The Dude travels to Japan, Malaysia and Indonesia: Ijen, Baluran and Bromo

After leaving Kuta early morning I travelled the full day to the eastern part of Java, where I was going to spend 2 nights in Banjuwangi and 1 night near Mount Bromo.
After arriving in Banjuwangi by taking the local ferry I had to get up very early the next day as it is rainy season now, which means in the afternoon the mountainous areas are very dangerous to visit as it will be very cloudy and rainy. But not only dangerous also not very pleasant as you wont see anything.
So on Tuesday morning I visited the Ijen crater, which has a stupendous sulphuric lake inside and every morning you can watch men collect sulfur from the bottom of the crater, they then carry up to 120 kg for 3 kilometers up and down to the entrance of the National Park. I tried to lift it, impossible it was!!!

View of the Ijen Crater with sulphuric steam covering almost the entire crater in mist

Up to twice a day and carrying around 80-120 kg

After hiking up and down to the Ijen crater, I spent the afternoon at Baluran National Park, only 30 minutes away from Banjuwangi. So both parks are easily accessible from Banjuwangi and it is a full 1-day tour.
Baluran National Park is a birdwatchers paradise but it is also possible to see sambal deer, which I did see in a herd of around 100, and wild buffalo, unfortunately I left to early for those. Baluran is unique for Javanese National Parks as the landscape reminds you very much of the African Savannah and grasslands.

Somewhere in "Africa" or is it Baluran National Park?

Spotting Sambal Deer

After this full day tour I travelled to Bromo National Park, another full day of travelling. Traveling in Indonesia is no fun as traffic is enormous and trucks tend to slow down and hold up the other cars and motorbikes.
After arriving at Bromo I was not sure if I was going to see anything of this volcano as it was raining buckets again. Well lucky me it cleared up and early morning I took a motorbike to one of the view points. Although there was no sun out, still being too cloudy, the atmosphere was amazing. After that I walked down into the bigger crater and passed the sand sea and up Mount Bromo, nothing really challenging as it was only 3 kilometers and a height difference of maybe 500 meters. But the views were stunning, it kind of looked like ''Mordor'' from Lord of the Rings.