Kawah Putih
A Sulphurous Crater Lake Of Mount Patuha At 2,400 Metres Whose Water Runs Milk White To Turquoise And Whose Surrounding Rock Is Bleached Bone Pale · Ciwidey, West Java
KAWAH PUTIH MEANS WHITE CRATER and the name is literal. A sulphurous lake sits in the crater of MOUNT PATUHA at TWO THOUSAND FOUR HUNDRED METRES south of Bandung, and the water runs MILK-WHITE, PALE GREEN OR TURQUOISE depending on how concentrated the dissolved sulphur is that week. The rock, the sand and the dead tree stumps around it are all BLEACHED BONE-PALE by the same chemistry. The effect is genuinely otherworldly and it photographs so well that Indonesian pre-wedding shoots queue here. LOCALS AVOIDED THE CRATER FOR CENTURIES because birds flying over it dropped dead, and it was assumed to be haunted; a Dutch naturalist walked in in 1837 and established that the cause was gas, which is the same gas that is there now. SULPHUR FUMES ARE STRONG, visits are short in practice, and anyone with a respiratory or cardiac condition should think hard before going down onto the crater floor at all. Most visitors last twenty to thirty minutes before their eyes and throat object.
Sugihmukti, Pasirjambu, Bandung Regency, West Java, Ciwidey, West Java, Indonesia
OPEN IN DAYLIGHT with an entry fee and a separate vehicle charge. ACCESS RUNS THROUGH A SHUTTLE SYSTEM from the lower car park - private cars are generally not taken all the way up, and the shuttle is charged on top. THE CRATER IS A SHORT WALK AND A FLIGHT OF STEPS from the upper drop-off. THE FUMES GOVERN EVERYTHING: sulphur dioxide concentration varies with wind and activity, the site closes at short notice when it rises, and even on a good day most people last twenty to thirty minutes on the crater floor before their eyes and throat object. MASKS ARE SOLD AT THE ENTRANCE and are worth buying. WEEKENDS AND INDONESIAN HOLIDAYS BRING VERY LARGE DOMESTIC CROWDS. It is cold at this altitude and afternoon cloud is routine.