The beauty of the crater was brought to light by Dutchman Franz Wilhelm Junghuhn, who exposed it to the public in 1837. History also records that the Dutch built Zwavel Otgining Kawah Putih, a sulfur factory, in the area. During the Japanese occupation of 1942-45, the factory assumed its Japanese name, the Kawah Putih Kenzanka Gokoya Ciwidey.
To visit Kawah Putih, make sure that you get there before 10 a.m., because a mist descends in late morning, especially during the rainy season. The thick mist can obscure the beautiful panorama around the crater lake, the banks of which resembles a sandy beach. There are some trees and shrubs that have grown up — or rather, have attempted to grow up — in the crater itself. But many of these plants are blackened and choked to death by the quite suffocating vapors that constantly surface from the depths of the crater.
The waters of the lake bubble and boil up showing the brooding nature of this crater. In isolated corners, blackened lava-like substances froth and foam up and it is perhaps one of the wonders of this site that the visitor can get so close to these ominous sights of the earth’s volatility.
If the vegetation in the crater is largely killed off by the sulfur vapors, human visitors should be careful too. If the wind blows in the wrong direction, quite overpowering wafts of the vapors can be sent swirling and thus the protection of a recently bought scarf or handkerchief may be called upon.
Direction to Kawah Putih: 50 km south of Bandung City. You could reach it by accessing Kopo or Moh. Toha toll road. It would take around 2 hours travelling from Bandung City by car.
Kawah Putih is, then, quite stunning to the eye but is a little disturbing to the nose. Most of all its really worth to spend time there. Happy Holliday Frenz.
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