Mount Ijen Blue Fire: A Night Hike To The Flames
A ferry ride, a hike into an active volcano crater, and a semi trustworthy gas mask are all part of the process of viewing the Mount Ijen blue fire. This isn’t propane or blue lava, inside the crater there is a rare chemical reaction taking place. A steady stream of headlamps make their way through clouds of sulfuric gas, everyone hoping to catch a glimpse of this rare phenomenon inside a volcano and in the middle of an active sulfur mine.
I’ll cover our entire Mount Ijen blue fire experience, from logistics of getting to the volcano, to how and why the blue fire exists. There are a lot of things to consider and this is definitely not your average hike. However despite the fumes, heat, and crowds it makes for an experience you’ll never forget. With the info in this guide you’ll understand the reality of seeing the blue flames and you can decide if they’re worth seeing yourself, I think they are. Just don’t fall into the acidic lake at the bottom.
Table of Contents
What is the Mount Ijen Blue Fire?
As mentioned the Mount Ijen Blue Fire isn’t blue lava or propane, it is burning sulfur gas. Mt. Ijen is an active volcano located in eastern Java in Indonesia. At the bottom of the volcano is a huge deposit of sulfur. The volcano heats sulfuric gas deep inside, which escapes through cracks in the rock. As it comes into contact with oxygen it ignites instantly, creating an electric blue flame. The flame burns constantly, only visible at night, much like stars. People sometimes mistake it for lava because the rocks below remain cool, while the flames flicker on top, mimicking a flowing lava stream.
This natural wonder is extremely rare, it does happen in other places in the world but the Mount Ijen blue fire is by far the most accessible and consistent. There is a high concentration of sulfuric gas in the volcano. This with the addition of channels leading straight to the surface giving the gas no chance to cool, along with no lava in the crater creating too much light at night, make the perfect formula for seeing the blue flames. Scientists have documented this phenomenon in other parts of the world, but only for short periods of time.
Is it Safe to Visit the Mt. Ijen. Blue Fire?
As with most things in life, you can safely visit the Mount Ijen Blue Fire as long as you prepare properly and know what to expect. For experiences like this, it’s almost always easier to join a group through Viator or GetYourGuide. They handle all the logistics and are ready to help if you need assistance. Honestly the cost of transporting yourself to the mountain, renting the equipment, doing the hike alone, and returning to your accommodation, all while feeding yourself is almost never cheaper. Let someone else handle logistics while you enjoy the experience. Our tour was led by Indotravelteam, I can’t recommend them enough.
Go with a guide so you are automatically prepared, now you need to know what to expect. The toughest part of the tour is the sulfur dioxide gas you will inevitably breath in. Normal or cloth masks won’t work here, you need a real respirator mask. May to October is the best time to hike in Indonesia as it is dry season, the trail will be a lot easier. Some mountains will actually close in rainy season for safety. The climb up the volcano isn’t K2 but it’s also no walk in the park, you should be reasonably fit for the incline. Alternatively you can catch a ride up the mountain in a “Lamborghini”, a creative solution that the miners came up with.
The Sulfur Miners of Mt Ijen
As mentioned before at the bottom of the Mount Ijen Blue Fire volcano crater sits an active sulfur mine, as the sulfur gas escaping the earth cools it condenses into solid yellow sulfur that the miners take by hand. Miners use no machinery here, they break the sulfur off the deposit with simple tools and carry it out of the crater in two baskets suspended from a pole across their shoulders. These loads can weigh anywhere from 60-90kg, combine that with breathing in toxic gas while you trek uphill on uneven surfaces while dodging tourists. It’s not an easy job, we’re just visiting but they are earning a living, they deserve respect. No matter where you are on the trek it’s 100% expected for tourists to move out of the way for the miners.
All the tourism isn’t a bad thing though, the miners have come up with clever ways to make more money in a day. Some of them will sculpt small figurines out of solid sulfur, pretty talented artistry to be fair. Other workers will offer to take tourists up the crater in a wheelbarrow, seriously. They will all have a different name such as “Ferrari, Lamborghini, Mercedes” etc. A roundtrip ride in a “Ferrari” for a tourist is equal to a few days work for a miner, it’s not my first choice but it is a win for everyone.
Getting to the Mount Ijen Blue Fire Hike
The hike to the Mount Ijen Blue Fire typically starts from 12am to 2am and the volcano is located in eastern Java, no problem if you are in the area but we were in Ubud, Bali. We met our group at gelato cafe at 1pm (perfect starting point to be honest) from there it was 11ish hours until our ascent of the volcano. After squeezing through the never ending stream of Bali traffic we made it to the port, an hour ferry ride to the island of Java. The ferry was a fun ride, full of spiders but it was short and had plenty of coffee, not like some other ferry rides I’ve been on. After the quick ferry ride and another two hour drive we reached our first stop, the medical exam.
Everyone who climbs the Mount Ijen, even independently must take a medical exam and present the ticket of health at the trailhead. I’m going to say it because it’s the truth, it’s 100% a cash grab. Consider it another tax you have to pay to climb the volcano, such is life with big tourist attractions but don’t think for one second anyone cares how healthy you are. The medical exam asked only four questions, they didn’t use any instruments or run any tests. These are the questions. “What is your name?” “How old are you” “How tall are you” “How much do you weigh?” that’s it. You could have a severe lung infection and they would never know. With the “medical test” done we continued to our guesthouse.
The Night Before Witnessing the Mount Ijen Blue Fire
We stayed at a Javanese guesthouse, it had some volunteers who along with assisting in the trek were teaching English to the locals. We had a nice dinner and a brief introduction on how to safely enjoy the experience. The biggest takeaway I got was that it wasn’t a matter of if you would get caught in a cloud of sulfur dioxide, but when. When you inevitably get caught in one, you were simply supposed to stay still and wait for it to pass, weird to hear someone say out loud but hey they are the experts. They also told us not to bring jewelry as it would turn black if it comes into contact with the gas, as well as bringing any Nikon camera equipment. For some reason that brand of camera will fail once it touches the gas, they said other brands were fine.
Lastly they said if any clothing came into contact with the acidic lake at the bottom to quickly but calmly remove it. The lake has a pH of 0-1 which is close to battery acid, skin contact can cause injury but they said you have 45 seconds to remove the clothes, plenty of time if you’re calm. With the most strange safety briefing I’ve ever received concluded, it was off to bed our trek started at 2am and that was fast approaching.
Mount Ijen Blue Fire Hike Basecamp
Our 1am alarm rang out came quick but there was no time to waste, we had to be at basecamp and get ready to start the trek for 2am, an early grind but the only possible way to see the Mount Ijen Blue Fire. Once we got to basecamp we met our guide Hary, an absolute badass and beauty of a human being. He used to be a miner in the sulfur mine and now works as a guide. We felt 100% safe with him in charge of us. It’s expected you bring everything you need to the trek but nothing more. We had proper clothing, headlamps, water. The last thing we needed was probably the most important of them all, the gas mask.
The gas masks were all lying on a table and sorted based on size, I could not find a single mask that worked for me. Having worked in construction I knew about the negative pressure test, essentially you cover the part where you inhale air on the mask, and try to breath in. If you can still breath in then it’s not sealed properly, since this was the part stressed the most on our brief I immediately ran to Hary. He picked out a mask for me and assured me it would work, it still didn’t pass the negative pressure test but I trusted him. It could have been the quality of the masks, it could have been my beard, all I know if I definitely breathed in sulfuric gas a few times. I would quickly learn that some people do it everyday.
Starting the Climb
With our gas masks loosely fitted we started our ascent to witness the Mount Ijen Blue Fire. As mentioned before it’s not the easiest hike on earth but anyone with a reasonable level of fitness can do it no problem. The trek up isn’t super eventful, it’s the middle of the night so it’s pitch black with nothing to see. What we did realize is just how many tourists were doing this trek, they allow up to 2000 people a day and it had to have been close to the cap if not sold out. We spent the next hour and a half passing slower climbers and “Lamborghinis” while also getting passed by faster climbers. Our group was solid, the only change I would make would be to start even earlier.
We eventually reached the top of the volcano crater, the worst of the incline far behind us. Again not realizing just how many people were coming to see the Mount Ijen Blue Fire, the pace of the groups ascending determined the order of people to view this wonder as the trail into the crater was narrow and single file. It was a slow, steady descent. Many people were unsure of footing and loose rocks, fair if you haven’t done this kind of thing before. The “Lamborghini” riders were now forced into the queue, adding to the single file line. It felt like an hour but after thirty minutes we reached the bottom of the crater and the star of the show, the Mount Ijen Blue Fire.
Witnessing the Mount Ijen Blue Fire
At the bottom of the crater, a huge crowd gathered around the mine vents, all trying to catch a glimpse of the Mount Ijen Blue Fire. In the middle of the crowd a steady stream of blue fire fell from the vent onto the ground below, it was similar to a normal flame but flickered differently, tough to explain. I can understand how people could mistake it for lava with the way it moved. It was tough to get a picture here, a lot of people throwing elbows to get to the front of the crowd. This attraction was in such a concentrated area few people could see it at once. That combined with the fact that we had a time limit, as soon as it got light out the flames would disappear, people were more aggressive than normal.
I snapped my quick picture and got out of the way, cool to see but not worth catching an elbow to the eye. While spread out, our group was still together, the majority of us (myself included) were wearing our gas masks. Despite the loose fit it was better than straight up breathing the unfiltered sulfuric air. However some people didn’t have them on, Hary yelled out a warning that a sulfuric gas cloud was on it’s way and to secure our masks, while he was busy lighting up and inhaling a cigarette. His lungs most likely damaged from years as a miner the gas cloud made no difference, I have a lot of respect for him.
Gas Clouds and Acidic Lakes
The gas cloud passed through us and I remembered to just stay still. A very weird feeling, you can’t see six inches in front of you and you can hardly breathe, then suddenly it disappears. Like getting randomly smothered then let go. This would happen occasionally but after the first warning I got used to seeing them coming and could prepare for them. With our pictures acquired we spent the rest of the morning admiring the sulfur sculptures created by the miners and ended up buying one, along with watching the sunrise over the lake of acid.
The sun started to rise and that meant the Mount Ijen Blue Flame had disappeared, the crowd that had gathered now found spots to watch the sunrise over the rim of the crater. There were people still climbing down the side of the crater the queue was so long, they literally missed the star attraction. Again my advice would be to do a tour with the earliest start. While moving around the lake I accidentally knocked a rock in that splashed up and landed on my shoe, which is still intact to this day so not enough acid I suppose. That was my closest encounter with the lake and afterwards I kept a further distance. It was a nice sunrise, inside the crater feels like you’re on another planet and is almost as cool as seeing the flames.
Leaving the Mount Ijen Blue Fire
With pictures of the Mount Ijen Blue Fire snapped and souvenirs bought, it was time to make our way out of the crater. The ascent wasn’t as bad because no one was rushing to see the flames, the sense of urgency wasn’t there. Along the way up there were baskets full the sulfur, the same duel baskets that the miners carried, on the side of the trail for tourists to pick up and get a sense of how hard the job it. They were heavy as hell, I don’t know how they do it in the conditions that they do. There were also people who must not have been wearing their masks enough and needed oxygen. Thankfully Hary had an emergency stash ready to go, a chilling reminder of the working conditions of the mine.
Rows and rows of “Lamborghinis” were eagerly waiting for their tourists at the summit, ready to run down the volcano and hopefully catch another tourist coming up on the same day. We slowly descended, now actually getting to soak in the view of the Indonesian countryside. Other volcanos stood off in the distance, it was a scenic walk to the bottom. Once back at basecamp we returned our gear, said goodbye to the all-star Hary and returned to our guesthouse. We had an excellent Indonesian breakfast, before making the van/ferry/van trek back to Bali. A quick turnaround and a lot to experience in a short time but worth every minute.
Tips for When you Visit the Mount Ijen Blue Fire
I would recommend seeing the Mount Ijen Blue Fire to anyone, with the right preparation anyone can experience this natural wonder. Here’s what I wish I knew before we went on the trek.
- Wear warm clothes in layers, you’ll be trekking in the middle of the night
- Eat all of your snacks at the top of the crater before you descend, your hands will mostly likely come into contact with sulfur
- No jewelry or Nikon camera equipment, it’ll be ruined
- Don’t panic if the lake splashes on you, take off your clothes slowly and don’t fall in
- Take the earliest tour you can find, I didn’t think it would be as crowded as it was
- Tips aren’t expected but honestly well deserved (shoutout Hary)
- Absolutely respect the miners
Final Thoughts on the Mount Ijen Blue Fire
I climbed into a volcano crater because I had heard there was blue fire at the bottom and thought it would be cool to see. While it was cool and I’m glad I saw it, what really blew me away was the miners. Despite thousands of tourists getting in their way they continue to work and have even found more creative ways to increase their income. I really respect it and can’t imagine working in the conditions that they do, another travel tail that opened my eyes wider. Honestly I would recommend anyone to come visit the Mount Ijen Blue Fire, it is honestly a lot more than that. Running a 42Forward Marathon here someday will 100% happen
