Mount Ijen, Java 🇮🇩

Here I am. Grumpy and full of worry, stuck in paradise. I've been in Bali for about 10 days now, the guys are back home and I'm on my way back from Mount Ijen Blue fire in Java. There's a primary photo update, with a few sentences about my current well-being and the trip to Java.

Watching two very important things for me potentially being ruined in a short amount of time by a stupid virus, I stuff myself with hipster food and enjoy life to the fullest for a week now in the town of Canggu in Bali. And since that's slowly getting boring, I have to do something. I talk to a few people in the hostel and before I know it, I've found a group.

We'll be picked up at 10 a.m. to spend about 6 hours in the car and an hour on the ferry. The problem with 10 a.m.? Not for me and Phillip 🇨🇦  . Moon 🇮🇩  and Anna 🇰🇷  unfortunately didn't have the time in mind, so I almost have an outburst before we even set off towards the volcano. The journey then proceeds quite unspectacularly with an hour's delay. We have a seven-seater and there are only 4 people, which makes the situation very pleasant.

We sleep in Banyuwangi on Java.

So we go to bed at 7:30 p.m. and at 10:30 p.m. we go to the volcano. Somewhere we pick up our guide and drive up to the level where you can park, about 1800 m. We are allowed to climb up from 1 a.m. so we spend another hour in a small café. South Korea is highly motivated and announces that she doesn't want to take a break until sunrise. I roll my eyes and walk with awe and overtake her after about 200m. 😂 There's about 3 hours of walking ahead, which honestly is already two and a half hours too much for me. But oh well. It takes us about 1 1/2 hours to get to the crater. At least Philipp and I. After waiting for 30 minutes, we decide to go into the crater on our own. We weren't alone, mum, there were other guides, so we just followed them. At least until the moment we turned the wrong way for a moment. We encounter mine workers who get about 75 cents per kilogram of sulfur produced and taken up and down. Somewhat overpaid if you ask me.

Incredible, what a crazy job. They carry between 65 and 80 kg with baskets up and down 2-4 times per shift. Believe me, once down and up is enough without any extra load. CAUTION!

Small panic attack, or rather on the verge of it, suddenly we're surrounded by biting sulfur smell, the workers bark at us to go away, but the eyes burn so much that you can't really see anything. Slowly we move towards the light. We survived that too and continue going down until we arrive at the blue fire. Whatever it is, it looks awesome. The rock is burning, because there's such heat there and gases are simultaneously released. Impossible to capture on photos with a cellphone, so just google it.

We go up again and halfway up we encounter the rest of our group including the guide, we arrange to meet up for sunrise and the paths separate again. Phil and I find the spot, consider making a fire because it's unbelievably cold, the wind is whipping, the t-shirt is soaked with sweat and we're tired. It's now 4 a.m., which means another 1 1/2 hours until sunrise. We decide to try it without a fire, hide behind trees in windless corners and sleep for half an hour on a 2500 m high volcano in Java, Indonesia. It's going well. Then the first people start coming, including the guides. They start making a fire, and we graciously accept the invitation. My t-shirt dries, I donate my safety toilet paper and I sometimes feel like I'm hanging out with Bear Grills and he's actually Russian. Because the skills the man from the other group has to make a fire are cool. They also amuse me a lot, the girlfriends confirm that with a shrug and a nod of approval, "Russian Men". We giggle and slowly the sun rises. Only gradually do I realize what kind of place we've landed in here, everything, really everything feels like from another planet or computer animated. No filters on my pictures! Look at them and enjoy. The way back is unspectacular, except for 1-2 pulse attacks from me and waiting for Anna again. I stink like a fart because of the sulfur and I'm tired as hell. It was worth it!

Take care of yourselves, don't let all this shit make you too sick and don't read NW. I love you. ❤️