Indonesia - Java Island - Sulphur mines at Ijen Volcano
To get this shot - wake up call 4.44AM, drive for over an hour on very bad road, hike very very steep trek for 1.5h, at the end of the hike walk through such a thick fog that you can hardly see 1 meter ahead. Get to the top, wonder if you should go down to the crater to see the lake and suplhur mines as you cannot see anything now... when you are nearly about to go back, few Russians appear from the mist, ask them if they could see anything down there, after seeing their photos, try to convince your Swiss friends that you all have to go down !! After descending down you discover incredible place which very much could be the hell, bible talks about. After getting enough photos to be ready to leave, climb up and down in heavy tropical storm which immediately turns that very bad path into river of mud, descend for another hour in that strong rain, trying not to constantly slip down...
well all that is nothing compared to what the Indonesian workers have to do, carrying these 80 kg baskets full of "yellow gold", often just in their flip flops.. getting about 5 USD for taking it up and down and carry for another 19km far place.. !! I should not forget to mention that none of us could even move the basket...
Camera Model: Canon EOS 5D Mark II; Lens’s focal length: 24.00 - 105.00 mm; Photo Focal length: 24.00 mm; Aperture: 5.0; Exposure time: 1/800 s; ISO: 160
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Comments and faves
David Butali, Rita Willaert, Immacolata Giordano, leftwing1974, and 163 other people added this photo to their favorites.
© Lucie Debelkova / www.luciedebelkova.com (15 months ago | reply)
© Lucie Debelkova / www.luciedebelkova.com (15 months ago | reply)
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alamos26 (15 months ago | reply)
es genial, me gusta
Ireena Eleonora Worthy (15 months ago | reply)
Wonderful image...what a compelling story.
greenka2000 (15 months ago | reply)
amazing!...
Rita Willaert (15 months ago | reply)
Unbelievable! Bravo! You did the hard walk!
Mick h 51 (15 months ago | reply)
Cool shot!
Pepelahuerta (15 months ago | reply)
Preciosa foto amiga!!Saludos
Gassami/Marie / Away, family issues / (15 months ago | reply)
Amazing capture !
claudiocoda (15 months ago | reply)
I pick this photograph to be on the cover of National Geographic
National Geographic: Are You Good Enough?
leftwing1974 (15 months ago | reply)
Lucie, thank you for showing us the most incredible places on Earth...sometimes you show us the incredible beauty of mankind's work and sometimes, as in this case, how dark human nature can be, even reaching the point of exploiting other members of our species...
Visiting your stream is always well spent time!
michaelgerardceralde™ (15 months ago | reply)
very inspiring work!
congrats!
Luca7D (15 months ago | reply)
I pick this photograph to be on the cover of National Geographic
National Geographic: Are You Good Enough?
baatarscc. (15 months ago | reply)
cool
giorgiopix (15 months ago | reply)
infernal atmosphere
GlobeTrotter 2000 (15 months ago | reply)
Such a fantastic image! I like the framing & mood !!
Franz-62 (15 months ago | reply)
Great capture!
Thomaniac (15 months ago | reply)
Great shot and very interesting story!
liam curtin (15 months ago | reply)
Brilliant shot!
Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄ƷDƸ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ (15 months ago | reply)
Awesome
Claudio Cianella (15 months ago | reply)
* onda * (15 months ago | reply)
Interesting shot!
Satyaki Basu (15 months ago | reply)
awesome composition
davide978 (15 months ago | reply)
Very interesting place!
& nice shot!
Ang1989 (15 months ago | reply)
Très impressionnant!
mateobovet (15 months ago | reply)
Lovely shot
Whiskers and Whispers (The Future is Feline) (15 months ago | reply)
Awesome pic. Saw this place on the BBC documentary Human Planet. The workers here have to endure poisoning from the acidic sulphur fumes just to hand-mine the sulphur. It's a very remarkable story.
Stephen M Reid (15 months ago | reply)
Great composition
Sylvia Andreu (15 months ago | reply)
Very nice!!!!!!!!!!!!
angus clyne (15 months ago | reply)
Great picture, hell on earth !
Heliófilo (15 months ago | reply)
Great shot. I like those clouds
Morningdew Photography (15 months ago | reply)
wonderful adventrue!! great shot!
The Adventurous Eye (15 months ago | reply)
Impressive life story - you are a No.1 explorer ;-)
Crazy Lady Photography (15 months ago | reply)
I pick this photograph to be on the cover of National Geographic
National Geographic: Are You Good Enough?
Debbini (15 months ago | reply)
i like it
Jean-Philippe Barralis (15 months ago | reply)
wow... nice moment
Nicola Destefano (15 months ago | reply)
I pick this photograph to be on the cover of National Geographic
National Geographic: Are You Good Enough?
Manuel Steinbrecher (15 months ago | reply)
Wow, how fantastic! Grat compositin and the chromativ colors are wonderful!
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Seen in my contacts' photos. (?)
Andrew Ngai (15 months ago | reply)
magnificent in its simplicity.
Lo Scorpione (15 months ago | reply)
Prachtige pastelkleurige wolken en sterke compositie. Voor de beste foto's moet je soms heel diep gaan...je verhaal maakt de beleving alleen maar beter!
"V"! (busy week) (15 months ago | reply)
4.44 am wow, it definitely worth it !!!
meg21210 (15 months ago | reply)
What a great shot. Very unusual.
Arpad Lukacs Photography (15 months ago | reply)
This is one really amazing capture!
Arpad
RobinHoude (15 months ago | reply)
Very nice!
karl.wolfgang (Back from Oahu) (15 months ago | reply)
Lucie,
Your comments takes us into this hades; makes up thank our lucky stars for our blessings; empathize for the humble workers.
Karl
ApertureWorks (15 months ago | reply)
Interesting setup
grazzzi11 (15 months ago | reply)
fascinating. =)
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Seen in my contacts' photos. (?)
Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄ƷDƸ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ (15 months ago | reply)
Interesting
Jeffrey Pabroquez (jap magister) (15 months ago | reply)
amazing wok, nicely done.. great job!
Basel Ayyash (15 months ago | reply)
great shot =)