Travelers who want to climb Ijen Mountain in Banyuwangi don’t need to worry about being exhausted anymore. If you think you can’t deal with the track towards the peak of the mountain to see the crater, you can simply ride “taxi” so everything can be easier for you. Well, Ijen Mountain is actually a kind of mountain in which the trekking track isn’t really that hard to get through. However, for those who don’t really have good physique, it can be a tough one by considering how the mountain is more than 2,400 meters high. 

The sulfur miners around Ijen Mountain provide “trolley” taxy for rent. This two-wheel taxy is really friendly to the nature because it’s man-powered instead of using engine. The miners are the ones who will pull or push the trolleys. It’s so easy for you to find such taxy. Once you enter the area under the mountain, you will be offered with such taxies by the miners. For you to know, originally, those taxies are the trollies used by the miners to carry the sulfur from the top area of the mountain towards the bottom in Paltuding. But, now, it’s more often used to carry the travelers. It’s quite astonishing to see how the trollies are magically turned into taxies so the travelers can enjoy the blue flame on Ijen Crater without worrying too much about being exhausted.  

And like any other taxies, the trolley taxies are designed to give more comfort to the passengers. Of course, you shouldn’t expect anything like AC or the other kinds of features. The trolleys only have some kind of pillow placed on the platform where the travelers sit. Therefore, you don’t need to worry about hurting your butt when you’re riding the taxies. In order to enjoy this kind of so-called privilege in climbing Ijen Mountain, you will need to pay the fare. And please be prepared because the fare isn’t really that cheap. For the local tourists, the fare is about Rp 800.000 and the foreign tourists will need to pay about Rp 1.200.000. That fare has included the trip to go up and go down the mountain. If you just want to go up, the fare is about the Rp 500.000 – Rp 600.000 for local tourists and about Rp 900.000 – Rp 1.000.000 for foreign tourists. And if you just want to go down the mountain, the fare is about Rp 200.000. It’s because to go down the mountain is a lot much easier for the “taxy drivers” to carry you. 

According to the sulfur miners in Ijen Mountain, their efforts to provide easier transportation for the travelers are considered more promising than to mine the sulfur. In one day, a “taxy driver” in Ijen Mountain can usually do three trips going up and down the mountain. So, at the least, the driver can get more in just one day. It’s definitely a lot much more money compared to when they mine the sulfur. But, sure, it’s going to be a lot much more exhausting for the miners to become the taxy drivers.