Travel

I am so grateful for this trip to Guatemala, it’s truly been an experience of a lifetime. It all came together in an add round-about way on short notice, but I am convinced that I was destined to go on at this exact point in my life. Everything fell into place perfectly. I have not had such a long period of time dedicated to one trip and was able to do it all on a tight budget. I don’t feel like I missed out on anything that I wanted to do or have any regrets about the experience. Every moment was beautiful.

There have been so many thoughts mulling through my head the last few weeks. Traveling alone with limited access to technology is such a pleasant way to take a break from the world. There were several days where I was stuck on a bus for hours with just a book and a sketchbook. Or others where I was climbing a volcano with next to nothing. It’s truly enlightening and forces you to dig deep into your own psyche. It brought me a lot of perspective on life. I can’t say that it necessarily brought a lot of clarity, but it’s a beautiful exercise to wrestle with your own mind. It’s somewhere between a dance and a struggle and if nothing else, it for damn sure is entertaining.

I learned a lot this trip. This is the first time that I was truly a backpacker and although I did a ton of research beforehand, I learned a lot along the way as well. I thought it might be interesting to give some of my insights from this trip and maybe someone else along the way will benefit from them.

#1. Pack Strategically

I used almost everything I packed. I kept it very minimal, but there are a lot of things that I did actually need, so I had to be thoughtful. I was going to temperatures from 30-80 degrees, so it was tricky to be minimal and also prepared. Here’s the list of what I brought with me.

• CLOTHES: 4 tank tops (2 moisture-wicking ones), 2 t-shirts, 2 pairs of pants (both warm running pants), 3 pairs of shorts, 8 underwear, 3 bras, 1 long sleeved shirt (moisture-wicking), 3 sweatshirts, 1 rain jacket, 1 PJs, 8 pairs of socks, 1 pair of wool socks, flip flops, tennis shoes, hiking boots, 1 swimsuit, 1 pair of gloves and 2 warm headbands.
• COSMETICS: shampoo/conditioner, face wash, body wash, razor, face moisturizer, sunscreen, hair ties, hairbrush, toothbrush, toothpaste, lotion, chapstick, tissues, hand sanitizer, mini hair straitening iron, and DEET.
• MEDICAL: athletic tape, bandaids, ibuprofen, pepto bismol and imodium.
• OTHER: Small towel, 2 bandanas, flashlight, pocket knife, 2 books, Nalgene, sunglasses, backpack, small blanket, 1 trash bag, 4 grocery bags, sketchbook, laptop, computer charger, cell phone/camera, battery pack for phone and phone charger.

First of all, there were a few things that I could’t have lived without:

1. Good hiking boots were INCREDIBLY important – don’t skimp on this
2. My backpack was awesome – investing into a good one was worth every penny
3. REI’s biodegradable shampoo/conditioner is amazing. I think I used a quarter of the tiny 3 oz bottle my whole two-week trip.
4. Pocket knife came in useful for avocados, papayas, camping and opening bottles of wine J
5. Blanket – I am SO glad that I had a blanket. There were many cold moments where I needed it, including my overnight at the Miami airport.
6. Water bottle – I saved a ton of money by filling up my water bottle at whatever hostel, hotel or restaurant I was at instead of buying bottled water

Secondly, there were a few other things that I realized about my packing:

• I didn’t use bug spray or the medical supplies at all
• I almost ran out of sunscreen – 3 oz wasn’t really enough for two weeks
• I had thought about bringing hiking sandals as well, but it was so dusty that I am glad I just brought boots
• I did run out of books – I brought 2, but wish I had at least 4
• Surprisingly, I didn’t really use my phone battery charger. When you’re on airplane mode most of the time, you don’t really run out of a charge.
• 2 bandanas was a good idea – one helped keep my head warm while hiking and the other covered my face from the dust
• It may just because I am really dry, but I was so glad to have plenty of lotion
• I know it’s girly, but I was actually glad that I brought my mini flat iron to straighten my hair. Some days you just want to feel pretty!

Overall, there was nothing that I missed or had felt like I completely forgotten. In fact, I probably could have cut out 2 or 3 of the clothing items and still been ok. I only had to do laundry once and there were a few things that I am not sure I wore. I did have to rent a big down coat from OX Expeditions for my hike up Acatenango, but I am glad that I didn’t drag a coat with me.

#2. Take Shuttles Over Chicken Buses

I know that a lot of backpackers are on a budget so they opt to take what they call “chicken buses” (meaning they cram as many people as possible into a repainted school bus) instead of shuttles. Truth be told, the shuttles that I took ranged from 1-5 hour trips and usually cost around $10-$15 for the ride. So it’s still not very expensive and it was worth it to have my own seat where I didn’t have to hold my backpack for 5 hours. No matter what, the trip will be bumpy and slow, so you mind as well chip in the few extra bucks to make it a little bit more comfortable.

I would also recommend to take a private car when you get in from the airport, especially if you are traveling alone. Airports are a prime spot to target tourists, so this is one area where it’s worth it to splurge the $40-$50 for a car to Antigua. I was picked up by Adrenalina Tours, right on time, they had a sign with my name on it and we made it to Antigua in 45 minutes. It was so easy, they dropped my right at my door and made sure that I got in ok before leaving. It was worth it to me to spend $45 to make it to my door safely, especially since I had no idea where I was going and did not speak the language.

#3. Don’t Stay in a Hotel

There are a lot of choices for where to stay, especially when traveling solo. It depends on what you are looking for as to where you might want to stay; I was looking for somewhere quiet with a private room. I didn’t care quite as much if I had a private bathroom as long as there was a hot shower. Although I love the community aspect of meeting other travelers, I opted not to stay in hostels because I was worried it would be party town and I wouldn’t get any sleep. For this reason, Air BnB was a great solution for me. The first place I stayed was a home in Antigua that had three other bedrooms, which housed other travelers and cost me $22/night. I met a Canadian woman studying Spanish, 2 travel bloggers, a couple from Virginia on vacation, a retired gentleman who comes to this same spot every year and of course my hosts, who was a lovely couple in their 70s and their three dogs. They were incredibly gracious hosts and made me breakfast every morning. I also got some great tips of what to do and where to go from other travelers and vice versa.

When I got to San Pedro on Lake Atitlan, I had decided to get a hotel as my “treat” at the end of the trip. This was a mistake. I paid more for my room here and had less service. My water was broken for about a day and a half, so I couldn’t even brush my teeth, let alone flush the toilet or shower during that time. Breakfast was included, but it was underwhelming. They also didn’t come to clean my room once and since I had eaten dinner in my room several nights, it started to smell. It was not worth the extra money in the slightest and if I were to do it over again, I would have chosen somewhere cheaper. The hotel certainly did not live up to the Guatemalan hospitality that I had experienced in a home.

I am sure there are nicer hotels in San Pedro than what I got, so if you really don’t want to do Air BnB or a hostel, you can probably pay extra and get a better spot than what I did.

The last night I was in Guatemala City before my early morning flight, which was also an Air BnB room in someone’s home. Again, the hospitality was impeccable and my host and his puppy Tesha greeted me at the door when I arrived. I hadn’t eaten dinner, so he made me a tortilla with cheese and even drove me to the airport in the morning. It’s so refreshing to be treated like a person and have someone take an interest in your life. He and I chatted for a while (he spoke in Spanish and I responded in English and somehow we understood each other) and I learned that he is an avid hiker as well and loves to play softball. He’s from Guatemala City and has lived there his whole life, but also used to travel for work to California a lot. He told me I needed to do more exploring through California. I might take him up on that idea.

#4. Eat Cheaply, Spend on the Adventures

I had a tight budget for this trip, so I learned pretty quickly where to find the cheap street food. I also had a small bakery across the street from me in Antigua where I could get a pastry filled with vegetables and cheese for about $3. This served as many lunches and dinners for me during my stay, but I cannot stress enough how worth it is to eat cheaply and spend your money on the adventures. I don’t feel like I missed out by avoiding sit-down restaurants. I wouldn’t have remembered that meal anyway, whereas climbing Acatenango is something that will stick with me for a lifetime. I spent between $5-$20/day on food and drinks and hiking with a guide ranged from $70-$150 per trip. Tips for eating cheaply: buy snacks for the road, eat where the locals eat, buy produce to have in your room (I had to eat avocados and papaya at least once a day…), avoid the gringo restaurants and fill your water bottle at the place you are staying instead of buying bottled water. I did gets alcoholic drinks as well, but would buy the local beer from a grocery store rather than drink at a restaurant. A 16oz can of Gallo was about $1.50 from the store. Go for the experiences, friends! It’s worth it.

#5. Stay Safe – Make Friends!  

Safety was a big concern for many of my loved ones as I ventured into a country that I had never been to, don’t speak the language and has a reputation for being slightly dangerous, especially in the big cities. I am not a fearful person or a worrier, so it was challenging to take these concerns seriously, however, there are a few street smart things that you can do to make sure you are safe.

First, stay where the people are. This is something that I taught myself early on in life growing up in Beijing. If you find yourself on a street without a lot of people or are walking home in the dark, find a street where the people are. The more people, the less likely that something will happen to you.

Secondly, try not to carry a purse. I have yet to understand why women need to carry around ten pounds of stuff with them at all times, but try to avoid carrying a bag all together. Carrying a purse makes you a target because it’s easy to snatch off of you and run away with, whereas having a few things in your pockets is much harder to get at. Pretty much everywhere I went (expect for my hikes), I only brought a small amount of cash, my phone and the key to my place. That’s all I needed. And if I had happened to be mugged, I would have only lost a few bucks and my phone, which are both replaceable.

Lastly, the best way to ensure that you are safe when you are traveling is to make friends with everyone you interact with. Talk to other travelers. Talk to your host family or the hotel staff. Smile a lot. Start building trust. You might be surprised at how easy it is to form allies all around you just by being friendly. Not only did I make friends with a lot of the other foreigners who were there traveling, but I also made friends with some of the locals just but stumbling through my rough Spanish and asking them a few questions about themselves. I know that an unknown country can be scary, but in my experience, no matter where I’ve traveled across the world, I’ve found that the local people I interact with are kind and have good intentions if you give them the chance.

The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time. – Jack London

This quote is in honor of the book I just read yesterday – The Call of the Wild by Jack London. Being a big dog lover, it was a pretty intense read, but I did enjoy it. Especially the part about Buck falling in love with his master. It made me wonder if Simone ever wants to be a wild dog… maybe that’s why we make such a good pair?

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Today I took at stab at my third volcano. I am getting more confident with each hike since I know more about what to expect. I did some research on San Pedro ahead of time and it turns out that this is one where you don’t really need a guide since it’s a pretty straight forward climb (i.e. difficult to get lost). Below is a photo of me early on in the hike when it was really sunny and sweat was pouring… you’re welcome.

I was going to get up at 8am to try and beat the heat, but coming off of a day of laying in the sun yesterday, I needed the extra sleep… *wink.* I’m telling you, life is tough here… Anyway, so I woke up at 10am and decided I was up for the climb, so I grabbed a tuk tuk, which cost me about $1.50 and was at the base on the volcano by 11am. I hadn’t taken a taxi yet since getting here, so it was fun to have the experience.

This is a climb that charges a fee and foreigners are the lucky ones who get to pay a premium price of 100q, which is about $13. Locals get in free.

The guy who took my money tried to convince me to wait for other hikers to arrive so that we could climb as a group with a state park guide, but I was anxious to get going and didn’t want to be slowed down, so I put in my head phones and took off. About 15 minutes into the hike, I heard yelling behind me and the man who had taken my money had been chasing me trying to get me to sign the waiver. Since I had my headphones in, I had not heard him until just then. I don’t speak much Spanish, but I am pretty good at reading body language and I could tell he was annoyed that he had to run after me for so long. Off to a good start, Lara!

The hike was challenging for sure. I would say that the steepness was comparable to Acatenango, however, the trail was much better maintained. You can see the steps in the photo above, which was about a quarter of the way up. There was no sliding sand and it had stairs built into the trail almost the whole way up. On top of that, being without a backpack and enjoying shade about 90% of the hike up, it was actually quite pleasant. I passed at least three other groups on the way up, so I felt good about my pace. I was expecting the hike to take me about 3 hours (most estimations said around 3-4 hours), so I was elated when I realized I was nearing the top at 2.5 hours into my hike. There were a few sneak peaks of the lake during the hike, but for the most part I was in woods on the up, so when I made it to the top it was truly striking.

Even though it was the weekend, there weren’t a lot of others on the trail, so I was able to enjoy the view at the top without many interruptions. I had eaten the food that I had brought and drank all my water, so I decided it would be best to run down the mountain to try and get down as quickly as possible. It normally takes about 2 hours to get down, but I was able to do it in just over an hour. Boom! Trying to get in some good Asheville training for my half-marathon in March. And it’s a good thing that I booked it because I made it to the base just as a truck load of gringos were about to take off. I asked them if I could hitch a ride and they gladly let me onboard. It’s only a ten minute ride, but it is difficult to get taxis from the volcano back down into town.

I made friends with the folks on the truck – they were a group of bird watchers who were in town from California and just finishing up their two-week tour of Guatemala. Everyone is so friendly here! They were probably all around 65 or 70 years old, so I was impressed they committed to the hike. I had actually passed them on the way up and noticed this group in particular because they all had beautiful cameras. Dad, you would be proud. Ha.

I learned that one of the men had started his own bird watching company based out of Cali and organizes tours all over Central America, so this is his seventh trip to Guatemala. At one point, one of the men asked me about why I was here and I told them I was on vacation just traveling around and had gotten to San Pedro on Thursday. Another woman chimed in and asked me if my parents were worried about me. I laughed and said that my parents are just about as crazy as I am and they didn’t bat an eye when I told them I was going on this trip. I explained that I grew up in China and spent my childhood traveling all over the world, so I was used to not understanding the language and picking up on cultural cues and norms in order to fit in as best I can. It was at that point that I realized this trip has gone relatively seamlessly and that the number of hiccups have been less than most of my international experiences. Thanks Guatemala.

The group was all very kind and even when I insisted that I pay them for the ride, they refused. They were off to cervezas and I was in desperate need of a shower, so we parted ways.

Of course, I jinxed myself, because when I got back to my hotel, I had no water in my room. It took a good several hours to get fixed, so I was dirty, covered in mud and sweat for longer than I had hoped, but hey. I got to spend the time FaceTiming friends and family, so it wasn’t all bad.

Another successful volcano climb in the books. I am considering going back up for a sunrise from the top before I leave. What do you think?

“Live, travel, adventure, bless, and don’t be sorry.” – Jack Kerouac

When I started planning my trip to Guatemala, it didn’t take much research before I was dead set on hiking Acatenango. One of the hardest climbs in the country, you say? Must be really in shape? Camp overnight at 3,400 meters? Watch the sunrise at the summit of the crater? Hell yeah, I’m in.

I would like to say that I trained for the hike, but now having done it, I realize that was a joke. Running stairs in Indianapolis and training on a 7.0 incline on a treadmill didn’t do jack squat. Even if you are in shape, there’s not a lot you can do to prepare for altitude like that. There’s a reason that athletes train in high altitude and I had trained at 218 meters… quite different than the 2,400-3,900 that Acatenango offered.

We met at OX Expeditions in Antigua (I highly recommend them) where we packed up, loaded up and grabbed breakfast on our way out. By that point, I was already making friends with several of my fellow hikers. One of my favorite parts of traveling is soaking up the stories of the people I meet along the way and where they are in their journey. I could already tell the vibe of the group was going to be fantastic.

In less than an hour, we were on our way up the trail. And just a few minutes after that, I could feel my chest tighten and I was having a hard time breathing. My pack felt so tight across my chest and stomach and I started to panic. How was I going to make it up this mountain when I already felt like I couldn’t breath? I loosened the pack and kept trucking along. Needless to say, I realized that I wasn’t going to be able to climb at the pace that I normally would. So I slowed it way down and made it my objective to try and not get out of breath; just focus on a slow and steady pace.

The fog was thick on our hike up. It was overcast and even started drizzling a bit, which was perfect hiking weather. I can’t imagine what it would be like to blaze those trails in the hot Guatemalan sun. Although it was cold at points, we were fortunate to have clouds. The first hour of the hike was through farmlands and fields, and the fog laced the landscape with a mystic glow as we ascended. Our surroundings looked like a whimsical painting. It was beautiful.

There was a lot more greenery than I expected on the trail. The trail went from steep sand where you took two steps up and slid one step back, to built-in log stairs, to switch backs of dirt trails. I had to remind myself to look up and enjoy the view as I went along, since it was so easy to just stare at your feet, trying to focus on the next step. I certainly wasn’t the fastest in the group, I was a solid “middle-of-the-pack” girl. The entire climb was such a mental challenge. I would tell myself the same things that often go through my head during a race: “You are strong enough to do this,” or “steady, steady, steady,” or “just one more step.” I also spent a lot of time doing breathing exercises that I practice both during runs and pilates. It’s fascinating how so many of the challenging things in life can be overcome with the same mental and breath work. I guess I should keep practicing those habits.

Including a few stops, it took us about six hours to get to camp. At that point, we were at 3,400 meters. The wind was ferocious, but the sun and blue skies were out. It was breathtaking to say the least. I was immediately overwhelmed that beauty like this exists. It’s so incredible to be pulled out of your daily world to experience something so immaculate and inspiring. The colors, the textures, the lighting. I couldn’t help but gasp aloud and continued to pace from to every angle of the cliff, making sure not to miss a single detail of the view.

Let me take a moment to tell you about the incredible group of people that I hiked with. Of the 20 of us, we represented at least 9 different countries, plus several provinces in Canada and at least five different states in the US. There was very little overlap in place or origin and it was especially fun to meet other women who were traveling solo. Some were studying Spanish, some on vacation, most were traveling for several months all over Central America and not one of them was dull. I had a fantastic time listening to everyone’s adventures and swapping advice of the best places to visit. Best part of being taken out of your comfort zone with a bunch of strangers: they immediately turn into friends. I have an immense amount of respect for every person who accomplished hiking Acatenango, including our guides (thanks Will, David and Patrick), and I am so grateful that the energy of the group was positive. We had a ton of fun, which could have easily been a very different story – so thank you, hiking buddies! And thank you for all being my 2016 valentines!

We set up camp and a few of the hard core hikers took off to continue up Fuego, which was another 1.5 hour hike up and 2 hours down in the dark. I had planned on joining them, however, with the nausea I was feeling, I didn’t want to risk pushing myself too hard at that altitude. Turns out, several of them ended up puking… that definitely would have been me too.

When it got dark, it got very cold. It was probably around zero Celsius, not including wind chill. My guess is that wind gusts were around 30 miles per hour. Yes, I am from Minnesota, and yes, I know how to handle the cold. However, I had not prepared for it to be this cold. I hovered as long as I could over the fire throughout dinner and did my best to stay up late and hang out… but after a few swigs of rum, I went to sleep at 8pm. Fortunately, once I was in the tent and sleeping bag, I was toasty as a marshmallow.

I drifted in and out of sleep that night. The wind was loud and flapped aggressively against the tent. There was a lot of snoring. Regardless, I was able to collect enough energy to wake up at 4am for our hike to the 1.5 hours to the summit for the sunrise. This portion of Acatenango was the steepest and sandiest of the entire trip. It was pitch black. And although it didn’t bother me the day before when I ended up alone as I jugged along the path, this time when I found myself completely alone, I got nervous. There was a point where the terrain was slightly more flat and I ceased to hear anyone either behind me or ahead of me. I started to wonder if I had gotten myself off the path. I looked to my right and there was a steep drop off. I looked ahead and saw nothing. No lights. I heard no voices. I yelled out “hello” to see if anyone would respond. Silence. I was told that this climb was straight up, but it seemed to be that I was walking on a moderate incline. I was sure that I had made a mistake. I looked at my watch – according to my estimations I should be at the top in roughly 15-30 more minutes. I had no choice but to continue.

I’m going to die on the top of this volcano.

I fully expected that when the sun rose I would find myself on the complete opposite side of the mountain, lost, with no one in sight. There’s also a chance that I am a bit dramatic at 4 in the morning before I’ve had any coffee.

As you may have guessed, I was not lost and shortly after caught up with the overachievers ahead of me. Once we reached the summit, the wind gusts got even more intense. 35 or 40 miles per hour and the temperature dropped another 5 degrees Celsius. I had to fight between not wanting my fingers to fall off and taking photos.

All of the pain began to fade as the colors of morning emerged from the skyline. I have an overpowering and probably unhealthy obsession with morning light and although I was freezing and all I could think about was a hot shower, I was still in awe of the sun rise. That 30 minutes on top of the volcano embodied just about every color you could imagine. It was glorious. You could see the surrounding volcanos from the summit: Agua, Pacaya and Fuego. In typical Fuego fashion, there were thick smoke clouds pouring from its peak. It had erupted several times the week before and is known to be very active. There’s a certain air of arrogance that surrounds Fuego, and you could see it owning its bold reputation as the glow of morning crept up its neck.

Shortly after the sun poked its head above the horizon, I began to make my way down the mountain. I had to get moving. The hike down was quick and easy and I made it back to camp in about 15-20 minutes. The trees were surrounded by fog and the plants were coated in little ice droplets. It looked like a fairy land.

Back at camp, we made coffee and ate banana bread, followed by tearing down the tents and packing up. Even though the trek to the bottom was supposed to only take 2.5 hours, I was struggling to muster up the motivation to do even that. The nausea was still heavy, but as soon as we got going, every step I felt a little bit better.

We took a different path on the way down and got to enjoy a more shadey wooded side of Acatenango. It was quite lovely and reminded me of the kind of hikes I enjoy at home in the Midwest. I was able to put in my headphones and listen to music most of the way down, which helped me zone out.

Our guides were awesome enough to have beers waiting for us at the bottom.

I am so grateful to have been able to experience Acantenango. This is truly an experience that will stick with me forever. If you are planning on doing it sometime in the near future, I would say, absolutely go for it. You won’t regret that you did it and it will be one of your greatest accomplishments.

“There was nowhere to go but everywhere, so just keep on rolling under the stars.” – Jack Kerouac

I recently returned from a trip to Indonesia, which was easily one of the most amazing trips that I have ever taken. Before going, I knew little about the country and what to expect, and even though I did my research ahead of time, nothing compares to jumping into the experiences feet first. I started off the trip by visiting the beaches in Bali (which were full of Australian tourists), but if I were to do it over again, I would skip the beaches and focus on exploring more of the country. Beaches are the same everywhere, so if you want a nice beach, just pick a location that is cheap and close by to where you live. For me, since I was traveling across the globe, it was far more rewarding to experience the unique landscape and culture of Indonesia, such as traveling from city to city, experiencing the temples and hiking the volcanos. The most incredible experience of the trip was definitely hiking the Ijen Crater in Banyuwangi on Java island.

Ijen is one of two highly acidic sulphur craters in the world and it was unlike anything I have ever experienced. There are a few things that are good to know before you hike Ijen.

1. Hike for the sunrise: I was there during rainy season, but since it doesn’t usually rain in the morning, hiking for sunrise was a good choice. We left the hotel at midnight and started the hike around 2am, which allowed us around 3 hours to get to the top, but we made it to the top in about 1.5 hours. It takes another hour or so to hike down and back into the valley to see the blue flame.
2. Hike during rainy season: Rainy season ended up to be a good time of year to hike because it is actually less slippery than trying to hike up the dry dirt during dry season.
3. Bring googles: It sounds geeky, but I wish that I had googles to protect my eyes from the sulphur smoke.
4. Bring a warm drink: Nothing sounded better than having a warm drink at the top of the brisk crater, so if I was going to do it again, I would have brought a thermos of hot chocolate.
5. Be in shape: If you don’t exercise regularly, this probably isn’t the climb for you. It was tough on the legs, both from hiking up the steep incline, but also hiking down into the valley where the blue flame was.
6. Plan for (at least) 5 hours total: It took 1.5 hours to get to the top, another 25 minutes to hike into the valley to see the blue flame, then 25 min back up, we took at least 30 minutes for pictures at various points, and then a little over an hour to hike down to the bottom.
7. Hire a driver: it cost about 600,000 rupiah for someone to drive us from our hotel in Banyuwangi to the crater, which is less than $50. We had the hotel arrange for a driver for it and it worked out great.
8. Hire a guide: Even though the climb isn’t difficult to navigate (there’s only one path), it was helpful to have the guide to show us how to get down to the blue flame and show us where to be during the sunrise to see the crater. The guide cost 200,000 rupiah, which is $15.
9. There will be crowds: Don’t be surprised by the mass of people who will also be climbing up to see the crater. I would say that at the top there was at least 50-75 other people.
10. There is coffee at the bottom: This was a significant motivator for me to get through the night of hiking. Ask for “kopi su su” which means coffee with sugar.

The best part about Ijen was the element of surprise. There were so many moments were I was overwhelmed by things that I was not anticipating. The hike up the volcano starts when it is pitch black. You really can’t see a thing. In fact, within the first 15 minutes, I fell into a 3 foot hole. Ha. Go figure. So you spend 1.5 to 2 hours using a flashlight, carefully watching your steps, up the steep slopes, not knowing what you are going to find at the top. It’s not much more than that on the way up. I consider myself a fit person, but the hike was challenging. Even though the air was cool, I was hot and sweaty at the half-way point and my legs were definitely feeling it. When we got to the top, it was still dark and we hiked down into the valley where the sulphuric blue flame was. The crater is so acidic and toxic that it creates a large blue flame at the base where miners collect the sulphur. The flame is fascinating to see, so if you are going all the way up there, you mind as well go when it’s dark to see the flame. After being in the valley for 10 or 15 minutes, the wind shifted and we quickly got attacked by sulphur smoke. Looking back, I laugh because it was mass chaos as everyone started coughing and running from the smoke. There were people hunched over couching and spitting onto the ground, completely blind from the smoke. It felt like a horror movie where everyone was desperately trying to get out of danger, but there were so many people that no one could move fast enough. My eyes were watering like crazy and I couldn’t see, but I knew we had to get out of there if it was going to get better.

The climb back up from the flame was steep and slippery and one missed step would leave you tumbling down the side of the mountain. It was incredible to watch local Indonesian people hike wearing flip-flops or sandals, where I was struggling even with my hiking boots. Once we got back up to the peak, we sat down and rested, ate some food and waited for the sun to rise. Around 5am we started to see some light and watched as the sulphuric lake began to appear from the darkness. As soon as I started to see it, I wanted to take pictures and capture the vastness of the lake, but as it got lighter and lighter from the sun, I was more and more in awe of the color of the lake. The sun continued to rise and the texture of the cliffs began to emerge, which was just absolutely incredible. One of my favorite parts was watching the people lined up at the very top of the peak (which was even higher than where I was) and knowing that each of those tiny figures were experiencing the same awe that I was experiencing. There’s something so pure and humbling about having that kind of connection and experience with strangers. Appreciating beauty is such a universal bond.

After lots of pictures, we eventually started the hike down. I enjoyed this part of the trek almost as much as watching the lake emerge from the darkness, because I was so shocked by all of the beauty that we had been passing on the way up, but had no idea because it was pitch black. The mountains were lush and laced with mist curling around its figure. The air was still brisk and lively, accented with notes of birds singing softly in the distance. I was on a hiking-high the whole way down and got lost in the beauty of the landscape. It was unreal.

Once we got to the bottom, we were able to get a hot cup of coffee before heading back to the hotel. I should have slept the rest of the day after hiking all night, but I could not shake the adrenaline rush of the experience. I highly recommend to add hiking Ijen to your bucket list, if it is not on there already.