Inside the Indonesian amber mines, Part 2
- Ryan Zschomler
- 20 hours ago
- 3 min read
A deeper look at our first trip to the amber mines
On my second day in Maura Bungo, we went to the amber mines for the first time. But there is a BIG caveat to this story. This first mine we visited, we weren't allowed to be there because we didn't have proper entry permits. And this is a jail-able offense. Multiple people have gone to jail for this over the past 6 months since the laws got stricter.
This was all, of course, unbeknownst to me. I was informed by my guide that we were entering legally.
Entering the amber / coal mines without a permit
How could you enter without a permit, you ask? Well it's because it's on a long stretch of dirt roads, with no exact entry or exit point. But there is a very large "base" on that road, where all the workers and materials are housed. It must house over 100 people as it is a very large compound with a blue roof. They have a security constant patrolling the roads, searching for people who may try to steal their coal.
Here's a sign on the way to the amber mines. Too bad I couldn't read Indonesian when we passed it:
Indonesian Amber Mine Security
Security exists in the form of patrol cars, who stop cars on this road to demand their permits from them. Unpermitted visitors may face jail time.
We drove along this road, and my guide pointed out many amber deposits. But we didn't stop at a single one. And every time a car came in our direction down the road, i was to stay relatively low in the truck and "hide." At this point i knew something was amiss, but i was assured it's OK.
Eventually we stopped on the road, and walked a short way down by a river. There I was shown the remains of a previous amber mine, and how it had been replanted with trees.
Escaping security, escaping jail time
While we were filming this area, I heard the sound of tires on the dirt road far off. The sound was approaching us. As soon as my guide heard this, he commanded me to "Get down," in an urgent tone. I crouched behind a thin bush that did not really hide me well at all.
I didn't film this, because of course i'm not going to vlog me hiding from security behind a thin bush. But the photo above is the location where I hid. I have been warned multiple times since then that amber buyers have recently been getting arrested for buying unpermitted amber in this zone.
Luckily, the security car passed by without noticing me. My guide continued to tell me "stay down" in urgent, furtive tones until i could no longer hear the tires on the road and the truck was out of sight. My guide checked the road both ways furtively, and then urged me to get into the truck quickly. I ran up the embank, jumped into his truck, and we rolled off calm as a cucumber.
I later receieved this DM from an amber dealer in the zone who saw I was in the mines and wanted to offer a piece of advice.
The rest of this day, we basically stayed on the road until we reached some far away closed mines and explored those. I think the brush with security has us both spooked. We had more adventures this day, and we will go into those on Part 3
Thanks for joining along! Part 3 coming soon!
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