The Volcano’s Treasure

Bite-sized trip

Itinerary:
Java: Ijen Plateau
Duration:
3 days / 2 nights (flexible)
Price:
from £ 590.- per person (excluding flights)

Unlike Bromo, the Ijen Plateau is less visited but seriously remarkable, with three giant volcanoes dominating the skyline. Up in the isolated highlands of eastern Java, it’s somewhere blanketed in both mystery and drifting clouds. The crater lake has a pale, almost milky colour and looks like it belongs in another world.

Day 1 – Arrival in the Ijen Plateau

Today, you’ll drive through small villages until the road begins to curl over hills and valleys, through rice and coffee plantations. Soon you’ll reach your comfortable hotel with a swimming pool, and beautiful views. Spend the afternoon enjoying the peace and preparing for your early start tomorrow. The hotel has a cosy restaurant serving traditional Indonesian cuisine, which is included in the price, so it’s well worth eating in tonight.

Days 2-3 – Trekking to the crater & departure

You’ll be up well before the crack of dawn to see Ijen in the morning light. As the sun slowly rises you’ll drive by jeep to the entrance of Ijen National Park where your 90 minute trek will begin. As you walk along narrow dirt paths, you’ll come across local men carrying bamboo baskets across their shoulders. Some of them are on their way to the mine; others carry huge boulders of sulphur down the volcano.