Mt Yasur!

I had walked down to Noa’s house sometime last week and we talked about heading down south. We kept saying yeah when are we going to go to the volcano? When? Finally we said okay next weekend. The plans were made. Well as well as one can make plans to go some where that he has never been, nor does he have internet to look up places to stay. But if I learned anything with Jeff in Europe (other then his A/M issue J ) is that things will just somehow work out.

So Noa walked down to my house at about 0800 and we headed off on our journey to Mt Yasur. In the wrong direction, now this was actually on purpose. To walk to Mt Yasur is about a 6 hour walk. But Lenakel is only an hour and a forty five minute walk down hill and we can catch a truck from Lenakel. We spent the day getting mail, (thanks again everyone who is writing. The post man is getting to know me vary well thanks to you guys) and buying supplies for our trip. It was so hot in Lenakel I think we each bought an ice cream bar or two in each store we went into. Some of those stores we went into just to buy another ice cream bar. Noa almost bought a one litter jug of mint ice cream, but the store did not sell spoons.

Well Noa secured us a ride from a guy who told him it was a 1,000 VT (each) for us to get to the other side. Being that neither of us had been there we thought this sounded about right. Well it turns out that the usual price for tourist is 2,500 VT and that he was giving us a special deal. Well turns out the black man price is only 500VT so I get a littler perturbed because, well this is crap. He then takes us to his brother’s bungalow which is fine because we do not have any idea where to go. We think well we will stay there one night and then find out if we can sleep on the beach. He tells us 2,000 a night. Well the guys kid tells us its only 1,500 each so we say okay.

We head down to there Nakamal to meet the owner of the Bungalow. There is about 45 men at there Nakamal because the chief is making a big tok tok about the rubbish fashion of the yungfala. The chief comes over and shakes my hand I storian with him for ten minutes while he asks me where I am from, what do I do, what did I before Pis Kops etc. He ends the conversation by saying okay now go stand in front of these 45 men who you do not know and tell them everything you just told me. Huh?

Well disrespecting the chief would get us no where, so I got up and gave a short tok tok about myself. I even introduced Noa but then thought Noooo hemi mas makem wan tok tok bakagen. So I said Noa your turn get up there. I went back and storian with the chief. When he found out we were staying at the bungalow he said no way. You just come and to the Nakamal and we will find a home for you. Well we thought we will just stay there one night and then come down and find a place for free.

We found out the gate fee for the Volcano was 2,250 VT a person and after doing some calculating, taking in to account Noa only had 2,500VT I realized we were short on funds. So then after spending the night at the Big Bang Bungalows we had to tell the couple we could not afford another night and see the volcano. She says it would be no good for us not to stay there so we ended up staying two nights with food for 3,600 VT (about $36-,) for the both of us.
That second day we played in the salt water and then came back and played in a small fresh water river. The water was too warm to really be refreshing but it was nice to get clean. At about 1730 we started to make our trek up Mt Yasur. They had told us we had to pay a gate fee of 2,250 a person. So they took that and said one small boy would run it around the mountain to the gate, but we would take a short cut. Well The bungalows owners brother takes us up on top. Once up there he tells us how great it is that we are Peace Corps and that the tourists over yonder all have to pay a gate fee but because we took the short cut we do not. Oh really? Hmmm… So as it turns out they just told us that and then pocketed the money. Not that it was a lot of money but I felt burned. The next day we packed up and moved down the road.

But before we go there I guess I should describe Mt Yasur to you. First off lets talk about this “short cut.” It was a grueling and scary hour walk up a steep and dune of ash filled with super sharp lava rock here and there. How did these rocks end up out here? It is common for lava to fly out of the rim and land on the side of the Mountain. At a few points on the hike I think what are we doing. I am beat. I want to just go sit in some AC and drink a gallon of cold water. But then I got to the top. I should mention the name of the bungalow we stayed at was the Big Bang bungalow. I mention this because from our Bungalow we could feel the vibrations shake our beds from Yasur.

Well once on top and that first rumble roared through my body, it was all worth it. So they say that Yasur is the most active and the most accessible volcano in the world. Now the only other volcano I have been on is Nguna, which is dead, and Lassen which is dormant. But Noa lives in Hawaii and told me about the volcano there. That you are behind a fence and if you look way over there you can see some activity. Well let me tell you, Yasur gets up close and personal.

Several people have died at Yasur, from slipping down the mountain or more likely getting hit by flying molten lava. You are so close that you looking almost straight into the lava. Every few minutes it erupts with a big rumble that vibrates threw your organs and then spews flaming molten lava high into the air. I am guessing at least one hundred feet about my head. You have to be careful because if it hits you then you will probably die. Luckily for us the wind was good and I felt safe most of the time. A couple of the big ones gave us a little fright.

When the lava blasts into the air you would think that it would shoot up like a bottle rocket or something, but in fact it looks like a floating ember just floating high in the sky. Then it turns back and hits the sand with a loud thump; reminding you that it is bigger then a bowling ball chunk of molten lava flying through the air. I got some great photos of the action. I felt alive up there next to the volcano. We stayed for about 45 minutes before heading back. Oh did I mention the sun was setting when we began this journey.

On our walk back down we ended up losing the path several times. I kept telling the guide I think we are to far right. Oh no we are all right. Then a few minutes later Hmm I think we missed the road. Oh do you? Let me guess over to the left? Yup, so several times we had to hike back up and find a new route. This is not so bad but I am walking bare foot and end up puncturing my foot on a sharp lava rock coming down. No shoes while hiking a volcano? Hey that’s how we roll here in Tanna.

When we finally made it to the bottom we decided to finish off this great trip with a swim in the river. What a refreshing way to end a trip. The cheap bottle of also helped in our celebrations. We sat there and shared the bottle with the guide while swimming in the river and looking up at Yasur turn the sky a beautiful orange color while throwing lava high into the sky.