in the middle of the night as there are strong wind during the day, which causes Sulfur gas to be easily carried away by air and disrupt your breathing.

How to access to Ijen?

For the trip, I stayed in Banyuwangi as my base for visiting the Ijen. I caught the train from Probolinggo that cost me 151,000Rp. The journey took 4hours and 15minutes. From there, it is a 1 and a half hours for the ride to Pos Paltuding, the starting point for climbing up the Kawah Ijen. After I arrived the hostel, I just booked the tour through my host for 300,000Rp, which included both the transportation, guide and the equipment needed for hiking the Ijen (headlamp and respirator mask).

The start of hiking

Knowing that the driver would come at 00:00, I just got some sleeping before that. Waking up in the midnight is quite like a zombie. After the 1 and a half hours ride, we arrived the Pos Paltuding.

From there, you can buy some warm clothes, snacks and drinks if you want. The tour provided us a headlamp and a respirator mask each person. During the trip, I hiked with a couple from Spain and a guy from French. We started the hiking at around 2 o’clock. The road is quite steep and incline. However, after about 1hour hiking, we made it to the top and we though that it’s worth. At the point we can see the blue-coloured crater lake in night, which was quite pretty. Many people arrived there with a stop of few minutes for the view.

After 1hour hiking, we reached the highest point!

And you will find this road sign once you arrive

After that, it was time to watch the blue flames closely. We put on the mask and walked down to the crater. It took about 40minutes for the walk. The mask was so useful that it can block almost all the smell from the sulphur. We were quite lucky that we can see the blue frame clearly. This natural phenomenon happens due to the combustion of sulphuric gases. When the gases emerge from cracks in the rock at high pressure and temperature, and come in contact with the air, they ignite, creating the blue flames. It was an amazing experience watching the blue frame exploded so closely and the smell of sulphur was still strong even we putted on our mask.

The Kawah Ijen Sunrise

Once we though we had seen enough blue flames, we started our hiking again. Walked back to the top took us 40minutes. After that, it was quite easy to walk to the sunrise point as the area around the crater of the volcano is quite flat. We walked the way to the east side and it took us the other 20minutes. The good new for watching the sunrise in Ijen is that it is much more less crowded than the very famous Mount Bromo. You don’t need to squeeze with other people for a small area to enjoy the sunrise. We just found a place to sit and wait for the sunrise. It was magical to see the sky being lighten up and reveal the beauty of the Mount Ijen landscape.

On the other side, the turquoise-coloured crater lake was beneath us. Don’t be faked by its’ pretty face, it is the largest acidic lake in the world, the water has a measured pH as low as 0.3!

After we took enough photos with the crater lake and enjoyed the sunrise, we walked back to the Pos Paltuding. However, this time, we needed to walk slowly as the road became so slippy after the sunrise even in the dry season (We visited the Ijen in June).

We walked back to the parking at 7:30am and it was a tired but wonderful experience. We took our rest in the gathering point and our tour guide took out a dish of fried banana. It was so delicious for us just after the long time hiking! After I back to the hostel, I just take the shower quickly and slept well with the wonderful memory of the hiking!