My Holiday In White Crater

On December 25, 2014.  Me, my brother and my mom went with my uncle to the white craters.White Crater is a striking crater lake and tourist spot in a volcanic crater about 50 km south of Bandung in West Java in Indonesia. In the way there we drove through villages and crossed a bridge and a river. I went there by car which takes approximately 2 hours. There are many thousands of small market-crop farmers in the fertile valley to the south of Bandung which leads up towards the Kawah Putih area. Local food-crops grown include a wide range of fruits and vegetables. A strawberry industry is well-established in the area and many strawberry farms have fruit for sale along the

side of the highway. When we arrived there, we stopped at the foot of the mountain to buy some food because no one is selling food at the peak of White Crater. After that we bought tickets costing 100,000 rupiah. We can take a car that had been provided by staff to reach the Summit craters but i went to the summit with my own car. Finally we reached the Summit of the White Crater. On the way from the foot mountain to the top takes about 10 minutes. On the way to the top of white crater I saw some hikers who walk to the crater of Mount White. I think the hikers were very tiredness to reach the summit White Crater. The air from the top of the crater white very fresh but I also smell the sulfur.

Area around the White Crate was very clean and the parking lot was very organized. From the parking lot we must walk to the crater. We must walk down the stairs that is pretty long to reach the crater. To go down into the crater we are advised to wear masks because of the stench of sulfur in the crater is quite intense. We are also only allowed to visit the crater just for 15 minutes because if more than that then it can cause dizziness and nausea. When we descended the staircase we will see some information boards that tell us about white crater.The lake is said to have been first documented in the western world in 1837 by Dr Franz Willhelm Junghuhn, a German botanist who carried out a considerable amount of research in Indonesia. At the time, there were various local stories about the history of the area. Birds were said to be reluctant to fly near the region and villagers in the area tended to regard the forest around the lake as eerie and somewhat mysterious. These stories prompted Dr Junghuhn to investigate. He discovered Kawah Putih. There was formerly a sulfur mine at the crater although production has now ceased. A sulfur plant known as the Zwavel Ontgining Kawah Putih was first established near the lake during the period of Dutch rule in Java. The plant was later taken over during World War II by the Japanese military and operated under the name Kawah Putih Kenzanka Yokoya Ciwidey. Entry points to various tunnels which represent the remnants of these mining activities can be seen at several points around the current site. Around the white craters we can also see a very beautiful forest. Finally we reached the crater.

The crater was very beautiful and the smell of sulfur was strong because there was a good deal of steam and sulfurous gas bubbling from the lake. At the moment it is fairly crowded around the crater  because it was visited by tourists and that day is the holiday. Beside we enjoyed the crater we took many picture too in the crater. Once satisfied to see the crater we returned to the car and went home.