Hiking an ACTIVE VOLCANO in Indonesia! 🇮🇩 Mount Ijen, East Java

Hiking an ACTIVE VOLCANO in Indonesia! 🇮🇩 Mount Ijen, East Java

[Mike] Mount Ijen is a towering  volcano in East Java Indonesia. [Mike] It’s well known for its sulfur-mining,   blue flames and being home to the  world’s largest highly acidic lake. [Mike] In this video, we will tackle one  of our biggest physical challenges to  

Date as we wake up hours before dawn and  hike to the top of this natural wonder. Feels sad leaving this place.  It’s like a little home. [Mike] We left our first stop in Banyuwangi to  set ourselves up at our new base camp, Sawa Ijen.

[Mike] This is a cozy little bungalow  property overlooking beautiful rice   terraces with views of Mount Ijen in the  distance…even if it was a little bit cloudy. In normal unprepared Mike and Ashley style,  we don’t have a whole lot of cash on us.

We tried to go to an ATM, but it  was closed so we couldn’t use it. [Driver] ATM is over there. Oh, there is one? -[Driver] BNE ATM. Okay. Oh, cool. Close? Our driver-  -[Driver] Close. Maybe just  one and a half kilometers. No problem. Easy-peasy. -Oh. Good, good, good. [Driver] Okay, thank you.

Thank you so much. Terima kasih. -[Ashley] Thanks so much. Bye-bye! [Ashley] Wow, this place is absolutely stunning. Yeah, right? And it was what, $20 a night? [Ashley] Yeah. Bye-bye! -Bye! The rice fields and Ijen. Thank you so much. [Employee] You’re welcome. Oh, they did a little…

[Mike] I forgot it was going to be your birthday. Oh, that’s so sweet. [Mike] I was like, “Wait why- why  would you put happy birthday?” That’s so cool. Nice. This place is cute. [Mike] Yeah, right? Wow, look at this! That is beautiful. Oh, wow. Thank you so much!

Oh, how cute! Oh, we got some  snake fruit and an apple. [Mike] Yeah. I love that. That is so cool. I never expected  this. I just wanted a good view. Aw. That’s so nice. I feel like a little princess.

The cafe here or the restaurant portion of  the cafe here is closed, and I don’t know   whether that’s a permanent thing or a right-now  thing, but there’s a restaurant within walking   distance so I’m going to go grab my wallet  cuz you know me: as prepared as I can be.

[Mike] My little bag that I got in  Vietnam back in Ninh Binh. Only $3. [Mike] Not a bad price. Look at this that. Ashley  taking Instagram videos that she’ll never post. I’m gonna. To follow along and see if Ashley ever  posts this video right here follow us   on Instagram: Mikeandashleytravel. She won’t.

[Local] Hello! Hello! Alright, let’s hope there’s food out here. [Mike] I mean, there’s people in the kitchen. Oh. Hello. Are you open? -[Mike] Hello [Employee] Yes. Yes? Okay, great. [Mike] Can see a menu? [Mike] Okay. -Ah, thank you. Oh, the nasi ayam bakar sounds good. [Mike] Mm-hmm.

Thank you. Terima kasih. -[Mike] Terima kasih. Let’s see…oh! Our feet fit. It’s so rare in our travels  that our legs can actually   fit under the tables that we sit in  so when it happens it’s like. “ah!”

But if you go to Vietnam then you’re just, like,  on the ground anyway, so we should go back there. This sounds like it’s going to be good  because it’s like rice and chicken and   tofu. -Yeah. It’s ayam bakar, which if you’re not familiar  with that, just means grilled chicken.

I’m getting I ayam goreng, which goreng  means fried, so I’m getting fried chicken. And rice… -And rice and vegetables. Okay, so we just got our food  and wow there is a lot of it. I think we probably should have just  ordered one dish to split, but that’s okay.

[Ashley] It looks really, really good. We’re going to enjoy our food  and, uh, we’ll go from there. So I messaged on WhatsApp, and nobody has  responded yet about our Ijen tour, which I guess   is kind of our fault for being underprepared and  coming all the way out here without having a tour  

Booked, but I kind of imagined this place would be  able to book us a tour and yep now it’s raining. So we’ll see. Maybe they’ll hit us up. I know our guy at the front is hanging out   doing his thing so I’ll ask him in a  little bit and see what’s going on.

I just really hope we climb this volcano. This is the only volcano I wanted to climb in all  of Indonesia cuz to me, it’s the most epic one. Yeah, hopefully, it’ll work out. It doesn’t  look like the weather’s cooperating though. Ijen’s out there somewhere.

[Mike] Yeah it’s like right out there. -[Ashley] This sucks. The guide says that the rain is only  here and that at the top of the mountain,   there will be no rain, so that’s hopeful. [Ashley] Oh, man. So we’re  climbing Ijen, huh? Oh, boy!

Appears that way. She sent us a  photo of the top this morning. But it was beautiful this morning, right? [Ashley] It was, yeah. It was  beautiful. The sun’s starting to   come out. -In Banyuwangi. I’m hopeful. I know that  mountains just make no sense.

We talked to the tour operator,  and it is 400,000 Indonesian rupia   per person because it’s a weekend  and because we are not Indonesian. You get a discount. It is 100,000  rupia cheaper if you are local. So, I’ve got to go try and sort out cash  

Because the tour does not accept  credit cards, which makes sense. They said, “I hope you can pay by cash,” Our driver said that there was an ATM, like,   one-and-a-half kilometers away, so I’m going  to try and figure out how to get into town.

It’s a 27-minute walk into Licin, which is like a  little town just outside of where we’re staying. And that’s where the ATM  is. I hope that it’s open. And if she doesn’t like doing  this walk that we’re doing now,  

It’ll be a perfect test on whether we  should do this volcano hike tomorrow or not. I’m already looking at this hill and being  like, “Nah we don’t have to do Ijen.” Cuz yeah, this hill is…this hill is a big hill. I really don’t know what I was thinking. I’m already tired.

Oh, look at that spider. So the ATM machine did not work. It would  not allow me to withdraw any cash and now   it’s raining, and the next closest ATM is  15 kilometers away back in Banyuwangi… [Ashley] And nobody’s picking us up. And nobody’s picking us up so…

I’ve just asked the tour director if there’s  any way we can stop at an ATM in Banyuwangi,   either before the tour or after the  tour, and pull out money that way. I’m not giving up, but we’ll figure it out. So we got ourselves a little update.

The tour group has agreed to let  the driver take us to an ATM in the   morning so we will be able to get cash  to pay for the trip, which is awesome,   so it looks like we’ll be waking up at  1:30 in the morning and climbing a volcano.

So we’re going to go get dinner  right now. It’s about 5:30 PM. I’m excited. A little nervous. Might be cold. [Ashley] It’s going to be cold. Yeah, it’s even a little chilly right now, so. I’ve got a flannel and pants Ashley has nothing.

They said that they had- like, they  would let us buy or rent a jacket. Yep. And I guess they’ve got like gloves and all  kinds of stuff for sale up by the volcano itself. We’ll make it work. We’re going to be fine.

It’s going to be hard in the moment,  and then it’s going to be, I’m sure,   up there with one of the  best things we’ve ever done. Yeah, cuz like, by nine o’clock tomorrow morning  we’re gonna be like, “We climbed a volcano!” Fingers crossed.

This is very modern. [Mike] Yeah, where did this place come from? [Mike] This is what it looks like when Ashley’s  trying to talk herself out of doing this. I research everything way more than I need to. [Mike] You said you wanted to do this  for your birthday so we’re doing it.

Yeah. Oh, I’m nervous. I don’t know why I want  to do it. Like, I don’t know what I’m thinking. [Mike] It’s growing; that’s what you’re doing. Yeah. [Mike] You wanting to do this is you growing, so now you just have to do it and stick  with it, otherwise you’ll be not growing.

Yeah. I’m scared. [Mike] Why? I don’t know. I just don’t know if I can do it. [Mike] So we ordered some beef rendang and  some version of sweet and sour chicken. It’s got mango in it. Sounds pretty interesting. We’re going to split that and then get to bed.

This will probably be the  earliest we’ve gone to bed ever. It’s already chilly cuz of the wind and we’re  still on the ground. It’s going to be fun. Okay, so it is much earlier than we would  normally go to bed, but way later than we should.

In, like what, 7 hours they’re going  to come and get us and we’re going to   start our ascent of Mount Ijen so we  should go ahead and get some sleep. See you guys dark and early in the morning. Good night. Good night. Good morning. Good morning.

It’s 220 right now, and our guide just  messaged us and said that he is here. [Ashley] No backing out now. Yeah, no backing out now. I’m not  backing out. Are you backing out? So, it rained all night, so hopefully that  doesn’t hinder our views, but either way,  

The- the task is climbing the volcano, right? Not- not getting good photos and views.  Obviously, the photos and the views and   the pictures is what we want to do, but  the challenge is climbing the volcano.   I guess we’ve got a couple  minutes before we need to leave. Yeah, I’m very tired.

Okay so we made it. We’re just, uh, sitting by the fire  right now and trying to warm up. It’s not super cold. It’s  honestly not as bad as I expected,   but it is a little chilly so we’re  just, uh, waiting until 4:00 AM.

I think that’s when the gates  open. We’ve got about 20 minutes,   so we’re just going to enjoy our  little cappuccinos by the fire. [Ashley] You excited? Yeah, are you excited? [Ashley] I’m very excited. I’m nervous. -That’s good. I think we’ll be fine. There’s mad people here. [Ashley] There’s so many people here.

[Mike] Thank you. [Ashley] Thank you. We just got our gas masks, and they look like  they’ve been replaced recently, so that’s good. We’re just finishing up our coffee now. Mike’s gas mask keeps breaking, so he’s  trying to get another one right now,  

And yeah, it looks like we’re getting  ready to go so getting excited. So we’ve got our bracelets. Feels  like a different kind of party now. Got my gas mask, which keeps breaking,   but he assures me it’ll be okay so hopefully  we’ll be good, and I’ve got my headlight. Ready to go. Sports mode.

About 10 minutes up the trail there’s a  place to go to the bathroom and buy water,   which is good cuz we don’t  have water, but now we do. So it is obviously dark, and  now there’s the sulfur smell. Not so bad. Good news is we  look up we can see stars.

Hopefully, that means it’ll be clear at the top  and on the ++ side, the Crocs are doing great. I think it raining last night helped a lot  because it packed all the loose gravel down. We’re definitely at the steepest part. Getting accosted by bugs. They said we’ve got about 800 meters to  

Go and then it’ll flatten off a  little bit so I’m ready for it. Starting to get a little bit colder,  which is nice, cuz it’s been hot. Yeah, we can smell the sulfur for real now and,   uh, I was just wearing a flannel, but that  was plenty warm enough to get me here,  

And now about 1 and 1-1/2 kilometers  up it’s too hot to wear the flannel. I’m hopeful that we will have  beautiful views because I can   see the peaks of other mountains now. The sun is definitely starting to come up. It still looks like we have a way to go.

We’re gonna keep pushing on. It’s already one of the most beautiful things   I’ve ever seen so I have to  imagine it only gets better. Alright, so this is insane. [Mike] I feel like I’m walking in a painting. [Ashley] Yeah, we are.

This is so pretty. Seriously, every corner  we pass just gets more and more beautiful. Piece of advice: doesn’t matter what the weather  looks like at the bottom of the mountain. [Miner] Hello! Hello! It’s one of the taxis. It doesn’t matter at all what the weather looks  

Like at the bottom of the mountain. It  was raining. It was covered in clouds. Now, we’re above all the clouds. So,  just goes to show you just do it. If you’re thinking about hiking Ijen,  wake your butt up and go hike Ijen. Oh, my God. [Ashley] Yeah.

It’s so pretty. And now we’re at what  feels like the really flat part minus   a couple little switchbacks that get  us higher up so, yeah. Not so bad. Look at this, though. It’s crazy. Where’s Ashley? Always lollygagging. I’m coming! Oh, it feels good. Where are you from? [Mike] Yeah, United States.

Oh, America. You are strong. [Mike] Uh, not as strong as you. My friend, you are a hero. So that guy is one of the taxi drivers. He,  uh, uses those carts to bring up supplies and   also people that are either too tired  or unable to complete the hike, so.

I honestly cannot even imagine. I  saw it took three guys to cart one   person up the most deep part of the- the mountain. It just looks so difficult. I  honestly don’t know how they do it. This is insanely beautiful,  and we’re at the crater. I’m, like, getting emotional. I cry over everything.

Oh, wow. Look, the sulfur! [Mike] Oh, yeah. Oh, wow. That’s so cool. [Mike] Are you crying because of  the beauty or because of the sulfur? Uh, probably a little bit of everything. [Mike] I’m proud of you. Thanks. Me too. I was so scared, honestly. I don’t know why, like,  

It sounds silly. but I just  didn’t know if I could do it. [Mike] Well, you just proved  to yourself you could. Yep. This part it’s like walking on another planet. Holy cow, that was insane. [Mike] Largest acid lake in the world right here.

So that’s wild. We didn’t get to see the blue  flame because they only let you in the gates at   4:00 AM, and it took us about an hour and a half  to get up, so unfortunately, that’s a bummer. This is definitely the best  sunrise we’ve ever seen. Oh, hands down.

Yeah. And we’re so busy looking  at the lake that we’re not even   looking at this like amazing stuff behind us here. [Ashley] I know. It’s so beautiful. So this is the Dead Forest. As you can  see all the trees are not alive anymore. [Ashley] I’m guessing it’s cuz all the sulfur,  

But the ferns are still managing to- some  of them are surviving, but it’s pretty cool. I feel like we’ve learned two  lessons today. Lesson number one:   don’t let the weather talk you out of doing  something that you want to do because it  

Was not good conditions down where we were this  morning near licin, but it is beautiful up here. And number two: sulfur smells like farts. There are definitely some parts up  here that are slick and treacherous,   but it’s been all a-okay so far. Mostly getting stuck on  little little dead branches.

Ashley so fast. She always evades me.  I’m like walking and she disappears. This is definitely one of the coolest  environments I’ve ever been in, for sure. Look at all those clouds. [Mike] What’s our elevation? How high up are we?

Alright, we’re going to see. Elevation is 7,800  feet. This is almost the highest we’ve ever been. I’m really glad we did this. Definitely glad that we didn’t talk ourselves   out at 1:30 in the morning  when we were tired and cold.

I was about 60% of the way to talking  myself out so that other 40% that fought;   I appreciate you, persistent  Mike. You made my day special. Oh, look at our shadows. I’m glad we got here when we did, and we able to  

See it before all this fog settled in  because now you can’t see anything. I know that there’s a lake down there,  and I know that it’s full of acid. I’m sad the clouds are here, but I’m also glad  we were so, so lucky in the beginning, you know?

[Mike] Yeah, it’s still epic.  I mean, like, look behind you. [Ashley] I know, right? Like, this isn’t  even getting any love, and this is beautiful. [Mike] So you’re telling me that  lake is it’s not a hot spring? [Ashley] Yes. [Mike] Yeah. Very heavy. -Yeah! [Ashley] Don’t fall. Oh, my God. It’s so heavy.

[Ashley] Is it? It’s like doing deadlifts… and it stinks. I have no idea how you’d carry this. [Ashley] You got to put it on your shoulders. I don’t even think I can get it up on  my shoulders. Who do you think I am? [Ashley] Oh, it does stink.

Yeah. Yeah, I don’t think I  could get it up on my shoulders. Nope, no way. Maybe with help I could  hold it, but…so that’s crazy to me. [Ashley] And they do that  two to three times per day. Yeah. For nothing. Like, what, $8 something? [Ashley] It’s like $10 to $15.

Oh, if they get three times, yeah? I’ve heard it’s like six or seven per trip. [Ashley] Mm-hmm. It’s crazy. Definitely has an eggy smell. [Ashley] Okay, so we’re  starting in line for the toilet. It’s at the top of the, uh, crater, and  there’s a 5,000 rupia fee per person,  

But the other toilet that’s free is  all the way at base camp so we’re   not going to make it so we just paid the  10,000 and we’re just waiting to use it. It is definitely harder to breathe once you’ve  got these masks on, but I feel like it’s better  

Than it being harder to breathe because  you’ve got a cloud of sulfur coming at you. I feel like all in all we were pretty lucky. That was one of the coolest things  I think we’ve ever done, yeah? [Ashley] Yeah. We didn’t see any miners actually  carrying the sulfur on their shoulders up.

I wonder if it’s because they open the gates later  and allow them more freedom to just do their job,   but hopefully, we’ll make it down in time to catch  our group and get back to our guest house, get  

Some food and then I think we got to get a train  or something today cuz we’re on the move again. [Ashley] Bromo! Yeah, we’re going to go check out another volcano  cuz that’s what we do now. We climb volcanoes.

I never would have thought Ashley being a volcano  climber but she impressed me today. She killed it. Should be told I also never considered myself a  volcano climber, so I’m pretty impressed with us. Yeah, you did great. Thanks. This feels like something that  would be right up my alley,  

But not at all like something  Ashley would want to do. Yeah. Sunrises, huh? Mm-hmm. Sunrises don’t suck. Alright. That was incredible. Yeah. Best day ever? So far. It’s up there. Only cuz I did it with you, though. Going down’s hard in a whole different  other, like- a whole different way. Oh, watch out.

So, as you can see the taxis  will take you back down. I’m sure that’s- I don’t know if  that’s easier for them or harder. I imagine probably a little bit  easier, but I still can’t imagine. Like, I’m just trying to keep my footing  and not slip, and I can’t imagine having  

A cart and another human that I had to  try and like maneuver especially when,   like, people like us are walking and  keep getting in the way and…hard job. We did it!

In today’s Indonesia travel vlog, we tackle our toughest challenge yet: hiking Mt. Ijen. Located in East Java, near the border of the Banyuwangi Regency, Mount Ijen is a massive volcano complex home to the world’s largest highly acidic lake. Not to mention, it is one of two places on the planet where you can see blue flames emitted from the sulfuric gases igniting.

We set off early in the morning, before sunrise, to tackle the 3.8km hike to the summit. With over 600 meters (1968 ft) of elevation gain, this hike differs from your average walk in the park. It was dark, chilly, and packed with other adventure seekers hoping to glimpse the eerie blue flames.

Hiking Mount Ijen is hands down one of the best things we’ve done since beginning our travels in 2022, and we recommend it to anyone willing to wake up early and brave the steep hike.

If you enjoyed our video, please subscribe to follow us on the rest of our adventures, and drop a comment to say hello!

WHERE WE STAYED:
📍 Sawah Ijen – https://booking.tp.st/27SFBfCO

🇮🇩 WATCH THE ENTIRE SERIES: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7UtK6ZSqzo0hQFURpi-cEVwPSVExYZWA

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Watch our entire Indonesia series:

✈️ Bali: https://youtu.be/HCQocD0nAMU?si=M-1CEJjL7M9sSCyF
🐒 Ubud: https://youtu.be/HQqrAAu63xc?si=EJ4aBNdUUG7TFIZq
💍 Sidemen: https://youtu.be/7QWNU6MJsek?si=Hfg_qjT56o_A9eua
🛖 Ubud: https://youtu.be/5xL0IA-tC50?si=OKRzz4qQpOy1EWbq
🐬 Lovina: https://youtu.be/5et8C6vHXFE?si=A5kGuCexhrhrTqxr
⛰️ Munduk: https://youtu.be/0xsmPb9w2Uc?si=d8etcLtScyang_FA
🤿 Sumberkima: https://youtu.be/NZOac84sxNE?si=ZnrhdWBP-JZZfYKf
⛴️ Banyuwangi: https://youtu.be/Vl5y_nMDgtM?si=03XNJyto9_gx0YFI
🌋 Mount Bromo: https://youtu.be/Jm3mPzX69ao?si=fpWBk0odituSMx0F
🐓 Richeese Factory: https://youtu.be/08y135hLvuk?si=rQvcbePtwqRoWxst
🚊 Yogyakarta: https://youtu.be/GLPY0toWKTU?si=U8dRVZ_wAZyAjrkl
🛕 Yogyakarta: https://youtu.be/PHvnebTTzxQ

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#mountijen #java #indonesia