How To Visit Mount Ijen – Budget Travel In Indonesia

Mount Ijen is one of Java’s most popular tourist attractions. Visit Mount Ijen to experience its stunning sulfur lake, breathtaking views and dancing blue flames.

We had never heard of Mount Ijen before we arrived on the island of Java. As we travelled from west to east towards Bali, we saw more tourist agencies advertising package deals to Mount Ijen. A friend told us it was something we should not miss. We decided to head to one of the small nearby towns and visit the mount from there, meaning less travel time.

Where Is Mount Ijen?

The Mount Ijen Crater is in the far east of Java. As it is so close to Bali, it is possible to book a package tour from there. However, I would recommend visiting Mount Ijen from the small town of Banyuwangi as it is only an hour drive from there.

Mount Ijen Package Tours

Like Mount Bromo, most hostels will provide package tours to Mount Ijen from just about anywhere in Java. The majority of tours are the sunrise tours as this is the only time you can clearly see the famous blue flames. We stayed in Probolinggo when visiting Mount Bromo and a four hour train journey took us to Banyuwangi which would be our base for our Mount Ijen visit and also from where we would leave Java and head on towards Bali. The getyourguide links above provide great tours.

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Arriving In Banyuwangi

Our train from Probolinggo dropped us at Stasiun Karangasem which was the nearest station to our hostel. As expected, upon leaving the station we were immediately surrounded by taxi drivers. We politely declined their services and walked a hundred metres or so before calling a grab. Grab are not allowed to pick up at stations but they will pick up nearby. After a few minutes, we were in a taxi heading to our accommodation.

Where To Stay In Banyuwangi

CLICK HERE FOR ALL ACCOMMODATION IN BANYUWANGI!

These are some of the best budget hostels in Banyuwangi, according to user reviews. These are affiliate links to the Agoda web site. I found Agoda to be much better than booking.com in Southeast Asia. I receive a small amount for any bookings made through these links at no extra cost to you.

• Gandrung City Hostel
• Ijen Transit Room
• Cheap Inn Banyuwangi
• Ijen Backpacker
• Karangasem Dormitory
• Quinn Homestay
• Javalindra Homestay

Mango Tree Homestay

We stayed at a homestay called ‘Mango Tree Homestay’ (map). Upon arrival, we met the owner of the homestay who immediately showed us to our room and brought us a coffee and sat with us in the large, outdoor communal area to introduce us to his hostel. Reviews of this homestay had said the owner was very friendly and helpful and this proved to be the case. We booked a sunrise tour for that night. During the week, the price is 275,000 IDR and at the weekend it is 325,000. As it was still Eid, the price was 350,000. This included transport, admission, a guide, torches and gas masks, an optional waterfall tour and fried bananas! The owner also gave us advice on how to get to our next destination, Ubud.

The rooms were basic but comfortable. We had a big bathroom with a hot shower. The WiFi was strong and a free breakfast was provided. This was such a difference to our previous stay in Probolinggo. This shows how you can provide a great service, even for low-budget travellers. If you are using Banyuwangi as your base for Mount Ijen, this is a great place to stay.

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Journey To Mount Ijen

After some average food in a local restaurant, we tried to get some sleep. This, however, proved impossible and we found ourselves waiting for our driver at midnight already feeling tired. We had a long night ahead of us!

The drive to Mount Ijen took around one hour. Unlike Mount Bromo, there was no traffic jam on our way there. We got parked up just outside the entrance and met our guide who provided us with gas masks and torches.

Climbing Mount Ijen

We had heard about how steep Mount Ijen was but I found it to be quite easy. As there are plenty of people, you can only go at a slow pace so it is not as strenuous as when you are able to go at a quicker pace. We stopped for coffee halfway up and our guide explained that we would be unable to descend into the crater to see the blue flames up close as the levels of toxicity were too high. We had half-expected this as we were forewarned by our homestay host that this was quite likely. What this meant was we could take our time climbing.

Sulfur Miners Of Mount Ijen

Once we finally reached the rim of the crater, we came across some of the miners. The miners go down into the crater and carry solid sulfur back up, carrying around 70 kg at a time. Tourists were allowed to try and have a go carrying this weight and most could not manage it.

The miners do not use gas masks and this has a devastating affect on their health; I have read that the average life expectancy for a sulfur miner is only 47 years.

The miners top up their earnings by selling souvenirs made from sulfur.

Climbing Down The Crater – Not Guaranteed

This was the point where we would climb into the crater to try and get close to the blue flames. There are signs everywhere telling you not to do this but the guides all take tourists down anyway, when the acidic levels are not too high. I would imagine if you had an accident here, you would probably not be insured. Be careful!

We did see the blue flames but from the top of the crater and they were a small light in the distance. It was nothing spectacular but we were not disappointed. We had loved the hike up to this point.

Sunrise Over Mount Ijen

We continued climbing to the sunrise view point. As we had taken our time climbing Mount Ijen, we didn’t have long to wait. It was amazing walking up and seeing people having fires and even sleeping in the cracks in the earth. We had to put our gas masks on at this point as the sulfur smoke was quite strong. We had no idea what the sunlight would reveal.

As the area became lighter, we could start to see the mountains in the distance. The whole area started to feel like a festival.

It really did start to look beautiful.

Mount Ijen Lake

Joanna was setting up her camera to take a timelapse video of the sunrise so I headed to look over the edge at the other side. This had been total darkness just moments earlier. I couldn’t believe what it looked like now.

This was a true ‘WOW’ moment. I returned to Joanna and said, “You HAVE to come and take a look at this!” There are no words to explain how it felt to look over this incredible sight, with the cool mountain breeze and the rising sun teasing in the background. It was simply breathtaking.

We returned to the sunrise and we could now see the mountains and even the coastline.

Then, back to the lake…

Then, back to the sunrise…

We could have stayed here all day and took another thousand photos of the same view. It was so beautiful. Eventually, our guide informed us it was time to go. He did, however, take some great photos of us before we headed back down.

As we had climbed up in darkness, it was now nice to see the beautiful views from the hike, now they’d revealed themselves.

We arrived at the base in time for some delicious deep-fried banana in batter. Our driver was waiting for us and he took us straight back to the homestay. There was no mention of the waterfall. Maybe it was too dry or maybe the driver just sensed that we were all very tired and wanted nothing but our beds!

The homestay staff had other thoughts, however, and were waiting to serve us breakfast. We scoffed it down, showered and then slept into the afternoon.

What To Take To Mount Ijen

If you are visiting Mount Ijen as part of a package tour, make sure you know what is incuded in the price. You will need a gas mask or filtration mask. These were included in the price on the tour we took.

I would recommend you get wrapped up warm as it is pretty cold up there! I was fairly comfortable when hiking but once we reached the top and waited for the sunrise it became very chilly!

Proper hiking shoes are recommended but plenty of people wore simple trainers. Don’t be heading up there in flip flops! It can be quite slippy in places and there is a lot of loose rock.

Take your own food and drinks as there are limited facilities. We saw just one shop and they had only a small choice of snacks and it was very busy. There are more cafes and shops when you exit Mount Ijen.

Is Mount Ijen Worth Visiting?

Mount Ijen was by far the highlight of my time in Java. The views were so amazing and more than made up for not being able to get up close to the blue flames. We were unfortunate not to have that opportunity but also lucky. Another traveller who visited Mount Ijen the day after us was disappointed. Not only was he unable to climb into the crater but the sulfur smoke was so thick he couldn’t see the lake either.

We both loved the whole experience. I loved how the whole area slowly revealed itself as the sun rose. If you are in Java, you simply must visit Mount Ijen.