Clouds come and go, but the blue sky is always there

Kawah Ijen (Ijen Crater)
Location: East Java, Indonesia
Coordinates: 8.058°S 114.242°E
Elevation: 2,799 m (9,183 ft)
Type: Stratovolcano
Last eruption: 1999

Kawah Ijen (Ijen Crater) is a nature reserve Ijen Park is located between Banyuwangi and Bondowoso District, East Java, Indonesia. This crater exactly located at the top of Mount Ijen which is one of a series of volcanoes in East Java such as Raung, Bromo, Semeru and Merapi.

This beautiful warm crater lake with its blue-greenish water look very inviting but it corrosive and dangerous! Kawah Ijen is the world's largest highly acidic volcanic lake. The crater size is about 960 meters x 600 meters with a depth of 200 meters is so acidic that it can dissolve clothes and human flesh. The acid measure is almost zero (pH<0.5) about similar to the strength of car battery acid.
With the elevation 2,799 m (9,183 ft), cold air with temperatures 10° Celsius, the temperature might reach 2° Celsius will increase the sensation of its own experience. Various plants that exist only in the highlands can also be found here, such as Edelweis Flowers and Pine.

The best time to start hiking to Kawah Ijen is early morning. From either Arabica or Catimore homestay, takes for about 30 minutes driving to Paltuding Starting Point. Enthusiast hikers even leave the homestay at 4 am or earlier, so they can reach the crater on time for sunrise.
From the parking lot, a well-worn 3km track leads us up to the volcano rim. At first, heading up through the shady casuarinas forest, the track is wide and flat but it is just the beginning and gradually it rises up with some steep sections. After about 2 km walking, there is a shelter up there, Pondok (shelter) – the post to weigh the miner’s sulfur load where they can get a promissory note to exchange it later with cash money at the base camp.
Just about 1 km from pondok, the trail thankfully flattened out all the way to the crater’s rim as we are welcomed by smelling sulfur fumes. From the edge, we need to climb another 300meters down a narrow steep path to the lakeside to get the best pictures.

As alternative, the panoramic view can be seen obviously just hike up for about 1km to the northern-east of the crater and follow the track, a breathtaking view of stunning turquoise lake brings us to this magnificent.

Volcano Discovery offers 18-day vulcanologist-guided trips through the heart of Java.
Check it out on National Geographic - Ultimate Adventure Bucket List - Trek Java's Volcano

Canon EOS 50D + EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM
EXIF: 0.033 sec • f/13 • 22 mm • ISO 100
Exposure Mode + White Balance: Manual
Filters: Lee 0.9SE GND

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♫Duran Duran - Ordinary World

Taken in: Indonesia / Jawa Timur / Bondowoso (show map)

Taken on: July 24, 2011

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Sets appears in: • East Java: Kawah Ijen

Camera: Canon EOS 50D, f/11.0, 1/30 sec, 22mm, ISO 100 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Canon EOS 50D
Aperture:	f/11.0
Exposure Time:	0.033 sec (1/30)
Focal Length:	22mm
ISO:	100
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program:	Manual
Exposure Mode:	Manual
Metering Mode:	Spot
White Balance:	Manual
Color Space:	sRGB
Software:	Adobe Photoshop CS5 (12.0x20100115 [20100115.m.998 2010/01/15:02:00:00 cutoff; m branch]) Windows
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