The final two stops in east Java were both sulfurous and spectacular, but I walked away from each with distinctly different emotions. Mount Bromo is the most active of a series of geologically new volcanoes that together form a lunar landscape. It is considered a sacred location based on a tradition started in the 15th century, and many locals toss bouquets, food, and other items into the crater as offerings to the mountain gods. There is also an annual ceremonial procession called Yadnya Kasada, and at the base of the mountain is a Hindu temple called Pura Luhur Poten (closed to the public).  We woke up at 3AM in order to be at the crater rim for sunrise. Most visitors (a majority of whom are Indonesian, surpisingly) opt to take a Jeep ride to a distant mountain to capture the whole landscape, so we (myself and two German girls I met at Andrea Hotel) decided it would be nice to head straight to the relative solitude of the crater before everyone else showed up. We trekked about an hour across a sand flat and up the mountain through cool (almost cold) early morning fog accompanied only by a few locals on motorbikes trying to convince us that it would be much better if we hopped on their bikes to go to the distant viewpoint. Once there, we met with the French guys and hiked around the edge of the crater. It was alot farther than it looked, and near the end the sulphur gases were so strong it actually felt like a tingling mist on our skin.

Ijen Plateau is significant for its rugged beauty, but also because there is a productive sulphur mine located there. Near the mine is an opaque blue lake. The excess gases released from the mine are lit on fire and when it is dark enough out the flame burns bright blue. So, we woke up at 1AM and made a grueling two hour hike with hundreds of other visitors (again, mostly Indonesians) to the mine. It was a sight, but it was a far cry from the early morning tranquility of Bromo. After the hike up the plateau, the hike down into the mine felt like a descent into hell. Suddenly a few of the local guides started shouting at everyone to clear the path, and we watched a miner slowly, painfully pick his way up the same path with a load of sulphur on his shoulders. The loads average 80 to 90 kilo, almost 200 pounds, and the laborers get paid 700 rupiah per kilo, or about 5 cents. The worst part was seeing them struggling up the path only to be blocked by tourists taking pictures of themselves or the landscape, oblivious to their existence. Instead of asking the tourists to move, they usually tried to find a way around them off the path.