Ijen Crater

Ijen plateau or known as "Kawah Ijen" is highly recommended to mountain buffs and hikers. The Plateau was at one time a huge active crater, 134 sq km in area. Today, Ijen is a quiet but active volcano, and the landscape is dominated by the volcanic cones of Ijen (2,368 asl) and Merapi (2,800 asl) on the northeastern edge of the Plateau, and Raung (3,332 asl) on the southwest corner.

The magnificent turquoise sulfur lake of Kawah Ijen lies at 2148 m above sea level and is surrounded by the volcanos sheer crater walls. The vent is a source of sulfur and collectors work here, making the trek up to the crater and down to the lake every day. Sulfur collectors hike up in the morning and return around 1 pm when the clouds roll in. They carry shoulder basket of pure sulfur from a quarry on the lakes edge under the shadow of the sheer walls of the crater. The mineral at Kawah Ijen is purer and is worth commercial exploitation despite the horrendous labor involved: Javas homegrown sulfur is a natural source of sulfuric acid, in great demand in the oil-refining business and in the production of fertilizers

Source : http://www.indonesia.travel/en/destination/293/ijen-crater  ( click to see more informations)

Crater at Mount Tangkuban Perahu

Mount Tangkuban Perahu, or also commonly referred Tangkuban Parahu is one of the largest mountain plateau Parahyangan. Nature Park Mount Tangkuban Perahu in the northern city of Lembang, north of the city of Bandung. Cool weather, the spread of tea gardens, valleys and tall pine trees to accompany your journey toward the gate area Tangkuban Perahu.

Tangkuban Perahu have two road craters that exist on this mountain. The first street or road longer by road conditions more difficult to pass and will normally be closed after the rain or when deemed dangerous to pass. The guard booth will give clues to past the new road which lies further to the top if the road was closed. Before the ticket payment in the first street, there are cottages for rent for a place to stay.

Passing through the new road, paved roads facilitate travel of your vehicle. On the street side there is winding trumpet flowers and other trees that will soothe your trip. Tangkuban Perahu mountain in the region there are three craters of interest to visit. Domas Crater is a crater, Crater Queen and Upas Crater. The largest crater between the three and most visited are Queen Crater. With a few hours walk away, you can even round the Queen is so wide crater while enjoying the beautiful panorama of Mount Tangkuban Perahu.


Queen Crater
If you come by bus, there is a special bus parking lot before reaching the crater Queen. The journey continues with ELF car that will get you into the crater of the Queen. However, if you use a private vehicle, you can continue to use it up to the crater Queen. Parking is available across the vehicle in this crater, so without going through the difficult terrain and spend a lot of energy, you can see this crater. It may also be one reason, most visitors in this crater.

Queen Crater directly visible from the top with a wooden barrier fence to prevent visitors falling. Looking inside the crater, the walls of the crater and smoke is still out of the crater it creates a thrilling sight. Soil around the crater Queen mostly white with some yellow brimstone. Rocks and the atmosphere was dry and arid in this crater. You can try to climb to higher ground if you want to see the Queen Crater region as a whole.

In this place a lot of simple shops selling various souvenirs such as scarves, skullcaps hats, bags and fur hats, various displays of wood and various other accessories. There are also sellers of food and warm drinks such as boiled noodles, and other bandrek. You can also ride horses to round some of these craters. This activity is usually favored children.

Upas Crater
Upas Crater Crater is located next to the Queen. But, to be able to see this crater must go through dangerous terrain, you must pass through the sandy road to reach the crater. So, very rare visitors who come to see this crater. The form is different from Upas Crater Crater Queen. Upas crater is more shallow and flat.

Domas Crater
Domas Crater Crater is located further down than the Queen. If you come through the new path, you'll find the gateway to Crater Domas Crater first before heading to the Queen. If the crater Queen you will only see the crater from a distance, the Domas crater, you can get closer to the crater. In fact, you can try to boil eggs by putting it in the crater. If you want to see past the Domas Crater at 16:00 pm, you are required to use the services of tour guides.

Manarasa
Trees are much visible around the crater is a tree called by local people with the name Manarasa. The leaves of this plant will be reddish in color if the leaves are old. Red leaf that had to be eaten with guava leaves taste like with a little sour taste. These leaves can treat diarrhea and is believed will make the youth. Perhaps this leaf is trusted by the local community is always eaten by Dayang Sumbi are ageless in the legend of Mount Tangkuban Perahu.


Tangkuban Legend Boats
The core story of the legend of Tangkuban Perahu is a young man named Sangkuriang want to marry a woman named Dayang Sumbi beautiful. They fell in love. However, after finding the scar on his head Sangkuriang, Dayang Sumbi Sangkuriang is that they found out his son. Sangkuriang go first because he felt annoyed with her anger. Dayang Sumbi angry because Sangkuriang killing their pet dog when it fails to hunt deer for his mother.

Knowing Sangkuriang is his son, Dayang Sumbi Sangkuriang not want to marry. So, to reject the application Sangkuriang, Dayang Sumbi asked for a boat besarta lake within 1 night. Sangkuriang who ask for help from the magic genie to fulfill the desire Dayang Sumbi.

Viewing Sangkuriang almost completed its work, Dayang Sumbi intend blew it. Thanks to his prayer, the chickens crowing. Jin-jin who helped Sangkuriang running scared because he thought it was morning. As a result of work to make the boat and the lake is not completed. Sangkuriang who was furious because it failed to complete his work kicked homemade boat. The boat is then fell face down and there was Mount Tangkuban Perahu. When viewed from the city of Bandung, the mountain resembles an inverted boat.

The beauty of the crater of Mount Tangkuban Perahu and some spots around it also became one of the places for potential brides to do outdoor wedding photos. The beauty of the craters of Mount Tangkuban Perahu can become one of the destinations if you're visiting the city of Bandung. You can bring the kids to see this natural beauty.

Mount Bromo, East Java

mt. Bromo

In a country full of natural beauty, one of the most spectacular sights is Tengger Caldera. The collapsed remnants of an ancient volcano forms a steeply walled crater nearly 10 kilometers (six miles) in diameter. Rising from the nearly flat volcanic sand floor of the caldera is the dormant cone of Mount Betok and the active volcano of Mount Bromo. Just south of the caldera walls is Mount Semeru, Java's highest mountain and most active volcano. All of this has been incorporated as the Bromo-Tengger-Semeru National Park.

The mountain complex is about 120 kilometers (80 miles) south of Surabaya and can be visited as a day trip, sort of. As with many such sights, "the thing" to do is see the sunrise over the caldera. This means getting to the lookout point on Mount Penankajan, the highest point on the north rim of the caldera, by about 4:30 in the morning. If you decide take this route, keep in mind that it can be quite cold in the pre-dawn mountains. On my visit, the air temperature was probably not more than 5°C and there was a high wind making it feel well below zero. There are many people on the approach to the lookout willing to rent you parkas if you don't want to haul your ski jacket around tropical Indonesia.

As you're waiting for the sun to make an appearance, don't forget to look up. High up on a mountain and far away from the lights of any big city, you'll see a sky filled with stars, that sadly few people get to see these days. As the eastern horizon begins to redden, you'll be able to make out the shapes in the caldera below you. Bring a camera tripod if you want to get good photos in the still-dim light. Once the sun actually appears over the horizon, to be greeted by yells from the assembled crowd, it's then time to make your way to the crater floor.
The steep road down to the floor of the caldera comes out opposite to Mount Betok, with Mount Bromo behind. The floor of the caldera is find volcanic sand, which is often called the Sand Sea or Lautan Pasir. Crossing the Sand Sea is usually done by jeep. On rounding the base of Mount Betok, you're greeted by two rather incongruous sights. One is a Hindu Temple, and the other is cowboys. The temple is a reminder that some of the Hindu Tengger people stayed behind when the Majapahit empire fell and many others fled to Bali. The cowboys are there to sell you their services, or rather, the services of their horses.

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Just beyond the Hindu temple are the lower slopes of Mount Bromo. The jeeps only go as far as this, and the choice is to either walk across the slick volcanic sands to the base of Bromo's cone, or ride one of the horses on offer. Most people goes on the ponies, probably because it's included in the price of the tour. The horses will take you only to the base of the steep sides of the cone. From there you have to climb a rather steep stairway.

The stairs end at the rim of the crater, from where you can look down into the volcanic vent at the bottom. The vent is not much more than a big crack in the ground spewing steam. You can see bright yellow deposits of sulphur on the walls of the vent. Of course, you also have a view back across the Sand Sea to the lookout on Mount Penankajan where you watched the sun rise.

See our three-dimensional satellite map of the Tengger Caldera area for an overview of the places discussed in this article. If you'd like to see more photos of Mount Bromo, please see the online photo gallery at our Chieng Fa travel journal.

Getting to Mount Bromo

Most hotels in Surabaya can arrange a tour to Mount Bromo. These will generally leave Surabaya around midnight in order to make it to the Mount Penankajan viewpoint in time to watch the sun rise. Alternatively, you can choose to stay at one of the small hotels and guest houses that have sprung

up on the mountain. The top end of these is Bromo Cottages in Tosari. The rooms and facilities are rather basic, but comfortable enough for the half night or so that you'll spend there. Your wake-up call from the front desk will come around 3:30 a.m. for the 45 minute trip up to the lookout. Bromo Cottages can arrange for transport to and from Surabaya (by private car, pay around 400,000 Rupiah / 44.00 USD) as well as a jeep to take you up and into the caldera. If you choose to stay up on the mountain, you can leave Surabaya around 15:00 to make it to your lodging around sunset, then get a few hours sleep right after dinner.