Homeless But Not Hopeless: 13/12/2013 - Blue Lava at Kawah Ijen Volcano.

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Midnight was the starting time to leave the hotel of the small port town of Ketapang to make my way into the caldera of Kawah Ijen to see something I have always wanted to see, blue lava!
As I mentioned yesterday if there were to be more people on this tour i would receive reimbursement of 20%... However because it is low season I was chauffeured alone up into the mountains annoyed with the extortionate price I paid.
Many sources on the Internet and the lonely planet guide said that the road to the volcano was not recommended by any other means other than 4WD - this is not true, motorbikes and 2WD people carriers (like the one I made it up in) are more than capable of reaching the parking lot where the hike begins.
Many sources that I had read said that this hike was steep, difficult and dangerous, Again, this is not true, yes I am quite fit having cycled a vast distance around the world but put it this way- a French man died here from falling somewhere and in all honestly the guy must have been physically challanged, just be careful as the rocks can be quite slippery.
Speaking of French people I was told I had to join a group with a guide to be able to descend into the mouth of the volcano; there were 3 French people on this tour traveling together but only one made the effort to initially talk to me. This seems to be the case, 2 out of 3 French people (generally a higher ratio when they come from Paris) are people I, and many others I know don't want to ever encounter. Given, it was very early in the morning and they were tired (so was I) but the least you can do is make to effort to introduce yourself or express yourself in some way to simply acknowledge me.
Anyway I avoided these foul, moody and depressed faces and I promptly hiked the 4 kilometers to the top alone with it taking just over an hour with little effort.
Here I waited for our guide to finally show up to take us down the sheer wall of the crater to see the blue flames of Ijen, this is caused by liquid sulfur deposits that leak out of the earth forming a magnificent turquoise lake of sulfur but also burns blue within the lava and fire of the volcano. The sights at night are pretty spectacular with the flames burning a magical blue although bellowing a large amount of offensive and overwhelming smelling smoke that would irritate your throat and eyes but we were provided with gas masks to make it easier to breath amongst the thick harshness of it all.
We hiked back out of the the crater to view the sunrise over the volcano where the sunlight filled the previously dark and unknown landscape, perhaps the best way to describe it would be that it is similar to the landscape of Mordor from Lord of the Rings.
Now, the sulfur miners here put them themselves through unforgiving hardship, several times a day they descend into the choking sulfuric smoke/steam to extract the mineral deposits only to hike the 4km back out to the crater carrying anywhere between 60 to 120km of weight on a single shoulder using a bamboo stick with baskets nested on either end - apparently they haven't ever heard of or seen a wheelbarrow before?! Or even a pulley system? But as it turns out for 1kg of sulfur they are paid about 7 cents (American currency)!
These French people who were photographers/videographers with gear at a price that would feed a small Indonesian town for a year only opened up to me at the last minute at the base after I had met some other travelers who I instantly got along with, I could see that these French at a stone throw away questioning why and how was able to meet and befriend people so quickly and only then, just as I had to leave they fired the typical questions at me to understand how and why I have travelled over the past 8 years. It would have made a great interview if they were interested in recording a video of me.
I gave them this blog address so if they read this I have some things to say: first impressions last! so smile, its not difficult or if your in a bad mood simply acknowledge the people you are with. Thanks for the content to fill this blog entry and reinforcing what many people think of the French.
I slept the entire ride back to Ketapang because I did not sleep last night, I was wanting to leave today for Bali but after a nap for a few hours I had to spend another night as I was completely drained of energy.