Ijen Crater & Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park

February 7-9, 2026 Monster Volcano Tour: Ijen Crater & Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park

February 7, 2026

After spending a night in Bali, we returned to the mainland and checked into a guesthouse in Banyuwangi to have something to eat. Around 11:30 PM, we were picked up by a shuttle bus to head to Ijen Crater.

February 8, 2026

After a brief medical check-up, we arrived at the foot of the crater around 2 AM. Here, we received our equipment and then hiked up the volcano with our group at a pretty intense pace. Upon reaching the top, we began the descent into the crater. Along the way, we encountered sulfur workers who were mining and transporting sulfur. It was dark and quite rough; thankfully, we had headlamps. The crater emits quite strong fumes, so whenever the wind blew unfavorably, we had to put on our gas masks, and once we reached the bottom, we had to wear them continuously. But despite the stinging eyes and smell, it was worth it because we could observe the so-called blue fire, which exists in only two places in the world!

As dawn broke, we climbed back up the crater, and the view of the crater lake was incredible!!! That was truly one of the most beautiful moments of the trip.

Then followed the descent, a quick coffee, and finally we were taken back to our accommodation, where we quickly packed our things and were picked up by another bus around 11 AM that was supposed to take us to Bromo National Park. We arrived around 6 PM at the last park before the village, quickly ate something, and then went to bed.

February 9, 2026

At 2 AM, we got up again, and the adventure continued! We drove to the entrance of the national park and began climbing up the slope of a mountain around 3 AM to observe the sunrise at 5:30 AM. And it was unbelievably spectacular!!! From this point, we could see three volcanoes, all active, smoking and becoming increasingly visible in the twilight. Truly a natural wonder!

At 6 AM, we then went directly to Bromo Volcano, hiked up, and looked down into the very active crater. It is really impressive to witness this natural power.

Afterward, it was time for breakfast, check-out, and a drive to Surabaya. Here, we spent a very restful night to embark on a twelve-hour train ride back to Jakarta the next day. Because from there, our flight the following day would take us to Tokyo…