Sulphur mining at Mount Ijen, must be one of the worlds worst jobs...

After our fast descent from Mt Bromo we had a change of plan. Left our bikes at a tour bus place and joined 3 others on an overnight excursion to Mt Ijen, another volcano, took about 6 hours driving east and up in the hills. Arrived about 5, dinner at 7 then a hot soak in a thermal pool, men in one pool ladies on the other. At least that way we didn't have to soak with our sarong on! It was an amazing trip. At the base of the crater it is mined for sulphur. When the gases come out of the vents this amazing blue flame can be seen - only in the dark, it still happens in the day but cannot be seen. So we got up at 1am after 4 hrs sleep, drove for a little bit, then walked for an hour or so to the crater rim, then descended right to the bottom in the dark! The blue flames were stunning, not many places in the world where that can be seen (but the photos were not very good in the dark) There were quite a few workers mining the sulphur, it goes day and night. Must be one of the worst jobs in the world. The toxic fumes are unbelievable. The wind changed and we got one blast of it. Eyes streaming, coughing, hard to breathe and these guys work in it all the time with no masks. The sulphur comes out an orange liquid then hardens to yellow. Really heavy. They haul up 80 - 100 kg, sometimes 2 trips per day and get paid about $8 per load. There are a few u tube videos that are really good if you are interested in seeing it in action. Very sobering seeing the work being done. The crater lake is hydrochloric acid... We climbed back out in daylight and got back to our van about 7 am where I noticed the sign!! (last photo) After a cuppa and a jam sandwich we headed back in our tourist car. The driver drove even worse than the day before. I decided it was like being in a really bad car racing video game where u go as fast as you can for 200 km, over taking everything while more and more hazards appear along the way, cars, motorbikes, pedestrians, trucks, buses, road works, monsoon rain... And then u realise everyone coming toward you is playing the same game and it seems it is inevitable that it can only implode. Everyone else slept while I kept saying Hati Hati (careful careful) to no avail so in the end I just shut my eyes and didn't look either. I was so pleased to get back to Probolingo, alive, with just a thumping headache. We had reached the conclusion that Java traffic was no fun and since we didn't have much time left on our visa had booked another bus to Yogyakarta - 10 hours, which we thought was leaving at 7 pm to arrive in the early morning but when we got back at 2 pm there was this large minivan ready to go just for us so we folded down the seats, went to sleep, one stop for dinner and arrived at midnight. Our clothes still reeked from the gases from Mt Ijen and we were cycling around the city at midnight checking out hotels. It is a big city with a tourist area so found a suitable one and the lovely night porter brought us a flask of hot water and jasmine tea, finally to bed about 3 am, long long day. I think cycling is easier!!