Banyuwangi: trekking through fire & brimstone

 

 13th – 15th March 2015



The quiet village near Kampung Osing Inn

Come on guys. Hi Ho, Hi Ho its off to work we go!

How glad we were to finally be boarding a train again. The coaches and minibuses of Indonesia had really started to get old. Sure you see some funny people and awesome landscapes along the way but for anyone over four foot tall the prospect of having to spend whole days crunched up in the fetal position in a vehicle driven by a suicidal child takes its toll after a while. The last train we had caught was from Ayutthaya to Bangkok and after almost three months it felt like catching up with an old friend.



Jono doing his impression of Queen in Bohemian Rhapsody

    Since we first set our sights on this trip it had been our intention to trek a volcano and in Java there were plenty to choose from. Should we stay in Yogyakarta and hike Mt Merapi, head East to Mt Bromo or even further East to Mt Ijen? In the end we opted for the latter.



Dude was that you who farted?

     It took around thirteen hours for our economy train to reach the coastal town of Banyuwangi. It wasn’t the most spacious of carriages but at £2.50 a ticket you can’t complain. As with the buses it was still slow going but at least you’re able to wander around, grab some food from the restaurant cart or just sit down and people watch while listening to Indonesian commuters play acoustic guitars and cover great tracks in Chinglish.

liquid sulphur

    We arrived in Banyuwangi at around 21:00 and followed the advice of Tom (fellow overlander we met in Jakarta) and headed to the nearby “Kampung Osing Inn” for a room. If you’re only planning on stopping one night for the volcano Kampung Osing is the perfect place to base yourself. This super cheap family run guesthouse has really basic rooms with shared bathrooms and offers a free breakfast of banana pancakes. If the pancakes don’t convince you then its location in a sleepy village outside the bustling town surrounded by rice fields will. We grabbed a bemo to our new guesthouse with Dutch girls Milou and Cilie who we had originally met in Yogyakarta but had bumped into again on the train. They had chosen to trek Mt Bromo and travel to Banyuwangi all in one day. It makes for a knackering day but it does mean you press on towards Bali in one large jump. As it was late in the day and we had no urgent timeframe Jono and I decided to have a lazy day in the village before attempting the climb up Mt Ijen.

Stunning view of the chloride lake

The hills are alive with the smell of eggs!

    Our group set off from the guesthouse at 1am the following morning and arrived at the trail entrance an hour later. Our guides provided head torches as it was naturally pretty dark when we started the steep climb all the way to the crater edge. The guides take it steady so despite the constant gradient the walk is pretty easy. Every now and then our group would have to make way for one of the many sulpur miners carrying incredible loads on their shoulders. These guys are some of the worst paid workers in the world and considering the effort it takes and the everyday risks to return home with 900 rupiah

The miners below

per kilogram (4p) of the mustard yellow resource is a clear case of human exploitation. To ensure they return home with enough cash to survive these super humans carry on average 90kg per load rain or shine, day in day out, traversing thin mountain trails strewn with loose boulders, steep ravines and toxic fumes. Even their equipment is limited to a bamboo basket, coat, jeans, flip flops and a pack of smokes. I guess when you have to put up with sulphur monoxide fumes having the odd cigarette must be like grabbing a breath of fresh air.

Totally worth the effort



The lifeless forest. well apart from the monkeys

No this is not an optical illusion. Just two sets of twins.

    Being foreign pansies our guide was kind enough to provide us with gas masks to block out the worst of the sulfurous atmosphere and after trekking down to the crater base to see a sulphur mine in action it was not long before we had to backtrack to the crater rim for the sunrise and a spectacular view of the chloride lake. We were extremely lucky to have a clear morning during the rainy season and as the morning sun crept over an adjacent peak its warming rays slowly illuminated the turquoise acidic water, peeled back the dense layer of sulphuric fog and allowed us to overlook the workers beavering about the mustard tinged strata. An everyday scene for the families working here but for a couple of shire folk (Northamptonshire folk) it was an image forever etched into our memory. 

Banyuwangi is a convenient pit stop for most travelers in the region not just for the volcano but also because the town is home to a ferry terminal linking Java to Bali and after a quick breakfast, a taxi ride and a 40p car ferry had made landfall in Bali.

Cameron Highlanders

16th - 20th January 2015

     We left Ipoh for the Cameron Highlands in convoy with a fellow countryman Oliver Hamler who had been couchsurfing with us at Bella's place. The three hour bus journey along the winding mountain highways was a smooth one until we reached a police checkpoint. The officers boarded the bus armed with guns and in an intimidating tone ordered us to "show our passports". Naturally we quickly responded to this request and waited for the officer to reach us. Unusually he had no interest in the passports of any "Westerners" and a little interrogating he ordered almost half the bus to head outside to the checkpoint desk at which point the bus continued on its way. We later found out that the region has been hit hard by illegal deforestation and agriculture from mostly Bangladeshi and Burmese immigrants looking to take advantage of increased salaries. As a result the Malay government has clamped down on any individuals looking for work without the proper documentation.

Who said we've passed our peak

Mossy Forest

Malaysian Pitcher Plant waiting to catch some insects

    

      Despite the eventful journey we made it to Tanah Rata in one piece. Tanah Rata is the main town in the Cameron Highlands and is therefore the main commercial hub for the area with plenty of hotels, hostels, restaurants and stores. We booked four nights at Fathers Guesthouse, one of the highest rated hostels in town due to the friendly atmosphere and the great treks they offer.

Our band of backpackers

   Its all about the trekking and the tea in the Cameron's and on our first full day we arranged to join a 4 hour guided hike up one of the nearer peaks. Our guide Jason was a wealth of knowledge regarding the local flora and fauna, particularly when it came to the wild orchids. Unlike our other short hikes this was real jungle and its easy to see how people can become disorientated moving through the slightly claustrophobic web of roots and branches. The sightings of animals was limited to a few birds and one non toxic viper but that didn't really matter to us because for once we were able to feel like proper explorers of old.

Indiana Bones is back

this is more like it. where's that machete

     The jungles of the Cameron's are known as the "mossy forests" due to the abundance of tree hugging mosses. These sponge like plants are critical to much of the life that's evolved and many species are only found in this part of the world. From the peak of the mountain we had a great view of the valley below and a lunch break of much needed nutella sandwiches before heading toward the plantation. If I had known about the nutella and tea I would have tried this trekking lark a long time ago.


      As we approached the tea plantation we saw first hand the stark contrast from the thick mossy forest and the scorched earth from land clearance. However we were now left in awe of one of the most beautiful man-made landscapes around. The sweeping carpet of green leaved terraces stretched out as far as the eye could see and it was spectacular. The plantation shop signaled our finish line and being English we took great delight in celebrating with a finest and freshest cup of tea you can find with a view over the valley.



conditions change quickly here



thanks for the free parking

     Our second trek attempt came two days later where we planned to head out of Tanah Rata towards the town of Brinchang. The trek would be fine to complete on our own as long as we followed the trail. Like our first trek we decided to hike uphill through mossy forest for around 2 hours to reach a radio tower at the peak. From there it would be a longer gradual descent back to town through another plantation. This was a tougher hike than the first as it was uphill all the way but after just over two hours we made it to the top with a few scraped knees and a real bad case of sweat rot. The funny thing is by hitchhiking back and walking up we saved ourselves almost £20 compared to the guided tour which took tourists to the top by land rover, meaning they missed the jungle all together.
    

A stunning walk down to town through the plantations

    


look out KL were coming for you next

     As we leave the cool climate of the Cameron's behind and travel to the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur we are left with a sad truth. Sadly much of this unique habitat is being destroyed at an alarming rate due to deforestation for tea plantations and increasing temperature due to air pollution. Unfortunately the Cameron Highlands do not yet have national park status and therefore lack sufficient environmental protection policies. Hard efforts from local conservationists like Jason have fallen on deaf ears as many lack the education to understand that losing the jungle will mean huge long term consequences including a decrease in soil nutrition, increased run off and risk of regular landslides. The effects of recent landslides during an unusually wet December 2014 still scarred the landscape.

     Once again government corruption does little to help the situation with many officials to focused on short term monetary gains to care about the consequences for future generations. So for us it was a real privilege to explore a beautiful environment that is likely to die out in the next fifty to one hundred years and become just another notch on the long list of victims of mankind.

      Right serious article over and I promise the next post will be of a lighter nature and contain a picture of a cat or something.