Happy to be leaving Bali - To Java

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Today I left Bali for Java. A local bus and a ferry journey.

How happy was I to meet Nate and Benny. Two guys from New Zealand rock up in the tour shop I was in and wanted to do the same tour. Ijen Crater, Mount Bromo and Yogyakarta. Yes, this really made my day. The guys are film makers, who were filming their travels in Indonesia to make a short documentary.

We had a vehicle drive us to a hotel close by Ijen, with a stop off on route to check out the coffee plantation and the rubber trees.

After our rooms were allocated, we walked through the village to a big crazy waterfall, then stopped off at some hot spring baths where we took time to relax our muscles ready for the volcano climb in the morning.

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A night with an hours sleep max, we wake up at 12.30am to start the journey. The van to get us to the volcano followed by the steep hike to the crater. Nate decided to run ahead so he could get footage before any other tourists were visible. I took it slow and steady.

The sky was something else. Stunningly full of stars. I don't think I have ever seen such a starry sky. As I was walking I could not stop looking up every second.

We made it to the crater rim, now time for the descent into the blue flames of burning sulphur. Closer and closer, the clouds of sulphur were getting strong. I had my buff to place over my mouth and soaked it with water. The blue flames were magical. The guys decided to get closer footage, so wandered down further. It was time to start the summit for sunrise.

The view of the acid crater lake was stunning. The sun rose and I spent time just looking out. Again, the lads off somewhere getting footage. Benny is a right comedian.

We descend at 7am to the van, where we start journeying to Mount Bromo. Although the drive was long, we had the whole van to ourselves, we put our chairs back, feet up and caught up on the sleep that we missed. A stop at a beach for a swim was rather cooling and we watched a bunch of guys in the sea doing some sort of training, possibly Navy.

The drive through the mountains to our accommodation was lush. We went out for a walk round the town on the hunt for a cold drink. Nowhere seemed to have a fridge in this place. Finally locating one, all were happy.

Due to another early morning wake up, another early night was needed. Luckily I slept more than an hour this time and we woke up at 3am.

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