Meet some of the world's toughest men

and be thankful.

It's easy to take things for granted, and expect things to work out as what we want to. And when when there's any deviation, we complain. We complain about being stuck in traffic, trains breaking down, annoying people who frustrate you big time, working with people with extremely low EQ and life skills., the list goes on. They are just first world problems.

But on a bigger scale, at a global level, we people living in first world cities are already considered very privileged. Yes, we need to work and earn enough to make ends meet. But are still have a roof over our heads. To even move from a developing country to a developed one, it's already considered very fortunate! What about people with little or no money for education at all?

What about people who are less privileged? How can you turn a blind eye and neglect them?

Starting work shortly after midnight, these sulphur miners in Indonesia (Surabaya) risk their lives to brave toxic fumes from an active volcano, Ijen.

The minders carry about 90Kg loads of solidifed sulphur out of the crater. All of these for less than USD 10/day.

Each man focuses intently on perfectly balancing the heavy load between the two baskets. This is of vital importance, because the miners are about to haul the baskets up the treacherous trail that leads to the top of the crater's lip.

Many miners have little protection from the noxious fumes wafting out of the volcano as they mine alongside the world's largest acidic crater lake, which has a pH level of 0.5.

Halfway down the crater, you can able to spot the volcano's blue fire flashing through the dense fog and smoke. Tongues of blue flames ripple up the crater walls like reverse waterfalls. This is the spontaneous combustion of subterranean gasses as they seep out into the night air. Temperatures can exceed 400 degrees Celsius (752 Fahrenheit).

The air may be poisonous, but these cobalt fireworks are magical.When dawn breaks, it reveals a lake just a stone's throw away from where the miners are working. The crater lake is a milky blue, with fumes billowing across its surface.

The water in the lake is warm to the touch and 200 meters deep. The lake is also heavily acidic, the result of volcanic gases like sulphur dioxide dissolving into the water. Merely dipping a few fingers into the water leaves the fingers burning because of small, unseen cuts.Periodically, the wind shifts the direction of the smoke, which envelopes the miners in hot clouds of volcanic gas.