Can you climb Mount Ijen when less fit?

On my recent Indonesia trip, I wanted to see some stunning nature, and after a relatively easy Bromo climb, I set my eyes on that other popular volcano, Mount Ijen. With my limited time on the island, I just managed to squeeze in these two famous volcanoes, before moving on to Bali for a few days of diving. Also, I am not the fittest, nor youngest person, but I managed to climb both by the power of my own legs!

A few words ahead? Although I have fairly decent fitness, I don’t have joints that match. Which means, I am okay cycling, but I sometimes struggle a bit with walking, especially on uneven terrain, and managing elevations. So, this post is written mostly from that perspective.

So, did I manage Mount Ijen? Yes, but with some difficulty. And I am wondering if the super early start was worth it for me. But, let’s start at the beginning!

Mount Ijen, Gunung Ijen or Kawah Ijen?

Ijen is a complex of volcanoes at the Eastern tip of Java. The area is a designated UNESCO geopark. The place generally referred to as Mount Ijen is a stratovulcano of 2769m above sea level. Its unique feature is a highly acidic lake in its crater (Kawah Ijen). Gunung Ijen is the original Indonesian/Malay name. Gunung Ijen volcano is considered active (the last eruption was in 1999), and is also an active sulphur mine.

Mount Ijen has also been a tourist destination for many years thanks to the “blue flame” that can be observed in the dark on the slopes of the crater, between the rim and the crater lake. This gives the local population, who live on farming, and some also mine sulphur, to earn income from offering accommodation, food and guiding to tourists. So, visiting Mount Ijen, and spending money as locally as you can, may offer a viable alternative to the hazardous mining.

Getting to Mount Ijen and planning your hike

I went on a commercial tour for both Mount Bromo and Mt. Ijen, organised by the Shelter Hostel Malang. Their excellent communication, clear and honest pricing and reliability let me wholeheartedly recommend their services should you be interested in one tour or another. My tour of both Mount Bromo and Mount Ijen included private accommodation, all transfers, a hiking guide and some equipment at Mount Ijen, and an Eksekutiv Class Train ticket and cost 1.700.000 IDR, (in May 2025). You may be able to get both tours cheaper by organising them separately. A Bromo Tour from Shelter Hostel booked on the spot was about 600.000 IDR, and a bare-bone Ijen tour from Banyuwangi can be had for as little as 20-30.000 IDR, but for me, peace of mind and paying around 100 Euro for two nights private accommodation, transport, and a 350km train journey in Eksekutif class, plus two fairly well-run tours represented excellent value.

Since I did a tour, all travel had been arranged for me, making my trip very easy. I took an early morning “Eksekutiv” Class train trip from Malang to Banyuwangi, stayed at the excellent Ijen Backpackers in Ketapang, a stone’s throw from the train station and less than a 5-minute walk to the Bali ferry.

If you plan to travel by train, try to book your train ticket a few days in advance, especially since higher classes from Eksekutif upwards sell out, and there are only two or three trains to and from Banyuwangi/Ketapang two stations close to each other) per day from Surabaya, and one or two trains to and from Jakarta via Malang. You can look up connections and you may be able to buy tickets on the KAI (Kereta Api Indonesia, the State Railway Company) website. I used the Tiket website and app from outside Indonesia to buy tickets with just a small supplement, or bought tickets in person from the train stations a couple days in advance – or they were part of my tour.

What to take to Mount Ijen

Similar to Mount Bromo, if you go on a tour, many things will be taken care of for you, like transport, a guide, a gas mask and a “health certificate”. I recommend you bring the following

• a water bottle (two rest houses with simple food and drinks about halfway and two thirds up)
• a warm layer for the early hours, as it gets really cold at 2700-ish metres before the sun is up
• waterproof layer
• torch or headlight – if starting before sunrise. Some tours provide them but they can be a bit weak
• Charged camera and mobile – nowhere to charge devices
• good shoes with decent grip – path is steep, uneven, gravelly, muddy, but no scrambling
• hat and sun protection
• Gas Mask if entering the crater – most tours will provide these
• Trekking poles – most people manage fine, but I could not have gone without

My Experience Climbing Mount Ijen

My Mount Ijen trip started the previous morning on the Ijen Ekspres Train from Malang. The train leaves Malang shortly before 7am and takes over 7 hours meandering through stunning scenery in the interior of East Java. For the first time, I got off at the wrong station because the train was running about half an hour late… but thankfully, taxi apps (Grab in my case) work in the pleasant villages of East Java.

Also, I got to see Banyuwangi, an overgrown village with a lot of local life, and even beaches, which looked more inviting than Ketapang, a few kilometres north. Ketapang is basically transport infrastructure, with ticket offices, restaurants, lodging for the customers of the high-frequency ferry to Bali. For those who don’t fly into Denpasar, the Bali ferry is the main route of transport between the islands of Java and Bali.

A short taxi ride later, I checked into my Ketapang accommodation called Ijen Backpackers, where I bumped into some of my mates from my previous Bromo trip.

We ate a nice dinner in a simple warung called “Fresh Food”- no fancy restaurants here, but nice enough roadside stalls where the proprietor was happy enough to grant our many wishes of “no ice” “extra tofu” “less spicy” and so on. Then after playing with the hostel cats, I prepared my bag, and had an early night.

A steep climb in total darkness

At midnight, we were picked up by car. Ijen trips are big business here, so most people staying at the hostel were joining a Mount Ijen tour. The drive to the trailhead took just over an hour. We were dropped in one of the many warung opposite the gate which marks the start of the trail. Officially, you will have to pay an entry fee and get a health certificate in order to go on the Ijen Crater trail. Inofficially, my ticket and health certificate were included in my tour, and no one ever checked mine.

At the warung, we were issued with a fairly decent looking gask mask and a not-so decent head light each. I also paid extra to hire a warm windproof jacket and hiking poles. We were assigned a guide at what seemed quite at random – no checking health certificates, no checking fitness levels, and only the shortest of briefings. This is when I told the guide that I might not be walking to the blue flame, and to not wait for me at all, because I wasn’t going to slow everyone down.

And then, around 2am, when the gates to the trail officially opened, we set off in the dark on a wide dirt path. Compare it to a mass start – there were about two hundred or three hundred people. About 500 metres in, I saw our guide for the last time, and then decided to walk at my own pace. I overtook a load of people at the first tea house, that levelled out, and although I did not look terribly knackered, I got lots of encouraging ” you alright, mama!” from other guides, and countless offers from porters waiting along the way with the “Lamborghini” a small low cart on two bicycle wheels, pulled by two or three humans – for those who would or could not walk all the way up.

The track, still in complete darkness, was wide, and got really steep after a while. It was after about 2km of tedious, partially quite steep uphill walking (30-40% in places) that the path turned left and opened into a valley – but I could only guess at that time, since it was still completely dark.

More and more people overtook me in their Lamborghinis, too. But, I steadily marched on and arrived at the crater rim at about 4am, still in complete darkness.

By that time, there were just a few people left there – most had gone down the crater to see the blue flame, which in this day was quite strong and impressive – but nowhere to be seen from the rim. It is a natural phenomenon caused by the natural combustion of sulphur, and looks a bit like lava. Since it’s only visible in the dark, a 1-2am start is necessary in order to witness it, and walks down the rim may get cancelled due to weather conditions or seismic activity, and , with any naturally occurring phenomenon, there is no guarantee of a sighting – our guide said, a blue flame is visible on about 50% of all trips.

Viewing the Sunrise

I had ample time to find a spot at the crater rim, which, unlike Bromo, is more like a lunt ridge here, with lots of space to move around. Plenty of places to take photos of the first light of day. Most impressively, that blue colour of the Ijen Crater Lake, highly acidic (pH close to) and apparently around 60 Celsius – not one you want to dip in.

You might not be able to see the blue flame from here, but you clearly see the sulphuric deposits close to the lake’s edge – this is where the blue flame can be seen in the dark.

Also, the crater rim was where the miners would gather the sulphur they had mined from Kawah Ijen’s edge, and transfer it onto waiting carts – the same ones that had hauled some tourists up the mountain. It looked like an absolutely terrible job, and these miners are known to make one to two trips into the crater every day at night, carrying up to 100kg of sulphur a tthe time. Once the sun comes up, it gets way too hot to work, so all mining activity is during the hours of darkness.

And once I’d done that, and some fog came up and pretty much obscured the view of Kawah Ijen, I decided to descend.

Why I didn’t descend to see the Blue Flame

So, when I say I managed to climb Mount Ijen as a not very fit person with some mobility issues, I hasten to add that I decided to opt out of the “full Blue Volcano experience”. I know the natural Blue Flame is unique, one of only two places in the world where it can be observed regularly ( the other place is Dallol Mountain in Ethiopia, and I am not going there in a hurry).

Being risk averse, and with too many things outside my control, I decided to opt out. It would have meant a very steep ascent in the darkness, risk of a fall, unpredictable sulphuric fumes, and big crowds. Being thankful that my legs played along on two hikes, and not wanting to risk injury, I decided to minimize risk and go on the hike to the rim only.

A few days later, I went diving, which is not without danger, but diving is an entirely different matter. A strong swimmer, confident under water and with a pretty decent knowledge of underwater physiology, I feel much better equipped for diving. For hiking uneven terrain – too many unknowns, too much dependance on others if anything happens, so it was a No for me.

If I had gone for the Blue Flame, I would have had to hike a lot faster, possibly hurry… and not being able to walk at a comfortable pace would have increased my risk of injury. I also heard from one of my group members that our guide had not been terribly supportive, so they were pretty much on their own in the dark, and they continued to be very upset about it.

So… I hope to return to Java one day, and if I go near Mount Ijen again and continue to be in good health, I would try to the Blue Flame hike – but with a private guide, more supportive shoes, and my own equipment.

Returning from the Kawah Ijen in Daylight

Starting my descent early was a good idea. It was still relatively cool, the air being misty, the light relatively decent, and just the right temperature.

The first part of the descent was a little bit boring, with a fog or mist obscuring the views, but as the sun came up, this lifted, and I just stopped so many times to admire the view and take photos

This was the path we had come up in the dark… a bit narrow in places, but because there were quite a few people walking, it never really felt unsafe, and it is wide enough to just stick to the side with no drop-off.

Now, in the day light, the fog had lifted, and I met some hikers who had started around 5am, who were able to hike in day light and return in good time before the sun became too hot.

The second half goes through some forest aisle, and is relatively boring when it comes to scenery, but at this point, my legs were killing me. Parts were simply too steep for my knees, and I took slow, small and measured steps. It felt like everyone overtook me on the way down. In fact, they didn’t, but it felt like that at the time – and more than once, I longingly looked at the “Lamborghini” parked on the sides but resolutely said “no thank you, I can walk” to the men offering to roll me down the mountain. My legs hurt a lot, and my first activity once I’d reached Bali was a nap, lunch and a long massage and pedicure… but this is not until well later.

I took the ferry (really disliked the trip) after breakfast, then hired a taxi for the short ride to Pemuteran, which has mostly older people and divers and is very peaceful – I did like Pemuteran! If you continue to Southern or Central Bali, consider a journey of about 3-4 hours once you reach the Bali ferry terminal at Gilimanuk. But I wouldn’d swap quaint Pemuteran with Ubud or the tourist circus that was the South – but more on that later.

Difficulty of Climbing Mount Ijen

When I compare this Mount Ijen Tour with my earlier Bromo tour, Mount Ijen is the more difficult hike by a mile or two. I really struggled, especially on the return, when there were some relatively steep downhill passage, and my legs were already tired from the ascend.

There is the option to hire a wheeled cart at pretty much any section of the hike. They are operated by locals, and it’s hard work, so prices up and down from the start of the hike are a lt higher than one-way, and I don’t blame any one who uses them, since not everyone is in good enough shape to walk all the way up and down – and this way, you will at least be able to enjoy the view from the crater rim, but there is no option to go down into the crater to see the blue flame – this will have to be under your own leg power.

The path from the trailhead covers an elevation gain of 500-600 meters to a height of around 2,770 metres at the crater rim. The path into to crater is rough, narrow and uneven, with rocks and some scrambling, going down around 150 metres (and later, up again).

The terrain is relatively stable – compacted dirt and gravel paths, wide enough paths, no scrambling, but can be steep in places. A few steep drop offs higher up, but always wide enough paths.

The second factor making any Mount Ijen trip challenging are the sulphuric fumes, of which you might get the first whiff after around 2,5km when the trail moves out of a valley, and becomes more scenic, but all the way up to the crater’s edge, it was barely there, and I did not need my gas mask at all. However, this will change when you walk down into the crater, depending on the weather, and a gas mask and possibly eye protection are strongly recommended. From what I heard, there have been some deaths on the mountains – from people losing their footing and sustaining serious injuries, but also respiratory and cardiac problem aster exposure to sulphur fumes. The latter is a reason why you now need to have a health certificate to climb Mount Ijen.

Can you climb Mount Ijen without a tour?

Absolutely. In fact, many people I saw were individual hikers. You will need transport to the trailhead (taxi, motobike taxi, motobike) pay a hiking fee, and have a health certificate. You can hire a guide at the trail head, and if you are intent on hiking to the blue flames, I strongly recommend you hire a guide. For walking just to the crater rim, even for the sunrise, you don’t need a guide, since there is only that one main trail – and plenty of people walking on it.

Where to stay near Mount Ijen

I stayed at Ijen Backpacker, a conveniently located, super friendly family-run guesthouse and hostel next to Ketapang Station. They are obviously geared towards those travelling between JAva and Bali and Mount Ijen tourists, but they are doing an extremely good job offering a calm and welcoming place to rest before and after travel.

I booked a single room, with shared facilities, which turned out to be this cosy, bright double room in a building in the well-maintained garden.

There were some very friendly cats belonging to the guesthouse as well.

 For convenience and closeness to ferry and Ketapang Sta Ijen Backpacker is, in my opinion , the bet option. If you are in no hurry for the ferry, I recommend staying in Banyuwangi, since it’s more of an organically grown, green village rather than busy transport hub like Ketapang.

Snooze Ijen Hostel has air-conditioned cabin-like bds in a dorm as well as private rooms in a nicely decorated traditional home with lots of colourful arty flourishes for 7-15 Euro per person per night.

Halfway up the slope to Mount Ijen, Ijen Cottages offers small bungalows with TV, Aircon and really nice styling, bicycle rental, a restaurant and a small pool, for 25-25 Euro per room per night.

The centrally located Hotel Blambangan has pedestrian access to the town centre, the beach, and three-to-four.star comfort for 20-25 Euro per room per night in a nice low-rise traditional building.

The Small Print

I visited Indonesia ( 11 days in Java, 3 days in Bali) on my own in May 2025 This trip was entirely self-funded.

Nothing you see here was sponsored, and I did not receive compensation, discounts, or special treatment in exchange for writing it. All my own honest and unbiased opinion. This post does contain affiliate links to the accommodations I stayed in and some alternatives I considered. If you book a hotel using my affiliate links, I may make a small commission at no extra cost to you. Please refer to my blog’s Terms and Conditions for further information.

This post reflects my personal opinion and experience and is not a statement of fact about any places or accommodation mentioned in this post. This post (well, my entire blog, except this) is free from generative Artificial Intelligence.