Banyuwangi, Java, Indonesia
After our experience at Bromo we were really looking forward to tackling Mt Ijen and it's acidic blue lake. I remember flying into Bali years ago over East Java and wondering what this amazing turquoise lake was that I could see below me. It looked so impressive but at the time I didn't look into it any further. Since looking at traveling Java we have discovered that it is Mt Ijen. A volcano with an acidic lake and well known for it's 'blue flame' that you can see at night.
As you may remember we were going to attempt this trek when we first arrived in Java but due to lack of warm and appropriate clothing we decided to leave it until we headed back this way.
We were really fortunate again when it came to sorting out some digs near Mt Ijen. Dani had messaged one of the nice resorts in the area "The Grand Harvest" and we were very kindly offered some free nights accommodation in exchange for some photos and a post on instagram. Not bad at all and the resort was really nice.
The Grand Harvest is half way between the town of Banyuwangi and Mt Ijen, set high up in the hills with beautiful views of rice terraces around it. We checked in and were ferried to our room in one of those little golf cart things, almost embarrassingly as our room really wasn't that far. It probably took longer to load and unload our small bags than it did for the short ride to the room, but hey it's a freebie so we soaked it up.
Our room was so nice. Huge, with two Queen sized beds. Our little front balcony area opened up to a swimming pool with a backdrop of cascading rice terraces. This was definitely the life for sure. We had a little bit of drink as well that we brought with us from Malang. It's very hard to find liquor stores in Java. Indonesia is a Muslim country and despite it being easily available in Bali, the tourist hotspot of Indo it seem to come down to each island/area as to how widely available it is. This is usually a reflection of how strictly Muslim that particular area is. In Java it's been hard to find so we stocked up a little when we could.
It was nice to relax in some luxury after some tough day's riding. We didn't go far at all. Breakfast was free each morning and we only popped out on the bike on a night to grab some food from the few basic Warung's that were nearby. While relaxing we doubled checked our plans for trekking up to Mt Ijen and this is where our blue lake dreams fell apart.
Dani found a news article from two days ago about wild fires in the Ijen National Park. The fires seemed pretty bad and widespread with helicopters making runs to drop water over the affected areas. We read that the park had been closed to visitors so started desperately searching for up to date info on if it was still closed or not.
The info online was a little flimsy but eventually we managed to pin down some up to date details on the situation. Yes, the mountain was indeed closed and would be until at least the following Monday. That was nearly a week away. We wouldn't be making the climb up to the crater of Mt Ijen. We were gutted.
It was hopefully going to be one of the highlights of our time in Java and it wasn't going to happen. We could have hung about until the following Monday but there were no guarantees that the fire would be out by then. It's dry season and notorious for wild fires in these parts. They haven't had rain for about 7 months here and we could have sat around for weeks waiting for a chance. It simply didn't make sense.
So we spent our days relaxing in our luxury free digs and were lucky enough to extend them by an additional day. Four nights for free at a resort like this was an absolute blessing. We even got a free floating breakfast on our last morning which was kind of cool. A little embarrassing at times the two of us having to pose as we kissed and stuff with some crazy huge floating tray of food in front of us but hey it was a great breakfast all the same.
So, unfortunately we left the Mt Ijen area with a hint of disappointment. Our stay at the luxury resort was fantastic and we certainly enjoyed our time there but I would have gladly swapped those comforts for a trip up the volcano. It will still be there to trek up another time I'm just not sure if we will ever get back to this part of the world again to do it. Such is life though.
With our floating breakfast finished and bags back on the bike we descended back down to the coast and towards the ferry terminal. Time to head back to Bali now.
