Walkaholic - Page 18 of 18 - Hiking is our obsession

Camí de Ronda, the longest trekking of the Costa Brava

During the past easter of 2017, I did with a friend of mine El Camí de Ronda (Catalan) or El Camino de Ronda (Spanish). It was a 5 days trek through the Costa Brava (Girona), to one of the most famous trekking routes of the Mediterranean.

This coastal path got formed during the 19th century, due to small footprints through the cliffs. But during the 20th century, it was used by the Guardia Civil (Spanish military forces) to prevent smuggling. Nowadays, this beautiful trekking route, has only leisure purposes. You can either walk it by parts or in a row.

You can start the trekking route at the North of the Girona province, in Portbou, and go until the South of the Tarragona Province, in Ulldecona. Apparently it actually goes all the way down to Malaga, in Andalusia. The difference between regions is big, and the worst one is the part of the Valencian Community, which is not signposted at all. The length of the whole route of El Cami de Ronda through Catalonia is 583 kilometers, and you could check the itinerary of the Catalan path here.

Between Llançà and Port de la Selva (Cami de Ronda) / Picture by Teresa Grau Ros https://www.flickr.com/photos/teresa_grau_ros/15401298963

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Kawah Ijen and it’s unexpected wonder the sulfur mines

When I first heard about Crater Ijen, or Kawah Ijen as Indonesians call it, I was going from the volcano Mount Bromo to Probolinggo, and then I was going to head to Banyuwangi, the nearest city to Kawah Ijen. Before going to Banyuwangi, I only knew that there was a volcano close to the town, but I did not know what was I going to see over there.

The first thing that the people I met in Mount Bromo told me, was that there were sulfur mines in the crater, that did not surprise me, since I had been in Japan during the previous months to my trip in Indonesia, and that was pretty common to see, although not the mines.

But what astonished me the most was when they told me that you could see blue flames at night, coming out of the sulfur mines. That really blew my mind! I was imagining the blue fire I had seen tons of times when I cooked at home with gas or when I prepared a barbecue with my friends, but I could not imagine to see that in a bigger scale. However, there were other facts that would make my hike to Kawah Ijen a deeper experience.

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Mount Bromo sunrise and the Sea of Sand

It has an altitude of 2.329m and despite not being the tallest peak of the Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park, this famous volcano has attracted many tourists to Java, Indonesia since long time ago. Specially for the Mount Bromo sunrise, the biggest attraction. The native name is not Mount Bromo, but Gunung Bromo, and it comes from the Javanese translation of the Hindu God of Creation, Brahma.

How to get there

To arrive to Mount Bromo you will first have to reach Probolinggo, a city 45 kilometers away from the volcano. Continue reading Mount Bromo sunrise and the Sea of Sand

Taman Negara trek, a trip to the jungle

I came to this part of Malaysia with a clear objective, going for a Taman Negara trek. Why? Well, it’s a huge jungle, it still has a relevant wild nature, and it’s cheap.

Taman Negara, means national park in Malay, and it is a huge green area in peninsular Malaysia. Most of it is still a virgin jungle forest, although it’s size has been shrinking during the past of time, being the main reason of it the plantation of palm fields.

Lubuk Simpon beach - Taman Negara trek — Lubuk Simpon beach – Taman Negara trek

However, you can do a lot of activities in this wonderful national park, and see plenty of animals on your way to do them. I came here to do some jungle trekkings, and specially motivated to see, perhaps, a few rare and exotic wild animals like the Asian tiger or the Asian elephant, although I saw none of them at the end. Continue reading Taman Negara trek, a trip to the jungle