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Paradise for the Conqueror
Lake Ijen, also known as Kawah Ijen, is located in the Ijen volcanic mountain range between the Bondowoso and Banyuwangi plateaus (eastern Java, Indonesia). With a radius of approximately 361 meters and a depth of 200 meters, it is considered the largest acid lake in the world.
To get here, visitors must land at Surabaya airport and travel by bus for 6 hours. Despite the long journey, Kawah Ijen remains one of the top destinations for adventure tourism in East Java in particular and Indonesia in general.
This place is always bustling with tourists, regardless of the dangers.
For those who love adventure, midnight is the ideal time to explore because from around 4 am until just before dawn, a blue flame appears in the burning sulfur ore. This is considered a unique phenomenon that anyone who chooses to visit would want to witness at least once.
To reach the crater, located at an altitude of 2,300 meters, visitors must trek a steep 40- to 60-degree slope for three hours if they want to see the blue flames. Once at the crater, it takes another 40 minutes to descend into the crater's interior. While this section isn't long, the terrain is extremely rugged and slippery. Furthermore, the area is constantly shrouded in thick smoke with a pungent, rotten-egg smell (the smell of sulfur compounds - H2S), which reduces visibility and even respiratory capacity.
A close-up view of the mesmerizing beauty of the blue flame.
In the dimly lit space, the only light comes from headlamps and camera flashes aimed at the area with the blue flames. Before the pandemic, visitors couldn't get too close to the flames because uncontrolled flare-ups could be dangerous. After tourism reopened, locals took turns guarding the area, constantly pouring water on the sulfur ore to cool the flames. As a result, visitors can now get close and even take photos with the flames.
As morning approaches, the smoke rising from the ore becomes thicker and more suffocating. At this point, exhausted, visitors are very susceptible to gas poisoning and eye irritation. It is important to wear a gas mask, and if on a tour, visitors will receive thorough instructions and warnings about the difficulty of accessing the area so that they can consider their health condition.
The smoke became thicker as dawn approached.
In contrast to its eerie nighttime appearance, at dawn, Lake Kawah Ijen reveals a stunning turquoise blue. This unique blue color is due to the sulfur content in the area's geology. Magma chambers beneath the volcano push sulfuric acid into the lake, combining with dissolved metals at high concentrations, resulting in gases that cause the water to turn blue. Furthermore, this process also makes the Kawah Ijen crater lake the most acidic in the world, with a pH of 0.5.
Toxic source of livelihood
Even in just a few short hours, many tourists found the strain on their respiratory systems unbearable. Many gave up at dawn and left the crater area before even catching a glimpse of Lake Ijen. According to guides, Lake Ijen isn't always clearly visible because of the thick sulfurous smoke. Only with great luck can tourists see it when the smoke clears. Therefore, without sufficient patience, tourists easily give up when they become exhausted.
Yet, this place is the livelihood of many local people. Every day, about 300 workers come to mine sulfur. The amount of sulfur extracted can reach 15 to 45 tons per day.
The sulfur miner stands beside his products.
In stark contrast to the tourists' careful precautions, these men were completely unprotected. They were barefaced, without gas masks, and their clothing was extremely simple. The hardship was easily discernible on the faces of these young men, who, without knowing better, could easily be mistaken for being in their forties or fifties.
The people in this area have low levels of education, jobs are scarce, and sulfur mining seems to be the only means of livelihood for the working class. These men have an average life expectancy of only 47 years because they have spent their entire lives exposed to sulfur without any protection.
The rickshaw drivers are resting, waiting for customers.
As tourism developed, these people also knew how to capitalize on it to earn extra income. For example, tourists are advised by guides to tip the guards 20,000 Rupiah for their duties in calming the blue flames. In the mornings, you'll see sulfur miners selling souvenir sculptures made of solid sulfur for 30,000 Rupiah each. Similarly, there are "rickshaw taxis" available for 800,000 Rupiah per trip to get to the crater rim, allowing many tourists, even those not physically fit, to admire the acid lake.
The people here know that their lifespans are significantly affected, but in return, this place provides them with a livelihood. For them, it's a fair trade-off, perhaps because they think that if they leave this place, the hardships will not only come from physical labor but also from mental stress.
