Mount Ijen Midnight Trek: A Review of the Private Bali Tour

Okay, so you’re pondering a trip to see Mount Ijen’s famed blue flames and sulfuric lake? I totally get that, you know. It’s the sort of adventure that hangs in your mind after seeing pictures online, almost like a siren’s call for those of us bit by the travel bug. I felt exactly the same way, to be honest! Then I ended up booking a “From Bali Private Mount Ijen Crater Volcano Midnight Trek”. Right here’s the deal on that trip and maybe what to expect if you go.

Booking and Initial Expectations

Right, first off, arranging the tour felt easy, actually. Loads of different outfits promote these Ijen treks from Bali, to be honest, plus reviews run the complete gamut from glowing to, well, rather terrifying. In the end I settled on one with, you know, what felt like balanced reviews and a promise of a private experience, which I thought sounded way better than being lumped with a huge group. So, too, price points varied quite a bit, and paying extra for that private deal was a conscious choice hoping it would improve the whole experience. What you sort of hope for is both smooth transport and experienced guidance at the mountain, to be honest. Of course, some reassurance concerning safety, since, you know, active volcano and all, is what I really wanted.

The Grueling Overnight Drive

So, too, the ‘midnight’ part of the trip’s name is totally real, in a way. What you can imagine is this; I got picked up around 7 PM from my hotel in Ubud, which I thought was pretty decent considering how distant Ijen really is from most places tourists hang out in Bali, so the long car ride began, pretty much immediately. Now, you get that the roads over in Bali can be pretty winding, or maybe, well, let’s just say ‘scenic’. So what starts out as a bit exciting, eventually becomes a very tiresome game of avoiding potholes while fighting off sleep. This journey took more or less four hours. After this you arrive at Gilimanuk ferry port at the very western tip of Bali. Apparently you go from Bali, over to Java. After getting on the ferry, it takes around an hour, just about enough time to perhaps grab a very quick nap on some chairs, and maybe buy instant noodles. In that case it takes around an hour from the Banyuwangi side to get to the base camp for Ijen.

Gearing Up and Starting the Ascent

Getting to the Ijen base camp, right, is where everything becomes very real, almost. At first glance, it seemed a bit chaotic, with a heap of people milling about, basically getting ready to head up the mountain. Any idea that I was doing a ‘private’ tour kind of vanished here. I actually teamed up with a guide, which I was hoping for, plus a gas mask, which is, you know, absolutely a requirement because that sulfur is no joke. Any thought I had about proper hiking boots I waved bye bye to because I had old sneakers on. And in this case you just do what you have to. Next the ascent starts, is that it? Oh man. Okay, it starts fairly mildly, as you go through the jungle, but very fast the incline grows very aggressive, alright, that makes it hard if you are, just like your’s truly, relatively unfit. So in some respects it felt like every step was some kind of challenge to not completely run out of steam. At this point, the headlamps come into play because, yes it really is as black as anything.

The Crater Experience: Blue Fire and Sulfur Fumes

As a matter of fact, the notorious descent to the crater edge turned out to be really rather sketchy, actually. I really struggled because you clamber down this, sort of, rocky path, with not much in the way of railings, with fumes swirling round you. Then, honestly, seeing those blue flames was quite something, to be honest. Photographs do not even remotely capture how cool they seem when leaping about in this gloom. Anyway that gas mask becomes your best friend there because inhaling that sulfuric air? Terrible! Almost soon you’ll have seen these blue flames is almost when daylight starts creeping over the mountain rim. Too it’s the point where you begin to see the sulfur miners. Those guys are something else completely because they carry crazy loads of sulfur up from the crater floor and for what feels like not nearly enough money.

Sunrise and the Crater Lake

At the end of the day, once the sun fully appears, in a way, that crater lake pops into view, alright, that turns the view up another notch. What is this strange turquoise water against the surrounding rock formations? Oh boy, I actually thought that view was breathtaking and definitely worthwhile! I actually did linger up top a bit just absorbing the sights before tackling the climb back up. Too it’s tough on the way back, actually, mostly since the track gets really crowded with other hikers. So you kind of have to sidestep people at every corner as they make their way up or down, actually.

The Descent and Return Trip

Anyway, getting down the mountain almost felt harder than ascending. Because tired legs plus a tricky track made every step a careful consideration. I really would suggest taking hiking poles for this, actually, because my knees were moaning. Then it’s that long old drive back to Bali. To be honest I just slept most of the way. And the driver dropped me off very safely back at the hotel around midday, actually completely beat. The trip seems to involve all that, almost 17 hours of exhaustion in all!