The mining of sulfur in the Ijen Crater on East Java is often described as the most dangerous and toughest job on earth (see link). We doublechecked this ourselves...and we wholeheartedly AGREE!!!
We went up the mountain with them, down the crater and stood right beside the sulfur mining spot deep in the crater with lots and lots of sulfurous smoke so thick you partly coulden't see a thing.
The toxic, sulfurous smoke is really all around you and we got a pretty good share of it in our lungs, which is really, really scary, because if you are really deep in the cloud, you get no air, breathing hurts your lungs and nose and you think you will choke or loose conciousness within the next minutes.
At least we have an excuse for our bad marathon-result next year: damaged lungs ;-)
The workers go down the crater, brake the sulfur, carry it up the crater as a load of about 70 - 80kg on their shoulders and down the outer side of the crater...2-3 times a day, everyday, without a free day ever, breathing tons of toxic smoke all the time.
For us this way only once, without heavy load, was nearly more than we could bear! We would not survive one single day in this job.
And the MOST AMAZING thing was: They still smiled at us and joked with us!
What we learned:
1) Thank God we have a different job! Look at the pictures and remember them everytime you feel dissatisified with your current job!
2) Those people, who have one of the worst jobs ever still know how to smile and be happy... why do we NOT?!
Take care!
Renate & Rainer
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