6° Gn. Ijen

After an evening power nap, quickly grab a cappuccino and then the small minibus picked us up at the hostel & we drove to Gn. Ijen. There we were equipped with masks and started hiking. After about 1.5 hours of ascent to the 2386m high volcano, we climbed down 300m to the crater lake. This lake is 180m deep and with a pH of 0.2, it is the most acidic lake in the world. Water vapor and gases emerge from the so-called fumaroles, with temperatures around 200 degrees. Hot enough to set liquid sulfur on fire and to see the famous blue sulfur burn at night. Up to 10 tons of sulfur gas are piped here, cooled and extracted by workers. They carry about 75kg in their baskets (several times a day) out of the crater and receive only 4.65€ in return. Others offer lazy tourists to pull them up to the summit with the 'taxi'. This looks a lot like slavery. 2 people pull on ropes in the front and one pushes in the back. Unfortunately, many have accepted this offer. But probably at very high prices.