Christophe Archambault / AFP - Getty Images

Indonesian miners carry baskets of sulphur from the bottom of the crater of Indonesia's active Kajah Iwen volcano, in the extreme east of Java island. Some 350 sulphur miners eke out a dangerous and exhausting living on the active volcano, carrying hauls of up to 80 kilos of "yellow gold," which will be bought by local factories and used to refine sugar or make matches and medicines. The miners extract the liquid sulphur as it flows out of hot iron pipes. Once in the open air, it cools, crystallises and turns bright yellow. The sulphur is then loaded into wicker baskets at either end of bamboo yokes and carried back over the lip of the crater and down the side of the volcano, a treacherous journey of 2.5 miles.

Miners carry baskets of sulphur from Kajah Iwen volcano

Going to work every day in an active volcano seems like a very bad idea.

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This is an amazingly beautiful photo depicting a life many of us will never and have never known. Thank you for this bit of insight.

    Reply#1 - Sun Dec 26, 2010 1:32 AM EST

    it supposed to be written as Kawah Ijen, not Kajah Iwen. Kawah in english it's mean crater.... :)

      Reply#2 - Sun Dec 26, 2010 6:40 AM EST

      Wow!! I can take better pictures than this but I will never get them to publish this pretty. This is a nice page and I love how the image is so nice and big. You can really see the detail. Excellent!!

      I really like the subject in the photo cause if I have any luck in this lifetime I will not have to go anywhere that sulphur is being mined like that. JJ

        Reply#3 - Mon Dec 27, 2010 1:23 PM EST
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