As we spun our wheels in Banyuwangi, Ardy showing us the underground tourist scene and all, we learned about a cycling tour called the Tour de Ijen. We had just missed the event since the tour goes down in December...but the newly paved road was still accessible! That, by any means, did not make the ride up to Ijen any less difficult. The mountain range is a mere 2883 km above sea level. So what. What makes the climb truly difficult, really challenging, is to make the ascension in so short a distance. From Banyuwangi to base camp of the Ijen crater is only about 40 km. The ride is steep enough to wipe me out and make this cyclist push his transportation up to the next semi flat plain. We left our bikes in the rented room after dinner and a bit of world political chatter, waited for three AM, then climbed the rest of the crater and into the sulfur ridden volcano.
That's right, sulfur. Fresh from Mother Nature. That's the molting red stuff you see. And the pools of it that would burn your hand down to the bone. Sulfur is also pungent in the smoke blown into our face at a moments notice, and the fresh chunks of yellowy toxin carried up and down by the village porters. Back breaking work for pennies on the dollar. Literally. See below for Chris and Steve's attempt to lift the cargo in a set position onto their shoulders. I say attempt because no one could, including myself. It was a scene straight out of The Sword In the Stone.
You can see the amazing view from the top of the creator, and why we left so early to catch the sunrise.
The Ijen descent, mind you, wasn't any more fun or any less difficult. When you're dealing with such sharp angles on the road, labour is inevitable and concentration invaluable.
Ok, it was fun.
Back home and oh so much more in awe of fantastic mountain ranges, I packed my bags along with Steve and Chris. Tomorrow and the next day would be at least 100 km days fully loaded.
-A
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