Disappointment, Endurance and some education

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Disappointment

Bromo Volcano

For 15 years I have been was wanting to see the Bromo Volcano complex and on Tuesday I at long last got the chance. We left at 3.30am and travelled by local Jeep to the view point where we were surprised to see several hundred people also waiting to see the sunrise over the massive crater created from an eruption 1.5 million years ago with its 7 new volcanoes inside with Bromo still growing. Surprised because we had been staying in a nearby village with no other visitors. Very very disappointingly the fog was so thick at the view point that we saw nothing except the inside of a cloud. The photo is one I took of a photo by Sigit Pramono who owns the superb Java Banana Hotel where we were staying.

Having given up that the cloud would ever clear we returned to our Jeep and headed down the twisty steep road and back across the volcanic dust floor 'sea of sand' of the volcano caldera. Once again we mounted horses and rode through a moon-like landscape to a staircase to climb to the rim of one of the two active volcanoes. The climb was quite hard due to the altitude and our colds but we made it to the top where we managed to catch the occasional glimpse into the crater when the wind changed and blew the volcanic gases clear. That well known song by Led Zeppelin came to mind : Stairway to Heaven.

We returned to the lovely village of Ngadisari where the air is clear and fresh and the surrounding cultivated hillsides a wonder of geometric shapes and regimented lines. Not only did we miss the view but it was the one morning we would not have been woken by the 4am Muslim call to prayer as it is not a Muslim area and we were up before it would have happened!

Endurance

Mount Ijen Volcano

Another early start 5am departure to the Paltuding base camp at 1850m from where we set off on a very hard but only 3k climb to the Mount Ijen Crater at 2385m above sea level. It was misty and light rain and very hot climbing and we found it a real feat of endurance to reach the top. Sulphur is mined from the crater by the sulphur gas being condensed forming solid blocks of sulphur and then hacked out by miners and 18 tonnes a day are then carried down the volcano by men.

Typically the men carry up to 80 kilos in two baskets joined by a bamboo pole which they carry on their shoulder. As we climbed we met many of these men coming down to the weigh station. We did not realise how hard their work was until we reached the rim of the crater and found that they began their journey by carrying their loads 200 metres up from inside the crater before beginning the 3km decent. They do only one or two trips per day and earn on average £2.50 a load. Such hard work for so little reward.

The WiFi is driving me nuts so more to follow when I get a better connection - maybe it is the electric storm going on that is upsetting things. The education was a trip to a rubber and coffee plantation which was far better than either of us expected.

Just arrived in Bali.

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