Tuesday, 11 August 2015
Sulphur gases of Ijen
For a moment, I thought I was transforming into a real-life mutant. A superhero.
Monday, 10 August 2015
Conquering Ijen
Conquering Ijen
"The aim of every step we take should be to please and worship our Lord, and a necessary component of this is to fully appreciate the beauty around us in all its magnitude and depth. On my journeys, I realized that the meaning of being a traveller is far deeper than I had first thought. It is to see, hear and feel its beauty; to marvel at the artistry of Allah swt.
With the right mindset, travel becomes a spiritual process that fundamentally transforms your existence, and it is essential for every Muslim to experience. In this way, I understood that the purpose of travel was not just to go, but to be."
#adventuresofyanparker #coolkids#yanparkertravellogue #ijen
Sunday, 9 August 2015
To the depths of Ijen
09082015. To the depths of Ijen.
It was a gruelling one. Just when we thought Bromo was tough... Woke up at 12.30am. We cambered super steep slopes in the dark at freezing temperatures. We were literally on our hands and feet!
At times, we slipped on loose rocks and gravels and obtained bruises and blisters. But the challenge was all worth it. At the end, we saw a natural gas stove. This mysterious electric blue sulphur flames emerges from cracks. It was just astonishing. And behind it is the largest highly acidic crater lake in the world, Kawah Ijen.
Subhanallah.
#adventuresofyanparker #coolkids
#yanparkertravellogue #ijen
Saturday, 8 August 2015
Princess Tamina
08082015. 10.15am. Princess Tamina. As we gradually took our time to ascend the towering steps, we began to realise the air was getting weird. The higher we got, a strong pungent smell of something toxic became ever more prominent.
Armed with N95 masks from which @frvii stole from his workplace, we scaled upwards. The wind blew away @noohadams 's mask. So apparently he became a mutant after the whole trip. So, when we reached the peak, we saw an active discharge of sulphuric gases in the middle of somewhat like a massive cauldron. Super cool! So that was where the strong sulphur was coming from! If only we could see what was inside the 'cauldron'. Probably live magma!
As we scoured the area, we saw the vast sea of sand from which we crossed. From the top, it was so reminiscent of scenes from Prince of Persia - Sands of Time! Time stood still when from afar, the shadow of the princess I've been pondering about were casted right upon my sight. (I shall not divulge into what happened afterwards. Haha). We had a moment together talking about how tiny those people were on the ground. Unfortunately, as I have other priorities on hand, I, unwillingly had to leave her, let her go and hope she'll find a better man. It will be better off if we go our separate ways.
Moving forward, we, #coolkids, descended the crater to our Jeep and drove back to our bungalow.
Oh, did I mention we rented a full BUNGALOW just for ourselves and just for our 2-hour beauty sleep? Hahaha! Yup. Backpacking indeed. 😵😵 We were really broke and its still the second day plus we have another volcano to climb. To top it all off, we have not had a good sleep and a meal after more than 28 hours.
When we arrived at our bungalow, we got only 30 mins to shower, pack our bags and grab some food and we're back on the road to Mount Ijen...
Still hungry. No Sleep. No Money. Day 2.
#adventuresofyanparker #coolkids
#yanparkertravellogue #bromo
#nofilter #xiaomi #princesstamina
The Sea of Sand
08082015. 9.30am. The Sea of Sand. Our Jeep brought us to Mount Bromo's crater which was surrounded by a vast plain called the Sea of Sand. At the end there was this towering steep steps, which reminded me of some scenes from Mortal Kombat and also the thigh-killer steps of Wat Arun at Bangkok.
We had no idea what was in store for us at the top. We just knew that we had to cross the sea of sand and climb up those steps... We have to know what was there at its peak. And yes, our feet were still like jelly. It didn't help that we were walking on sand and sand dunes. Every step we took, our feet sunk in. It was as though the ground leeches energy, whatever that's still remaining from us.
As we dragged our feet, we had to avoid incoming dust clouds which at times sting our skin. They hurt more when speeding ojeks aka motorcycles and horses raced past us. So we had to cover up wisely. It somehow felt some sort like Prince of Persia-ish. A slight comfort came from wondering whether or not I'd get to find my Princess Tamina at its peak. Haha. Reality check. We haven't even started our climb up the steep flight of steps.
And @noohadams just lost his mask after the wind blew it away...
"My body wants to go. My legs just don't want to move."
#adventuresofyanparker #coolkids
#yanparkertravellogue #bromo#seaofsand #nofilter #yicamera
Daybreak
08082015. 7.30am. Daybreak.
Time for us to descend the volcano. Due to us arriving at the base and hiking at night, the scenery came as a shock to us how amazing it was as we take our time to gradually descend. After reenacting the historic pendekar march past, we saw this beautiful masterpiece created by God. Still with a sense of patriotism, we took a much needed break as we still have about an hour plus down to our Jeep. We were so tired by the time we got there that it somehow left our minds that hiking up to see the sunrise was just the first part out of 4 attractions. Bearing in mind we got only 2 hours of sleep, we trudged on.
We had no clue as to what was in store for us next...
#adventuresofyanparker #coolkids #yanparkertravellogue #bromo #songkok
Time for us to descend the volcano. Due to us arriving at the base and hiking at night, the scenery came as a shock to us how amazing it was as we take our time to gradually descend. After reenacting the historic pendekar march past, we saw this beautiful masterpiece created by God. Still with a sense of patriotism, we took a much needed break as we still have about an hour plus down to our Jeep. We were so tired by the time we got there that it somehow left our minds that hiking up to see the sunrise was just the first part out of 4 attractions. Bearing in mind we got only 2 hours of sleep, we trudged on.
We had no clue as to what was in store for us next...
#adventuresofyanparker #coolkids #yanparkertravellogue #bromo #songkok
