Java — Day 4 ...

Day four was a very long day that began at 2:30am. We were scheduled to leave at 3am from the guesthouse with all of our gear as we would not be returning. We were handed a boxed breakfast that contained a hard boiled egg and two dry, stale pieces of white bread. Also there was a small bag of chocolate sprinkles which I didn't dare eat after looking at the contents.

We arrived to Ijen around 4am and had to hike 3KM to get to the crater itself. It was a tough hike and I was having trouble finding my breath. Once we reached the crater, we could see the blue lights down below! Unfortunately we spent five minutes wheeling and dealing with the miners about the cost of getting down there and didn't get to see them close up.

My gas mask at Ijen Crater

The small charge to the miners came with a gas mask. The volcanic gases shooting out stung my eyes at first but it was an amazing thing to experience. The number of miners walking around without masks was unbelievable. Have a quick read about the blue lights, the miners and the crater here. (Wikipedia link) It's a phenomenal place and certainly the highlight of the trip.

Again, the only regret was doing this on a tour as the driver asked us to be back around 8am. The sun was starting to come up and every time I looked at the lake, the view was different. I could've stayed the whole day. There is a guesthouse at the base of the crater and if I were to do it again, I'd rent a motorcycle and do it on my own as the walk down the volcano in the daylight was equally stunning with its various greenery.

And like that, we were back in the van for the four hour ride back to Probolinggo, stopping once for lunch along the way. We arrived in the city around 1pm and had time to kill before catching an overnight bus to our next destination. We got a cheap room for the day (Rp$115,000) to shower, change into clean clothes and rest. I had been in the same clothes for two or three days and putting on something fresh felt great!

We eventually wandered out for some dinner before being picked up at 6:30pm. This driver took us to another travel agency where we were to wait for the bus which we thought was scheduled to come at 7pm. It was 8pm before a minibus finally came. The bus seated 18, including the driver, but we were the only two on the bus for the whole trip. We expected the bus to stop and pick up some others along the way but it didn't. The driver didn't speak a word of English and he drove like an asshole the whole way. I now see why some of the travel sites don't recommend buses as a form of travel in Indonesia.

We arrived in Yogyakarta around 4am. The driver dropped us off in a tiny alley that had a lot of hotels. Since we had made a reservation, we went to the main road in search of a taxi. We were hoping that our hotel had a room for us. We had called them the day prior to say that we would be arriving in the wee hours of the morning but they weren't sure whether a room would be ready or not. Thankfully they didn't fill the room and we were able to check in immediately and, once again, it was straight to sleep — boy, did it feel great!