Kawah Ijen and his sulfur bearers

It is 4:30 a.m. and the invigorating freshness of the morning is our friend in this adventure which promises to be long and fantastic. Part of the Azimuth Adventure Travel Ltd team and I are on a reconnaissance tour in East Java. The aim of this trip is not only to discover the region but also to identify trekking and hiking spots that have never been exploited as part of new circuits.

From the Sukuh temple to the far east of the island of Java, via the Kelud and Bromo volcanoes, Kawah Ijen is today the last stage of this journey. After seeing reports, reading articles on the Internet and the stories of my colleagues who had been there, I have been waiting for this step for years. Early enough so as not to be caught up too quickly by the heat, but not early enough to witness the famous “blue flames”, our driver drops us off at the entrance to the site. The advantage of coming after sunrise is to be able to admire the beautiful landscapes during the short trek and also to only come across tourists coming down. When we arrive at the bottom of the crater, my colleague and I are alone. The hike to the crater rim (2,350 m) lasts an hour and a half. I chat with a few porters and am interested in their own stories. One of them catches my eye. The man who tells it has a cart instead of the bamboo baskets usually used, and so I ask him to tell me more about it. He explains to me that a generous “Frenchman” (sic), who regularly goes to Kawah Ijen, gave him a gift in order to make his efforts more bearable. If this “sulphur convict” actually realized that his work was made easier, the benefactor would return to distribute it to all his fellow carriers (around 300). Information obtained, the cart was in fact provided by a Swiss, Heinz von Holzen, resident in Bali and owner of the restaurant “le Bumbu Bali”.

Azimuth Adventure Travel Ltd, the walking travel agency for which I work, shares the same beliefs as Heinz. Indeed, the agency is sensitive to the protection of the environment and local populations. So I decided to contact him so that he could explain his project to me. Before landing in Indonesia, Heinz Von Holzen worked for 5 and a half years in Singapore as a chef in Hilton and Hyatt hotels. In 1990, he transferred to Bali to the Grand Hyatt and the Ritz Carlton, still as chef. There he meets his wife, Puji. Eight years later, he decided to create his own restaurant: the “Bumbu Bali, Restaurant and Cooking School”. Passionate about trekking, it was when he met the Kawah Ijen porters that he noticed the inhumane conditions of their work. Heinz, his wife and a few supporters of his cause then decided to help them with the following project.

During each trip to Kawah Ijen, Heinz provides wearers with clothing and financial assistance. The trolley, designed by Studer Thomas, also a Swiss student in mechanical engineering at the University of Lucerne, aims to relieve the difficult work of sulfur carriers. They carry 60 to 100 kg of sulfur daily over a journey of more than 4 kilometers and make up to two round trips per day. One kg of sulfur costs around 900 Indonesian rupiahs. Porters earn on average 126,000 rupees per day. This is much more than the salary of a rice farmer, but it is obviously harder. Life expectancy in this environment is around 45 years due to exposure to gases and the considerable weight of the baskets. Through his project, Heinz Von Holzen seeks to give sulfur carriers a chance for a better life. It also guarantees education for 80 children.

Every day, he devotes an hour to answering questions and help from around the world, and plans to return to East Java around ten times this year to follow the progress of his project. To achieve his ambitions, he needs financial and material support (clothing). The construction of 200 trolleys will cost between 600 and 700 million rupees this year (between €40 and €50,000), half of which has already been financed. Any outside help is obviously welcome.

If you too would like to contribute to this noble cause, do not hesitate to contact Heinz at this address: [email protected] or visit his website on his passion for trekking in Indonesia. Explore Kawah Ijen with us too! Contact us by email ([email protected]) or fill out the form directly on our website.