INTO IJEN
By Jay Tindall
ACID LAKE, POISON AIR
T
he air is poison, the climb is steep, and there’s a lake of sulfuric acid in the center of the caldera. Photography can be a little difficult in the precipitous craters and noxious gases of Java’s Ijen. Volcanoes, it turns out, aren’t great for drones. On my trip to this curious Indonesia sight – a collection of composite volcanoes in yellow and white – I would find one of the most alien places I have ever visited. To film the Ijen volcano complex turned out to be more difficult and more rewarding than previously thought. The five-hour train journey to Banyuwangi was on a bogstandard public train, though the view of Java passing by was pleasant enough. The train would take me to my eventual – though brief – resting place of Ijen Resort and Villas. It stands in stark contrast to the sharp
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ridges and alien topography of my Ijen destination, a bit reminiscent of Bali. The surrounding area includes the bucolic mountains of the Kawah Wurung and the seemingly hairy trees of Benculuk Perhutani. But it is with the cruel, otherworldly sights of Ijen with which most visitors are enamored. With a turquoise lake of extremely acidic water and belching yellow sulfur streaming from rock, Ijen is one of the strangest natural sights in all of Java. However, it was by forgoing one of the most popular attractions, the blue fire, that I was able to get such spectacular shots in relative peace and solitude. Travelers hike for two hours in the early morning hours to see the blue fire, ignited sulfuric gas that burns at up to 600 degrees Celsius. What many don’t know, however, is
that they’ve only got about a 30 percent chance of seeing the blue fire – missing sunrise from the heights of Ijen. Instead of waking up at 1am, we chose instead to sleep in an extra hour and a half before driving the 45 minutes to Ijen. It was a steep but convenient two-hour climb to the top, but travelers should be aware that, even though it’s Indonesia, it’s pretty chilly. The early hour and the altitude mean that travelers need to pack a little heavier than they might expect for the tropics. As most early morning travelers were down in the crater searching for blue fire, the rim of Ijen’s heights was relatively empty. The drop is sharp and the scenery dramatic, especially when experienced alone. Windy and cold on the volcano’s edge, flying the drone was a little difficult but manageable.
