Updated: June 19, 2022
Should I do Mount Ijen with a tour? Should I do it by myself? Will I save a lot of money by doing it solo?
If you want my recommendation, I’d go for a hybrid of the two options. You’ll save money and probably end up with a more rewarding experience of Kawah Ijen.
There are tour operators all over Bali and Java that will offer you full tours, transport included, to Mount Ijen and most likely included in that will be Mount Bromo as well. Mount Bromo I think you could do by yourself, and I’ve got a 10-step guide to Bromo on exactly how to do that. There isn’t a lot of insider knowledge about Bromo that would make it that much more insightful taking a tour.
Mount Ijen, however, is going to fill your head with questions. Are we supposed to go down into the crater? Can I touch the sulfur? Which is the safest way to go? Oh my god, how heavy are those baskets full of sulfur they’re carrying? How much do they get paid?
Mount Ijen is still to this day one of the most awe-inspiring experiences I’ve ever had – and that has nothing to do with the landscape, acid lake, or blue fire. The work of the sulfur miners left me speechless. I’ve never seen such a difficult way to make a living – and they aren’t making a lot. I’ll dedicate a separate post to my thoughts on the miners of Ijen, but for now, let’s focus on getting you there.
Go For a Hybrid Approach at Ijen – DIY and Tour
You could do a completely hands off approach and just take a tour from Bali, Yogyakarta, or wherever else you might be, but ahh come on – we’re here for a little bit of adventure, aren’t we?
That said, I wouldn’t completely abandon the “tour” side of things at Ijen. I think there’s a perfect balance to be had here. Find your own way to Banyuwangi, or even your own way all the up to Kawah Ijen, but I highly recommend getting a guide for the hike.
My guide worked as a sulfur miner on most days, but guided hikers once or twice a week as well. And wow, having the knowledge and experience of a sulfur miner is invaluable. The respect I have for the men that do this work is beyond any other job I’ve seen before.
So, let’s get started.
1) Go to Banyuwangi
If you are coming from somewhere else on Java, take the train to Banyuwangi. The train is the quickest and most reliable mode of transport on Java. You can find schedules and book tickets on this website here or just do it at the station.
If you are coming from Bali, you can take the ferry to Java that runs all day, very frequently. Find your way to Gilimanuk on Bali’s west coast and you can catch the ferry to Java very easily and it isn’t expensive either. Banyuwangi is the town on the Java side of the ferry, so you don’t even have to mess around with finding a train or a bus to the town after the ferry. Step off the boat and you’re there, well, almost.
A lot of the accommodation is a bit south down the highway that will require a short taxi ride. Or, I can highly recommend you a hostel that is just metres from where you’ll exit the ferry.
2) Find Accommodation
Ijen is another one of those early morning sunrise hikes, so you’ll want to find somewhere to sleep or at least hang out until the early, early morning.
My personal recommendation is called Ijen Backpacker (it’s also the cheapest but don’t let that deter you). It’s a simple hostel but the family that runs it is so welcoming and friendly. The most important thing to me when finding accommodation is that the owners are friendly and attentive. For that, I prefer family-run spots where the owners are on-site to those corporate chain hostels where the owners are in London or Paris.
If friendly and helpful people aren’t your sort of thing, or you want a bit more of a luxurious pad, there are plenty of other options in Banyuwangi, but I can’t vouch for any of them as I only stayed at Ijen Backpacker.
But, some other highly rated spots in Banyuwangi are Snooze Ijen, Banana Homestay, and Illira Hotel (from cheapest to most expensive).
Stay safe while travelling the world. Here are my 21 guidelines to stay safe on the road.
3) Find Transportation to the Base of Mount Ijen
If you do stay at Ijen Backpacker, they offer transportation to the volcano and back, as well as a hired guide for the trek and gas mask rental. The price for this is 300,000 IDR. Rest assured you won’t find a much better price in town.
If you want to continue the DIY trend, you can go about finding your own transportation to the volcano and rent a gas mask and a guide when you arrive. You can probably save a few bucks going this route, but waking up before 1am for a hike, I was happy to just hop in the vehicle that showed up at the hostel and shut my eyes again knowing everything was taken care of.
Your accommodation can help you find transportation to the volcano, though they’ll likely just convince you to take their tour which is just as well. There are companies in Banyuwangi that offer just transportation to and from the volcano, but you’ll have to hunt these out on your own – you wanted DIY right!?
4) Get Prepared for the Hike
If you’ve gone with a tour group, just follow directions and everything will be sorted for you.
If you’ve made it to Ijen completely on your own, you’ll need to find yourself a gas mask to rent and as I said, I highly recommend hiring a guide. There are many guides hanging out near the entrance, and gas masks aren’t hard to find once you reach the parking area.
5) Hike Mount Ijen
When I was there, the doors to the hike opened about 2:30am. From here, you’ll follow the very easy-to-follow path up to the summit of the volcano, then down into the crater, back up out of the crater, wait at the top for sunrise photos, and then head back down the volcano.
This is a difficult hike, and your mouth will be hanging agape when you see the miners carrying an extra 70 kilograms on their shoulders passing you by. Bring water, snacks, warm clothing, and some cash to tip your guide or to buy some of the sulfur figurines on sale from the miners.
6) Optional: Bring Gifts for the Miners
I met some Lithuanian guys at the hostel who did the hike the day before I did. They said the one thing they wish they would’ve done is bring stuff to give to the miners. They started saying they wished they brought food or cash – but quickly switched gears when a light went off in their head. Cigarettes. They said all the miners smoke, and often asked hikers if they could spare a cigarette.
So, I went to the store that day and bought a few packs of cigarettes. I’m so glad I did. I was making friends left, right, and centre just walking around handing out smokes to all the miners. No, no, take more please – I don’t even smoke I need to get rid of these.
It was a great conversation starter (I spoke a bit of Indonesian at the time but can’t remember more than 10 words now) and they really did appreciate it. Don’t be that house that hands out fruit on Halloween, bring some ciggys with you when you hike Ijen.
As well, you should probably tip your guide. You don’t have to break the bank on a tip but just keep in my mind that when they are mining they only make like $15/day. I think I gave my guide 50,000 IDR and a pack of cigarettes. He was very appreciative.
Bonus Tips
Do me a favour when you’re there and make sure you stay out of the miners’ way. They are lugging massive weights of sulfur out of the mine, and they are likely doing so quicker than you are without any load. If a miner is behind you coming out of the crater, move out of the way for him. I tried lifting one of these loads and holy shit, I could hardly take a step let alone climb out of a volcano with it. And I’m probably twice the size of most of the miners.
Also, when you go to get your picture of the blue fire, try and be quick about it because you will likely be impeding the process of the miners who work right beside the fire.
You’re going to be given a gas mask for the hike. None of the miners wear masks (I was told because they’d rather spend the money on their family than their health) so you’re not going to die if you take it off for a little while, but you might get light-headed if you aren’t accustomed to the fumes. Best to keep it on when the guide says you should.
Ijen is a truly one-of-a-kind hike that you really should do when you are on Java. I promise you that the sunrise view of the lake is incredible, but that isn’t what you are going to remember about the volcano. You’ll probably never again complain about having a shitty job.
Happy hiking!
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