I got up around 6:30am, dodged the guy who wanted to drive me to Ijen, and walked to the bus station. Not too long from then, the bus was off to Bondowoso. Once I got there, I was trying to find the bus to Sempol. This guy came over and wanted $5, "No, no... too expensive," "how much you pay?" he asked, "20," meaning 20,000 rupees or $2. "Ok." Got to be aware before you head out on your own, $5 doesn't sound bad, but neither does $2! Before I got in, I confirmed the price, and then this head popped out the door, "don't let him charge you more than 20, thats what I paid," it was a fellow backpacker. A French girl, living in Canada, named Eline, was off on the same adventure as I. We spent the bus ride swapping stories and ideas of what to do and see in the next couple days. Luckily, she knows what she is doing and can bargain, so we will be able to help each other out with our knowledge. The drive up to Sempol was amazing. We passed through multiple small villages that have yet to be touched by Western influence. Waving to all the children jumping, waving, and shouting, "HELLO!" while listening to the Muslim call to prayer in a small rickedy village was a pretty unique experience in Asia. We passed by a wide variety of farms; everything from sugar cane, corn, cabbage, coffee, to rice. All the loading trucks definitely held up the small one lane road that we were driving up.
We got to Sempol and had a quick lunch. Afterwards, we started to ask around for a ride up to Pos Paltuding. Pos Paltuding is a SMALL town at the base of Kawah Ijen where we can sleep so we can make an early start to our trek up the volcano. Everyone was trying to charge a steep price for the ride, mainly because the only way to get up there is from a local if you don't have a guide. We walked over to a group of security guards and asked them if they knew of how to get there. They were asking for the same price, however, we could store our bags in their guard post, and they would pick us up, so we headed off with them. The drive up was AMAZING, it was worth the traveling just to make this ride; an amazing appetizer to the volcano that awaits us! We crossed over a bridge that had green water running under it; I patted him on the shoulder and asked him to stop.
This green water is runoff from the Ijen, which is a sulphur volcano. It was crazy to see this, it looked like Scope (the mouth wash). Not only did we pass this stream, but also a waterfall, large coffee plantations, and cabbage fields.
We got to Sempol and had a quick lunch. Afterwards, we started to ask around for a ride up to Pos Paltuding. Pos Paltuding is a SMALL town at the base of Kawah Ijen where we can sleep so we can make an early start to our trek up the volcano. Everyone was trying to charge a steep price for the ride, mainly because the only way to get up there is from a local if you don't have a guide. We walked over to a group of security guards and asked them if they knew of how to get there. They were asking for the same price, however, we could store our bags in their guard post, and they would pick us up, so we headed off with them. The drive up was AMAZING, it was worth the traveling just to make this ride; an amazing appetizer to the volcano that awaits us! We crossed over a bridge that had green water running under it; I patted him on the shoulder and asked him to stop.
This green water is runoff from the Ijen, which is a sulphur volcano. It was crazy to see this, it looked like Scope (the mouth wash). Not only did we pass this stream, but also a waterfall, large coffee plantations, and cabbage fields.
Seeing the coffee fields that filled the mountainsides was amazing; some of the hills they were planted on were extremely steep and had visible zigzag paths for the farmers to walk. Since we were riding with security guards, we cruised past every checkpoint, which is where we were supposed to pay fees to go up to the volcano. Definitely an added bonus of going with these guys.
Once we got to Pos Paltuding, we spoke with the main guy in charge who looked like had bitten into a chainsaw, his handful of blackish yellow teeth had me questioning whether or not to give this guy my toothbrush when I left. He got us set up in a small dirty room. No problem, we were just going to sleep for only a couple hours, wake up at 12:45 am and start our trek to Kawah Ijen. This volcano is the main reason why I came to Indonesia; I was constantly about to jump of my shoes with excitement because I knew that in less that 5 hours we were going to see what we had worked so hard to get to.
Once we got to Pos Paltuding, we spoke with the main guy in charge who looked like had bitten into a chainsaw, his handful of blackish yellow teeth had me questioning whether or not to give this guy my toothbrush when I left. He got us set up in a small dirty room. No problem, we were just going to sleep for only a couple hours, wake up at 12:45 am and start our trek to Kawah Ijen. This volcano is the main reason why I came to Indonesia; I was constantly about to jump of my shoes with excitement because I knew that in less that 5 hours we were going to see what we had worked so hard to get to.
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