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12.27.2014

Ijen's Superman!

I thought Rinjani's porters are the strongest men in the world, and then I saw sulfur miners at Ijen.




When you're at Ijen, you'll see these men passing you. They collect solidified sulfur and carry a very huge loads over 70 kilograms on their shoulders with bamboo baskets.




They do this work up to 3 times a day - by trekking 3km up to the crater then walking down the steep path to the collection point. They use only their bare hands and basic tools. Don't think about safety face mask, they wear only a piece of cloth or old tees to cover their nose. 



This high risk job which risk their health and life earns them Rp 70,000/day (around $7) which I could spend easily in a day :(




If you pass them, do not hesitate to buy molded sulfur. It means a lot :)





Photos are taken using Pentax Espio Mini + Fuji Xtra 400

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12.20.2014

Trekking | Ijen Crater

It was 1am, we prepared to start trekking Ijen Crater from our campsite. Ijen volcano, located in Banyuwangi, has a large acidic volcanic crater lake called Ijen Crater (Kawah Ijen in Bahasa Indonesia). Beside sulfur mining, Ijen is famous for its "Blue Fire". It is said that there are only two craters in the world that have blue flames, in Iceland and Indonesia, whoa! 
blue flames
We had to trek 3km (2-3 hours) to reach the rim of the crater. We reached it just in time to see the blue flames, about 1 hour before sunrise. So, this 'Blue Fire' is caused by the ignition of leaking sulfur fumes from sections of ceramic pipes laid to a volcanic vent.



I saw the beautiful looking blue fire with the surreal turquoise color crater lake and milky way sky. Even though it was still dark, I could tell that Ijen was so pretty! 




the crater lake


reaching the peak again on sunrise
sulfur miner's basket 


How to get there:
Check my previous post here

Tips if you plan to visit Ijen:
  • Start trekking at 2am at the latest, So it gives you time to hike up without rushing, see the blue fire and chase the sunrise from the top of Ijen.
  • Bring headlamp, wear warm jackets, trainers, and outdoor shoes or running shoes if you don't have any.
  • Bring mask if to protect you from sulfuric gas. I used it as well on the way up since there was a fire two weeks ago in the area. The path were still covered with ashes.
Photos are taken using Pentax Espio Mini + Fuji XTRA 400
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12.13.2014

Lomo on!

What's your first camera? Mine was Holga 120CFN which I bought around 4 years ago (I forgot haha), I love the result but I have a little difficulty in finding the film with medium format and looking for the lab to process medium format film here. I started to love film camera and I decided to purchase Lomography Fisheye No.2 and Holga 135BCit will be easier to find 35mm film. 





Talking about Lomography, I just signed up to the website. Unexpectedly I got the Most Popular Newcomers of October 2014, Photo of The Dayand did a little interview for Newcomer of the Week! Yeay :)) 

I love film photography that I keep buying another analog cameras (but I think I've stopped since I bought Pentax Espio Mini) but Lomography cameras with their unique result is one of the reason that makes me addicted to film camera :D


Holga 135BC + Kodak Elitechrome 200 | Sam Poo Kong temple, Semarang

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12.06.2014

Chasing the Blue Fire

I've always wanted to step my feet on Ijen Crater, which famous for its blue fire and sulfur mining. Finally that day has come! haha

Ijen Crater is located in Banyuwangi, East Java, the cheapest and my most favorite way to backpack around Java is by taking train. It passed the same route like my previous trip from Rinjani & Bali  to Jakarta, so I'm kind of used to the area, and especially the train :))

'Mutiara Timur Siang' train at Karangasem Train Station. The driver picked us up here
view from the train <3
we stopped by a small food stall on the way to Ijen, here's the view in front of it :)
We arrived at Ijen's campsite around 6pm and started to built the tents. do you see that crescent moon?


the campsite at noon 


How to get there (starts from Jakarta)
  • Take any train to Surabaya, I chose Kertajaya which costs only Rp 50,000
  • Take train to Banyuwangi, I took 'Mutiara Timur Siang' train which costs around Rp 120,000). You can take the cheaper one Sri Tanjung (Rp 50,000). We chose Mutiara Timur Siang for time convenience so we could have more time to rest before the hike.
  • Rent trooper car, Rp 900,000/2 days
  • You can also go to Ijen from Gilimanuk Bali. Take a ferry to Ketapang sea port in Banyuwangi, then you can directly reach Ijen by car 
PS. will post more about Ijen as soon as I have time :D

Photos are taken using Pentax Espio Mini + Fuji Xtra 400