Asia Scenic

We woke up for our ijen trek at 1am as we wanted to see the blue fire caused by the release of gases from the volcano that roars constantly throughout the night. The going was a little challenging but after climbing Rinjani everything is relative! We were also not grouped with seasoned mountaineers this time and so our pace was steady and manageable...

We rented some gas masks to dispel the smell of sulpher for when we entered the crater against the advice of our tour guide who I quote "no you don't need one, it's not that bad".

As we got to the crater rim the sulpher was already strong in the air and was stinging my nostrils, I put my gas mask on at this point and started my descent down into a volcanic crater armed with a torch for 2 of us to navigate with through the darkness. The path/jagged rocks were well trodden however and there were a fair few other people around so getting lost was difficult, I just had to concentrate on not falling either side onto an ocean of boulders.

The sulpher at the bottom was prevailing even through the gas mask but totally worth it to see the fire. It was leaping out from crevices in the rock from several places ceaselessly, electric blue, dragon flames coming from the earth's core. Taller than me, I sat and watched it until we had to move on.

Our guide took us away from the fire to guide us down the the lake for sunrise, on our way the wind changed and 3 of us were caught in a wind tunnel that was billowing all the sulpher smoke right into our faces. I couldn't see in front of our face right up until my eyes started stinging so much I had to shut them. I couldn't breathe because the mask couldn't cope with the sheer volume of sulphuric gas it was being bombarded with. We were all pretty much frozen in place, paralysed by smoke. Our guide, who up to this point had not really been of any essential use, had obviously dealt with this before came back for us after he realised we weren't with him, waded into the depths and dragged us to a clearing so we could compose ourselves. It was the only point during any of the treks I've done so far I felt a twinge of panic and had it not been for the guide I would of turned around and headed back to the crater rim somehow.

Standing at the edge of the lake was a funny thing as it wasn't making a sound and I couldn't see the otherside in the darkness. It just seemed to go on forever, the water as hot as a bath.

We saw a workers mining and carrying the sulpher to be sold to factories run by the Chinese (obviously) and I couldn't believe the strength and resilience of these guys. Pretty much all were in flip flops, none had gas masks, maybe a bit of cloth to cover their mouth if they were lucky and they were doing hard labour constantly. Some mining then breaking up large bulks sulpher and then others carrying it in baskets over their shoulders weighing anything between 50-70kg up and out of the crater and down the slopes of volcano. It was something superhuman to witness, daily work in such a harsh environment.

Loved the experience at ijen, and another snapshot into the lives of others and how vastly they contrast against my own completely down too chance. Now we leave to head to Mt Bromo for tomorrow's sunrise!Les mer