PUPPET!!

Me and Max in Marlioboro

When you see the title, maybe you will think that I am going to talk about something with “puppet” as a metaphor. If you think that way, I am sorry that I have to tell you that you are wrong. What I am going to write here is real puppet. Yes, a puppetry, the special kind of art what involving puppet in it. I want you to know how it can unite the world and how it make our differences – even language, are not a problem at all.

Dialog is not always necessary in puppetry. I experienced it in event of World Puppet Carnival 2013 what was held in Jakarta on September 1st until September 8th, 2013. Especially September 3rd, 2013. I decided to sacrifice my lunch time to watch the show from Argentina. The show what was brought by 3 silly Argentina guys, Damien, Danielo, and Ulises. It was really funny show, my stomach was hurt because I was too much laughing. In the evening, there was a beautiful dancing and music show from Serbia which involve a love story, no dialog just the moves of puppets and it is very nice. The Georgian brought a shadow puppet what was done only by their hands, it told a story about the journey of Bear. It was brilliant show, again no dialog, but it brought my feelings fly to the sky, sometimes laugh sometimes tears. The other one what was great was the show from Indonesia what brought by Papermoon Puppet Theatre Yogyakarta. On the contrary of Georgian show what was involved small stage and wonderful job of hands, this show was involved the entire stage of Usmar Ismail Hall. Wonderful job, the lighting, sounding, thoughtful motion of the puppeteers. They were so brilliant. My face was full of tears at the end of the show. After that there were Indian Stomach Puppet Dance Show, Kite Puppet Show what brought a story about Earth, and some other shows that unfortunately I can’t mention one by one. Yes, puppetry works in it beautiful way to speak to the audience without words.

That miracle was not only happening on the stage, but also under the stage. It had also happened when there is no show. When all the puppeteers from 60 countries hanging out. Out of the show time. Although some of them have visited many countries to do the show, doesn’t mean that all of them can speak in English. But somehow, we are still having fun together. I remember most of the puppeteers of Budrugana Gagra from Georgia can’t really speak in English. Some puppeteers from Argentina, Spain, Romania, and some other countries also can’t really speak in English. It didn’t challenge us to gathering every night to sing, chit chat and did some games. We had google translator that mostly help us in communication. Very fun..

Rod Petrovic is the Executive Director of World Puppet Carnival. He made this unique Carnival and succeeded to involve many countries. On 2013, around 60 countries were joined, then 2014 the participants were raised to be around 80 countries. According to their slogan, Support Puppet Arts! It’s Good for Humanity was true. It brought the people from many many countries, and yes there were some nominations, trophy and prizes involved, but as per my experience, I had never felt any competitive spirit between one and each other participants during the carnival. All the participants were trying to be supportive to each other, share spirits and knowledges. I remember Sue, the participant from Australia had a nice deep conversation with me about how people sometimes underestimating our dream and how we won’t let those people despair ourself on our last night gathering before everybody separated in the next day. I remember some participants were sharing their trick in doing their puppet tricks.

During World Puppet Carnival, I have learned so much about how this small thing – Puppet, has so much power to unite the people. And it made me realized that actually, we are – the human, basically like to be in peace, to be in the embrace of nice family, sharing, and supporting each other. Without taking care about race, skin color, social status, religion, politic, and other things that possibly break us apart. And the puppet arts is the small but prestigious excuse to make it come true. If we can learn from puppeteers to find more excuse to unite than to be in fight, this world will be better place where war is really not necessary. I believe.

Visit Tidung Island Again

I was missing sea a lot, but I didn’t have much money in my pocket. It was the end of the month, I had only IDR 200,000. Then suddenly, on Thursday morning, September 26th, 2013,  I got the broadcast message in my BBM what promoted the opened trip to Tidung Island from September 28th – 29th, 2013 with cost IDR 200,000. I read only the price and the destination, but I didn’t read what are included in the price. I was happy but I can’t pay IDR 200,000, because I can’t use my entire money only for traveling package. I was obliged to think about how can I get Muara Angke Harbor, so I had to leave some money in my pocket, at least IDR 50,000. After some negotiation, finally the cost became IDR 100,000 only, consider I have ever helped the same travel agent to get customers, he gave me the uncommon price.

Short story, I leaved my home in Bojong gede at 4am on September 28th, 2013, since everyone were expected to be in the harbor at 6am. I went by train from Bojonggede Station to Jakarta Kota Station, the cost was IDR 5,000. The train came at 4:30am and reached Kota Tua at 5:40am. Train was quiet, it enabled me to continue my sleep. I slept until another passenger woke me up. From Kota Station I continued the trip by ojek (the motorcycle rental included the rider) with cost IDR 25,000.

I arrived at Muara Angke exactly at 6am. The meeting point was the same with the meeting point for Pari Island Trip – Gas Station Muara Angke. I was waiting for 30 minutes until I was surprised by my old friends – Dwi who I didn’t meet for a long time since she got married. She yelled my name when I was about to leave the harbor and get into the wood boat. Unexpectedly, she and hers husband who is also my friend – Mamet, were in the traveling with their family in the same travel agent what I used that time. After short greeting we went to the boat. We were separated in the boat because they prefer to be in lower deck to avoid the sun and my self, due to I love to feel the wind and sun so I went to the top of the boat.

On the boat I met 2 guys who were in event of reunion of the alumni of Senior High School 64. It leads us to a nice conversation, and off course mostly I was the person who talked a lot. Hehehe. After some time, we all overslept like as other people. The sun was still not too hot, hence it is comfortable, even better – it gave me a warm feeling.

ON THE BOAT (NARSIS DIKIT)

People on the Boat

Red Shirt : Boni (from SMA 64)& Green Shirt : Jala (still 3rd Grade of Junior High School)

Short story I arrived in Tidung Island. I guess I was the last person who got off the boat. I couldn’t stand to see the garbage what people leaved just like that on the boat. Because there was a big possibility that those garbage will fall to the sea, and that won’t be good. I collected them as many as possible and brought them down until I found a trash bin. After I threw them into the trash bin, I was called by the other guide, his name is Rony. I met 2 girls who were my roommate during the trip. They were sisters – Elena and Susan. After short greeting we continued to go to our homestay.

On the way to our homestay, I discovered that the package was not included snorkeling or the boat to go to the snorkeling spot, it was only for homestay, 3 times food (lunch, dinner, breakfast) and barbecue. I was directly feeling down, because the biggest reason I want to go to the Island was to go snorkeling and free diving. But my mind think fast. I approached Mamet and Dwi to let me join their boat, because I heard that he took the complete package. They welcomed me so gladly as long as I told them how to go snorkeling.

Me and the girls (my roommate) finally decided to rent a bicycle to enable us go around the island (cost of renting bike per day was IDR 20,000). So far I spent IDR 55,000 out of the travel agent package.

We arrived at our home stay at 11am. When we reached homestay, we were welcome with a very nice homemade dishes with coconut water. Nice.. After some talks and ate our lunch, we went to the beach, took some pictures and leaved the beach at 12:30 to continue others activity which were snorkeling and banana boat. On the boat I was bit surprised, because the snorkeling tools what the travel agent provide was exclude the fin. It was not a big problem for me, since I brought my own snorkeling tools from home, but it will be difficult for the beginner. Well, I guess..

Susan, Lena, Gita – Roomates

With Dwi

With Dwi’s Niece – Fenny

It was a very first experience for Mamet and family to go snorkeling, hence it was not so optimal exploring for them. I was also not really optimal exploring due to I was bit busy motivating them to jump into the sea. Finally I brought Dwi on my arm to let her saw a little bit more the beauty of sea creatures. And she told me that she was excited. For me, that snorkeling experience was enough satisfying. Because honestly I didn’t expect I will see something beside some small fishes and broken corals. But I was bit surprised when I found 2 pipe fishes, puffer fish, some nice hard and little soft corals, bat fishes, clown fish and some other fishes what I can’t describe.

On the boat, ready for snorkeling

After snorkeling, we went banana boating. According to request of Dwi’s family, the speed boat rider didn’t do the thing what supposed to happen while banana boating – drive us to fall. We did a “super safety” banana boat. Hehehe.. But it was alright, I didn’t expect I would enjoy banana boat though. It was a big bonus for me. Hehehe.

Banana Boating was the last activity what involve sea and boat that day ^_^. We went back home around 4pm. LOL, so short? Yah… It is!! I was about to complaint but what to do, hehehe I got those activities for free though. So it was more than good for me.

At night at 8pm, we had a barbecue in front of our home stay. There were grill sausage and some grill fishes. The sambal was very good. I was always impressed with the food in Pulau Seribu, either in Pari, Pramuka and here – Tidung. After barbecuing, the girls (my roommate) and the families (Dwi, Mamet and family) directly went to the room. I was like,. WHAT? IT IS STILL 9PM. So I decided to do other activities my self.  I went to sleep at midnight.

yummy barbecue

In the morning, me, the girls and Ronny woke up early to get the sunrise, around 5:30am. We didn’t wait for the families because the guide of them was different. We went to Jembatan Cinta (Bridge of Love). This bridge is connecting Tidung Island and Tidung Kecil Island. Three of us planned to walk through the bridge together in the beginning, but finally The Girls stopped in the middle and decided to just stay there and wait for me exploring. But at the end, they didn’t even wait for me. They called me and said that they wanted to go back to the homestay earlier. LOL.. It was alright for me. I can explore some other options when I am alone, my thought that morning. And I did.

Shy Sunrise from Tidung Kecil

@jembatan cinta

In Tidung Kecil I got stomachache and wanted to poo :p. I didn’t see any toilet but I don’t want to go back to Tidung  Island. So finally I went to the bungalow on top of the sea. I greeted some woman there and requested a permission to use their toilet. Hehehehe. Problem solved. After release my weight, I made an interesting conversation with the people from Bungalow. It lead me to discover that they were from Indonesia Army who made a gathering event in this island. Hahaha.. Around 1 hour I was with them but and share our phone numbers with 2 of them (Bertha and Ganesh). They requested me to involve them if I want to do a journey again.

I leaved the Tidung Kecil Island around 7:00am and I was intend to go back to my home stay. But on the way I met again the guys I met on the boat (Boni and Jala), this time with more friends of him. This meeting was ended by jumping jumping moments from the bridge. It was so exciting.. I loved it. I met a very interesting new friends during that moment, unfortunately I didn’t save the number of all of them. If you read my article, I want to let you know that it was a very big pleasure to have fun with you guys!!

After Jumping Jumping with Boni and Jala

I didn’t do anything else more excited after that. Only drunk a coconut and prepared my self to go back to Jakarta.

When we reached Muara Angke, me and the girls decided to use taxi and shared the cost to go to the Train Station. I paid like IDR 15,000. And it continued by train : IDR 5,000, and public transport (D05) from Bojonggede to Gang Pesantren ( my home) : IDR 2,500.

Totally my spent was : package : IDR 100,000. Train return : IDR 10,000. D05 return : IDR 5,000. Ojek : IDR 15,000. Taxi : IDR 15,000. Bicycle : IDR 20,000

NICE? Yes it was. But this kind of thing not always happen though.

Alright guys.. That was my another story. See you at my next story.

NB : I am planning to have trip to Kiluan, Lampung November 14th – 17th, 2013 (leaved Jakarta to Lampung at November 14th, 2013 night). I will share the “possible” expense in 3 days. Whoever wants to join please send me email to okharismagita@gmail.com. We can share the budget to make the travel cheap 😉

When Puppet Unite The World

Argentina, Australia, Bangladesh, Belarus, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Colombia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, Estonia, Euro-Asian, France, Finland, Germany, Greece, Georgia, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iran, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Mongolia, New Zealand, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Singapore, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, South Korea, Thailand, Tunisia, Ukraine, United Kingdom, USA, Venezuela, Vietnam, Togo-Liberia, Kazakhstan, Turkey, Bolivia, Lebanon, Norway, Cambodia, Croatia, Guatemala, Netherlands, Armenia, Sweden… The puppeteers from those countries came to Jakarta, Indonesia to be united in the language of puppet.

Started from first of September until eight of September, Indonesia has a big pleasure to host the puppeteers  from around the world to do the event of World Puppeteers Carnival 2013. The show is held in Taman Mini Indonesia Indah, National Monument, National Museum, and Usmar Ismail Hall. For Jakarta people, it is really a big shot to explore the cultures of 41 countries instantly, without visiting them. Please click and check the details of the show, event and schedule of shows in this link : WWPC2013.

Unfortunately, I can’t visit them all because of I got jobs to do in the office. But I will surely come to the show at 12:00, 18:00 and 20:00.

Try to come to their show, they (the delegator) will be so happy to see the hall is full of audience to see their show.

Farewell for Mr. Nandakumar

I am really happy to spend some time with my good friend, Nandakumar Rajasekaran and also his family, Ms. Amutha – his wife and Jeevan – his son.

In the morning of June 8th, 2013, we started from Rasuna Said Kuningan at 6am and arrived in Muara Angke around 8am. We were little bit lost due to lack information. We went to another harbor what lead us to pass the fish market. On the way to Kapal Kayu Muara Angke Harbor from Fast Boat Muara Angke Harbor we saw a sad view – the death body of sharks without fin. This view influenced my mood for enough long time, until we arrived in Pari Island.

The wood boat was not really big, but there were too many people on that boat, probably around 100-150 people. So you must able to imagine how full was the boat. The condition was getting worse when the departure time got postponed till more than 1 hour with unknown reason, the sun was cheerfully lighting us that time, makes the weather hotter. Good thing was me and Jeevan were playing around during waiting time, so we still have a good time.

On the boat

Still have a good time on the boat

PEAAACEEE… the new favorite pose of Jeevan

The journey from Muara Angke to Pari Island took 2 hours with this wood boat. When we arrived, the friendly guy named Budi welcomed us and brought us to Homestay. The homestay where we stayed wasn’t luxurious but enough comfortable, it was equipped by fan in each room (living room, tv room, bed room), 2 “mandi” room, 1 television and 2 bed. The bicycle was included in the IDR 450,000 price of the tour package we took.

In the homestay

We took 1 hour to have some rest. After that Budi brought  us to Lipi Island. It was beautiful beach, beside some of debris from the city came visited as well. When we arrived in that beach, it was a low tide, therefore we decided to walk little bit far from the beach. When we walked, we saw some live sandy starfishes  and there were more possibilities that some other live organism stay there as well. I can imagine if we accidentally step on them, then we can kill them easily, very easy. Or else, we will able to get sting by them. That was why I decided to go back to the beach as soon as I saw starfishes. So for everyone who will visit Lipi beach in Pari Island, I suggest you to just stay on the beach only and don’t take walk in the water/wet sands.

This kind of Starfish were everywhere in Lipi Beach

In LIPI Beach

From Lipi beach, we visited the nearby beach – Kresek Beach. It was not really large beach but it was good enough to chill out in that area. There was a little shop selling the coconut and some small snacks. This beach was the place we had a barbecue at night. From Kresek beach, we prepared our self for like 30 minutes, then we started snorkeling.

The smaller wood boat was supposed to bring us to go snorkeling to 3 spots. But because of bad weather we only visited 2 spots plus visited Tikus Island, we missed bintangrama spot, the spot what I heard be nominated as the best spot in Pari Island. Overall, the spot here was a fringing reef. The most common type of reef in South-East Asia. I met some genus of coral such as chypastrea, favia, porites, montipora, acropora, and lobophylia. I met some fishes as well and some of them were colorful such as some batfish, sweetlips fish, rainbow fish, etc, I can’t describe fish very well. My review about the spot here was,,, m.. Better I give my wish about spots in Pari Island, or more correct to all spots in Thousand Islands. I wish people stop to step on the corals, it will really kill them. And please mind your fins, consider your fins has a very big possibility in killing not only corals but also the organism in it, so keep your fins away from the sea creatures is very wise act. I wish also the boat will mind about their way in placing their anchor. Because honestly I saw many death corals here, some corals have turned to white color. We might not be able to bring the color back but at least we can try to stop killing them, right?

On the way to snorkeling spot

Jeevan peaaaceeee!!

Pose in the middle of the sea with Mrs. Amutha!!

Pose in the middle of the sea with Nanda

Hehe,, I can get a pic of me freediving!!

Hehe,, I can get a pic of me freediving!!

Underwater pic was included in the tour package

We back to Main Dock of Pari Island at 4pm. So the total of our sea tour was 3 hours. Budi told us to get clean and be ready at 6pm, therefore we can enjoy the sunset. He wasn’t lying when he said the sunset here was the most beautiful thing we can’t missed. Because the sunset was so beautiful, it was look so big and close.

After we enjoyed the sunset we went back to our homestay to enjoy the dinner. Speaking about food. The food service in Pari Island was the nicest food service I have ever experienced in my islands tour. It is a default to serve 3 kind of foods, 2 side dish and 1 vegetable dish, with rice, sambal and chips. It is a simple food but very tasty. They brought food by cart to each homestay. We didn’t have to go to the restaurant or leave our room to have food. They serve a warm food, hence possible us to reach the top of pleasure in enjoying the food. When we have just arrived they served a fried calamari, corncake, and vegetable soup with rice , sambal (chili sauce) and chips. After sunset they brought us a fried tempe (soycake), fish, sour vegetable soup with rice, sambal and chips. At night we went to Kresek beach and enjoyed the barbecue. And in the morning they served us the omelet, fried rice and tempe, and again with sambal and chips!

It wasn’t only the sunset was beauty, but also the sunrise. Budi picked us from our homestay in early morning to enjoy the sunrise in Perawan Beach to see the beautiful sunrise. In Perawan beach there were some people who built a tend and slept on the beach. There are small shops what sells coconut with gorengan (fried snacks) what make this beach more beachy hehehe… There are also canoe and volley ball net what give tourist a choice to have some fun on the beach. And the mangrove, it is completing all this beauty.

Perawan Beach

Perawan Beach

Chill out in Perawan Beach

Because of I wasn’t satisfied enough with my intimate time with fish and sea a day a go, so I decide to go snorkeling alone nearby the Main dock. And I didn’t regret it at all. I saw more kind of corals and fishes, sword fishes, prawn, snapper fishes, sea anemone with anemone fish, etc, etc. I spent another 1 hour alone and I loved it.

We leaved the island at 12:30pm and arrived in Muara Angke 2:00pm. End of journey.

We ready to go home!!

I really enjoy my time with Mr. Nandakumar Rajasekaran and his family. Unfortunately he is no longer working in Jakarta office. But we know, no matter how far is our distance, they will never be far from my mind and my heart.

“Oleh-Oleh” of the Journey to Wakatobi and Java Island

Wakatobi View – Behind of Hotel Wisata

Waha Diving Site and Waha Beach

With friendly people in Wangi-wangi

Wakatobi underwater (photos captured by Seto Ariyadi)

Wakatobi underwater (photos captured by Seto Ariyadi)

Wakatobi underwater (photos captured by Seto Ariyadi)

Wakatobi, Me and Pierre under water

Peucang (Selat Panaitan)

KARANG COPONG IN PEUCANG

Keraton – Djogjakarta

Djogja Taman Sari

Yogyakarta

Djogja Borobudur

Djogja Candi Mendut

Wonosobo Village

Wonosobo, Our favorite guide – Fidel

Wonosobo Dieng Plateau Lakes

Wonosobo Dieng Plateau Arjuna Temples

Wonosobo Sikidang Crater

Semarang Susan Spa Resort

Jepara Air Terjun Songgolangit

Karimun Jawa Landscape

Karimun Jawa Landscape2

Karimun Jawa Sharing Budget Partners

 

Bromo – Malang

Bromo – Malang

EXPLORE WAKATOBI AND JAVA ISLAND (MARCH 8TH, 2013 – MARCH 30TH, 2013)

GUYS!!!!!!

I have planned to do 2 weeks trip to explore Java since I was 18 years old. Then finally I got the chance to do my planning. But beside of explored Java, I explored Wakatobi also. It was really exciting moments. I am so lucky I can do this all.

It is my pleasure to share you the basic information during my journey. Enjoy 😉

Please don’t hesitate to send me email to okharismagita@gmail.com, if you need more information. I will be so happy to share the information to you guys.

Remember, this all delightful nature and enjoyable beauty will be always beauty and enjoyable only if we keep the nature. Don’t destroy it, don’t throw your garbage arbitrarily and don’t touch any marine life while diving / snorkeling. ^_^

I would like to send my thanks to Pierre-luc Cote who was accompanying me and supporting me until we can accomplish the plan and thanks for your love as well. Beside that I would like to thanks Pak Udin, who gave me such a good  open water training + fun diving as a bonus in each lesson session. Then thanks to all pleasant staff of Hotel Wisata, to Halim our driver in Wakatobi, to Arif – the most favorite diving guide of Pierre, to Mawadah Diving Centre, to Seto – who gave the accessibility to people to enjoy diving in Wakatobi with cheap price but memorable moment, to Erlangga – who maintain our trip to Peucang, to  Eljohn travel – who gave me hotel vouchers, to Pak Handoko – our becak driver who accompanied us exploring Yogyakarta, to Fidel – the best travel guide I’ve ever met, he was enabling us to explore the details of Djogja and Wonosobo, to Nicky, Jelle, Rudy, Mutha and hers boyfriend to be a sharing budget friends in Karimun Jawa.. I wish to meet you again one day. You become my family now.

Please access the summarize of information I collected during the trip as below :

Expense to explore wakatobi and java island

Thanks a lot for reading. See you at my next journey ^_^

Cheers,

O.K.Gita

Jepara – The Nice Solace when You Run Out the Ticket to Karimun Jawa

(Kalau kamu mau lihat versi bahasa Indonesia, silahkan klik tautan ini)

It is common  to hear the people ran out of tickets to Karimun Jawa, especially in certain seasons. Coupled with a schedule that tends to KMP Muria uncertain and this ship will immediately departed ahead of schedule when the ship is already full.

But a day or two-day delay in Jepara do not have to be a sucks choice. Because Jepara also have tourist attractions. What can we explore in Jepara?

Finding out more about the figure Kartini (woman hero of Indonesia), in his native land – Jepara. Dated December 30, 2011, I – Gita, and beautiful women mulatto India – Ama, totally amazed by painting on the wall depicting a glimpse of the life of Kartini. We can immediately conclude that the image was not only made by hand but also with a full appreciation. All the details are not made without meaning and purpose, but it have a story. About all personal details and supporting documentation Indonesian life heroine – Kartini. The museum was not open when we have just arrived to that museum, because we came too quickly, at 9 am. But drivers who we rent to get around working on it very well, he went to the house of the guard of this museum and spoke to him. Therefore the door is opened more quickly for us. When entering the room we were greeted with a large painting of RA Kartini. Just a few steps away from the painting, we find an inscription carved in large size. There is an explanation that tells you exactly what’s inside this museum. Here’s writings: MUSEUM KARTINI ESTABLISH GOALS: 1. Documenting and exhibiting relics of the form of objects, clothes, papers Kartini, 2. Visualize life of Kartini, 3. The central collection and documentation of historic objects and cultural spread in the Jepara, 4. A place of scientific research ….. and 3 other goals. It’s worth it for us to wake up early and took a look around the museum as start. For those who love history or like an interlude between nature adventure, try to visit The House of Kartini, surely you will not regret it.

Jepara – The House of Kartini

Trio tourist sites – Portuguese Coast, the Portuguese fort and Mandalika Island. One and a half hours from The House of Kartini, we finally arrived at the other tourist sites. I like to refer to this site as a Trio. Because of these three things as being a package for people who want to make a trip there. It’s nice to be there, in a single view, we could see the mountains and the sea. This landscape, roughly equal to Amed. Only difference in Amed we could see the sand, and in here – the rocks. This makes the view of the more unique compared to other sea views. From the Portuguese Coast, we can see Mandalika Island. For those of you who like fishing with a challenge, Mandalika Island is a good spot. Here there are also historical sites, his name is also Portuguese, certainly by hearing the name alone, we can be sure that this has to do with colonialism. Yeah right. In the Portuguese colonialism, the fort was used by the colonists to scout the enemy or watching the ships pass and come. To see the rest of the relics of the war, we could drain a little energy and climbed to the top of the Portuguese fort. Not only relics of war that we can see, but also a nice ocean view. We can see in all directions from there. It’s not to hard to get to the top, because the local government had already prepared a special stairs to climb up.

Jepara – Portugis Fort

Finished enjoying time at the Portuguese fort, we still have a lot of places we wanted to visit. Tritis Cave, Songgolangit Waterfall (also often called Jurang Nganten), Banyu Anjlok Waterfall, look around the the original Joglo House, wood carving, Troso fabric crafts, Monel jewelry shopping, to eat durian in the Market Ngabul. We would love to do anything, but unfortunately our time and energy are limited.

JEPARA TOURISM MAP (courtesy from xplorejepara.com)

Finally we decided to go to the Songgolangit Waterfall. This Waterfall is located 30 km to the north of Jepara city center, located in the Village Bucu. In addition to the name Songgolangit Waterfall, it is also known as the Jurang Nganten. In accordance with the legend back to the existence of this waterfall. Two brides were not sanctioned parents, eloped, then fell off a cliff when they cross the river with a chariot drawn by buffalo. Less so was the legend. Heard the story, I was immediately reminded of the story of Romeo and Juliet. Maybe this Indonesian version. Hehehehe… Upon entering the site, I am personally very shocked by her charms, not only the charm of the waterfall, but also a view towards the tourist sites – we can enjoy the mountains and rice paddy fields during the trip. Jurang Nganten abyss is really, really steep. I can feel a little splash of water on my face, like the wind but watery. Very beautiful. But unfortunately, we can only be lovers of scenery. People are not allowed to swim under the Falls, because it is too dangerous. The interesting thing is there are 2 small waterfalls, not far from the main Falls. Since the two small waterfalls that stand next to each other like a couple. In my mind, maybe it was the incarnation of Romeo and Juliet of Jepara .. Lol .. There are other sights that we take into account the unique landscape. A cow crossing a small river on the side of a waterfall to the side where we stand up without slipping.

Jepara – Songgolangit Waterfall

We have 2 reasons, why we chose to visit Songgolangit Waterfall alone. First, we’ve tried to go to the Banyu Anjlok Waterfall, but the site is very difficult to grasp. It’s located in the village of Mayong. Our car tires was almost broke down and we had to continue the journey on foot, because the car can not fit into a narrow and consider the road to Banyu Anjlok Waterfall is too extreme. This makes us discouraged us see Banyu Anjlok Waterfall. The second reason is the time, we still want to see the the original Joglo House, wood carving, Troso fabric crafts, Monel jewelry shopping, to eat durian in the Market Ngabul.

1. The road view to get Banyu Anjlok Waterfall, 2. Pak Selvi, our driver tried to find out how to go to Banyu Anjlok Waterfal, in this spot we cancelled our plan to go to Banyu Anjlok Waterfall

It’s delightful to know that we accomplished to do it all (see the the original Joglo House, wood carving, Troso fabric crafts, Monel jewelry shopping, to eat durian in the Market Ngabul). We were spending a lot of money for jewelry, well I also still have a lot of ladies side though…. Interestingly, it turns out they do not just process Model, but also silver and titanium. And the most interesting point is the fun plus the jewelry VERY CHEAP AND DURABLE. I didn’t regret to buy that much. We also bought fabric Troso. The shop owner kindly let us see how to make this fabric. Wihiii, bonus!! The next night of heavy rain coming, but not discouraged us to eat durian Petruk durian the king. Yummy ..

Jepara – the nice closing of journey

It is rather odd we eat desert first and dinner. But who cares?? We ate fried duck of H. Slamet, located at Jl. Pemuda No.23B. Fried duck with amazingly spicy chili and delicious taste brought a delightful disaster in the morning after that night. On the morning of December 31, 2011.

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MELIPUR LARA DI JEPARA SAAT KEHABISAN TIKET KE KARIMUN JAWA

(If you want to see the english version please click this link.)

Bukan cerita luar biasa saat mendengar pelancong kehabisan tiket ke Karimun Jawa, apalagi di musim-musim tertentu. Ditambah dengan jadwal KMP Muria yang cenderung tidak pasti dan kapal akan langsung berangkat meski lebih cepat dari jadwal bila kapal sudah penuh.

Tapi menunda sehari atau dua hari di Jepara tidak harus menjadi pilihan yang menyebalkan. Karena Jepara juga tempat wisata. Apa yang bisa diexplore disana?

Mencari tahu lebih dalam tentang sosok Kartini, di tanah kelahirannya – Jepara. Tanggal  30 Desember 2011, saya – Gita, dan wanita cantik blasteran India – Ama, benar-benar dibuat kagum pagi itu oleh lukisan di dinding yang melukiskan sekilas kehidupan Kartini. Langsung kami bisa menyimpulkan kalau gambar itu tidak hanya dibuat dengan tangan tapi dengan penuh penghayatan. Semua detail bukan dibuat tanpa makna dan tujuan, tapi punya cerita. Semua detail mendukung pendokumentasian pribadi dan kehidupan pahlawan wanita Indonesia – Kartini. Museum itu belum buka saat kami kunjungi, karena kami datang terlalu cepat, jam 9 pagi. Namun supir yang kami sewa untuk berkeliling mengusahakannya dengan baik, sehingga pintu dibuka lebih cepat untuk kami. Ketika memasuki ruangan itu kami disambut dengan lukisan besar R.A. Kartini yang berwibawa. Hanya beberapa langkah dari lukisan itu, kami mendapati sebuah ukiran tulisan dengan ukuran besar. Di dalamnya ada penjelasan yang dengan tepat menceritakan apa saja yang ada di museum ini. Begini tulisannya : TUJUAN MENDIRIKAN MUSEUM KARTINI : 1. Mendokumentasikan dan memamerkan peninggalan berupa benda-benda, pakaian-pakaian, karya tulis Kartini , 2. Memvisuilkan kehidupan Kartini, 3. Pusat koleksi dan dokumentasi benda-benda bersejarah dan budaya yang tersebar di daerah Jepara, 4. Menjadi tempat penelitian ilmiah….. dan 3 tujuan lainnya. Tidak rugi kami bangun pagi dan menyempatkan diri melihat-lihat museum ini. Bagi yang suka sejarah atau ingin selingan diantara adventure alam, sempatin deh kunjungi Rumah Kartini, pasti nggak akan menyesal.

Jepara – Rumah Kartini

Trio situs wisata – Pantai Portugis, Benteng Portugis dan Pulau Mandalika. Satu setengah jam dari Rumah Kartini, kami akhirnya tiba di situs wisata lain. Situs ini saya suka sebut sebagai Trio. Karena ketiga hal ini seperti menjadi satu paket untuk orang-orang yang ingin melancong kesana. Sangat menyenangkan berada disana, dalam satu kali pandangan saja, kita bisa lihat gunung dan laut. Pemandangan  ini, kurang lebih sama dengan Amed. Hanya bedanya di Amed kita bisa lihat pasir, dan di sini – bebatuan. Inilah yang membuat pemandangan lebih unik dibandingkan dengan pemandangan laut lainnya. Dari Pantai Portugis, kita bisa lihat Pulau Mandalika. Bagi kalian yang suka mancing dengan tantangan, Pulau Mandalika adalah spot yang bagus. Disini juga ada situs sejarah, namanya juga Portugis, pasti dengan mendengar namanya saja, kita sudah bisa pastikan kalau ini ada hubungannya dengan penjajahan. Ya benar. Pada masa penjajahan Portugis dulu, benteng ini digunakan oleh penjajah untuk mengintai musuh atau mengawasi kapal-kapal yang lewat dan datang. Untuk melihat peninggalan sisa perang, kita bisa kuras sedikit tenaga dan naik ke puncak Benteng Portugis. Tidak hanya peninggalan sisa perang yang bisa kita lihat, tapi juga pemandangan laut yang menyenangkan. Kita bisa lihat ke segala penjuru dari situ. Nggak susah kok naiknya, karena pemerintah setempat sudah sediakan tangga khusus untuk naik.

Jepara – Benteng Portugis

Selesai menikmati waktu di Benteng Portugis, kami masih punya banyak tempat yang ingin kami kunjungi. Goa Tritis, Air Terjun Songgolangit (juga sering disebut Jurang Nganten), Air Terjun Banyu Anjlok, lihat-lihat rumah joglo yang masih original berikut dengan wood carvingnya, liat kerajinan kain troso, belanja perhiasan monel, sampai makan duren di Pasar Ngabul. Pengennya sih dilakuin semua, tapi apa daya, waktu dan tenaga kami terbatas.

JEPARA TOURISM MAP. (Courtesy from xplorejepara.com)

Akhirnya kami memutuskan untuk pergi ke Air Terjun Songgolangit. Air Terjun ini terletak 30 km menuju utara dari pusat kota Jepara, berada di Desa Bucu. Selain dengan nama Air Terjun Songgolangit, Air Terjun ini juga dikenal dengan nama Jurang Nganten. Sesuai dengan legenda yang membelakangi keberadaan air terjun ini. Dua pengantin yang tidak direstui orang tuanya,kawin lari, kemudian jatuh ke jurang saat mereka melewati sungai dengan kereta yang ditarik oleh kerbau. Kurang lebih begitu lah legendanya. Mendengar cerita itu, saya langsung teringat cerita Romeo dan Juliet. Mungkin ini versi Indonesianya. Alah, ngelantur.. Saat memasuki situs ini, saya pribadi sangat terkejut dengan pesonanya, tidak hanya pesona air terjunnya, tapi juga pemandangan menuju situs wisata ini – kita bisa nikmati gunung dan hamparan sawah padi selama perjalanan. Jurang Nganten memang benar-benar jurang, sangat terjal. Saya bisa rasakan percikan air sedikit mengenai muka saya, seperti angin tapi berair. Sangat indah. Namun sayangnya, kita hanya bisa jadi penikmat pemandangan. Tidak diperkenankan bagi pengunjung untuk berenang di bawah Air Terjun itu, terlalu bahaya katanya. Yang menarik adalah ada 2 air terjun kecil yang berada tidak jauh dari Air Terjun utama. Karena kedua air terjun kecil itu berdiri bersebelahan seperti pasangan. Di pikiran saya, mungkin itu jelmaan Romeo dan Julietnya Jepara.. Hihihi.. Ada pemandangan lain yang kami perhitungkan sebagai pemandangan yang unik. Seekor sapi menyeberangi sungai kecil dari sisi sepasang air terjun itu sampai ke sisi kami berdiri tanpa tergelincir.

Jepara – Air Terjun Songgolangit

Kami punya 2 alasan, kenapa kami memilih untuk mengunjungi Air Terjun Songgolangit saja. Pertama, kami sudah mencoba pergi ke Air Terjun Banyu Anjlok, tapi situsnya sangat sulit untuk digapai. Ban mobil yang kami ingin kendarai hampir rusak dan kami harus melanjutkan perjalanan dengan berjalan kaki, karena mobil tidak bisa masuk ke dalam situs mengingat sempit dan ekstremnya jalan menuju Air Terjun Banyu Anjlok yang terletak di Desa Mayong ini. Hal ini membuat kami mengurungkan niat kami melhat Air Terjun Banyu Anjlok. Alasan kedua adalah waktu, kami masih mau lihat rumah joglo yang masih original, handcrafting monel, pengrajin kain troso, wood carving dan makan duren di Pasar Ngabul.

Jepara – menuju Air Terjun Banyu Anjlok

Bahagianya kami bisa melakukan itu semua (lihat rumah joglo yang masih original, handcrafting monel, pengrajin kain troso, wood carving dan makan duren di Pasar Ngabul). Kami belanja banyak perhiasan, hihi sedikit banyak saya juga masih punya sisi wanita loh… Menariknya, ternyata mereka tidak hanya mengolah monel, tapi juga perak dan titanium. Dan ini poin paling menarik plus menyenangkannya adalah perhiasan-perhiasan itu SANGAT MURAH DAN AWET.  Gak nyesel deh beli yang banyak. Kami juga beli kain troso. Sang Pemilik Toko dengan ramah membiarkan kami melihat cara membuat kain ini. Wihiii, bonus!! Malam harinya hujan yang sangat lebat datang, tapi tidak mengurungkan niat kami untuk makan duren petruk si rajanya duren. Yummy..

Jepara – the nice closing of journey

Memang agak aneh kami makan desert dulu baru makan malam. Tapi siapa yang peduli?? Kami makan Bebek Goreng H. Slamet, lokasinya ada di Jl. Pemuda No.23B. Bebek goreng dengan sambal yang pedesnya menakjubkan ini membawa malapetaka nikmat di pagi hari setelah malam itu. Pagi hari tanggal 31 Desember 2011.

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Reference To Visit Wakatobi (South-East Sulawesi)

On March 8, 2013, I got the chance to visit and explore Wakatobi.  I went there by Lion Air from Jakarta to Makassar and continued the flight to Kendari and Wangi-wangi by wings air. You can book the flight from Jakarta – Makassar – Kendari – Wakatobi separately or book it as one package, according to your convenient.

When we have just arrived in Wangi-wangi Airport, we saw only trees, no houses, no building, no sea. We were totally blind about Wakatobi. We didn’t know where we would stay, what transportation we would use, even we didn’t know where the sea was, until we met Halim. Halim offered us a transportation to go to the center of Wangi-wangi, the place we can find accommodation and diving center.  He gave us the reasonable price, IDR 50,000 for 30km distance. It takes less than 1 hour to get our hotel. He drops us at Hotel Wisata. The room renting price there is IDR 350,000/ night.

It was comfortable room, king size bed, hot water shower available, humble and nice housekeeping and receptionist, and what impressed me was they have international channel in their television. Beside our hotel there was Hotel Wakatobi, it was look comfortable too, but I didn’t check that. The cost per night in Hotel Wakatobi was IDR 250,000. Two days after our arrival we made a little walk to discover this small town. And we found some other hotels. The costs of those hotels are started from IDR 70,000 – IDR 150,000. But off course you can’t expect something luxurious there.

We couldn’t wait until tomorrow to taste the sea water. We knew we were tired, consider we start the journey at 3am, but we didn’t care with that. So we decided to ask Halim to drop us to the closest snorkeling spot. Closest snorkeling spot in Wangi-wangi is Sobu, it can be reached easily, I mean no need boat to reach it, only by car or motorcycle, you will able to be there. It was so beautiful spot for snorkeling. We found sea snake and some other sea creatures there, only by snorkeling. After we felt satisfied watching sea creatures, we decided to enjoy the beach close to Sobu. There were 2 beaches nearby Sobu, but we visited 1 – Waha Beach. What made it memorable were the kids who were coming to us and playing with us. There were a lot of kids, and they were following our car while leaving that beach. We finished around 5pm. We paid as much as IDR 70,000 to accompany us for 4 hours to the driver. We asked whether it was enough, he said yes. The thing what I know about the transportation was there was no exact price. To go by ojek from Hotel Wisata to Sobu is IDR 10,000.

From March 9^th – 12^th were my open water lesson days. I was supposed to do it in 3 days, but on March 11^th the condition of the sea was very bad after our 2^nd dive. So we postponed the other 1 diving until March 12^th. Pierre is a dive master, but he requested to join with my lesson to look after me. But it was a good deal though. Because we paid only IDR 5,000,000 for 8 times diving of 2 persons, all in (include the ADS open water license for me). It was so special open water lesson, because I did every lesson directly in the middle of the sea. And m…. it was supposed to be secret but,, hehe, I was allowed to go deep only in my 2^nd session. Pak Udin, my instructor always starts with 15 minutes open water lesson then we went deep and did the fun dive until for 30 – 35 minutes after the lesson dive. So yeah, it was good deal and fun. Because what I know is to take the open water diving license in another place (Jakarta and Bali for example) will cost me more than IDR 2,500,000 for sure. And the “fun” diving, I mean to go deep will only happen after the 4^th session of lesson in the calm water.

March 13^th, 2013. Pierre decided to have “his day”. “His Day” means diving without me, only professional will go and hang out together in the water. Therefore he went diving only with Syarif, the diving guide from Mawadah Diving Centre. I was still joined with the boat, but I was only go snorkeling, well it’s still good though, because in Wakatobi, you can discover beautiful sea only by go snorkeling. By the way, Pierre was so lucky in his 2^nd diving session, he saw some sharks and a group of barracuda. His 3^rd diving session is postponed till next morning due to there was a storm in the afternoon. For three times diving in Mawadah Dive Centre was cost as much as IDR 1,200,000.

March 14^th, 2013. I was so envy for what Pierre saw a day before, so I insist to go deep with him in his 3^rd diving session. I paid as much as IDR 400,000 for doing 1 time fun diving. We were obliged to finish the dive before 12 p.m., consider we will have flight at 12 p.m. at next day (March 15^th, 2013). Condition of the weather wasn’t good again in the morning, it was rainy, but we still went diving, at 9 a.m. we started from Mawadah Dive Centre. We met some other people who wanted to go diving as well, they were 8 people, 6 people were tourist, 2 people were a dive guide. We shared the boat. And this meeting gave me interesting reference.

I talked with the chief of that group, he was the one who arranged the trips of those 6 people. His name is Seto. He told me that each person in that group paid IDR 6,000,000 all in (10 times diving package, accommodation, transportation and food). And they weren’t only visiting Wangi-wangi as what we did. They also visited Hoga (part of Kaledupa) and Tomia. Beside diving they also went to the top of Kahianga, visited Benteng Patua, explored people in Bajo Sampela Village. And he said the price could be cheaper if there are more people in the group. But he said, he will limit the group until 10 people each trip only. Because he is afraid, the fun will be less if there is too many people inside of the group. Ohya, he also told me that they stayed in Hotel Wakatobi (beside our hotel) to stay a night at the first and last day.

After talking with him, my brain was counting how worth is that price for the trip in Wakatobi, automatically. Silently I was comparing our trip expense with their expense. And I can’t deny that I have a little regret :p . I wish I could meet Seto and his group earlier, that was what I thought. Below is our expense during the trip :

Hey,, it doesn’t mean that our trip wasn’t fun. Because it was really fun. By visiting Wangi-wangi only, we explored a lot already. Some spots were amazing. And people in Wangi-wangi love us, they greet us all the time. I like that 😛 .

Usually, travel agent always becomes my last option to have trip. But for this case, I suggest you to use travel agent. Because Wakatobi isn’t only Wangi-wangi, there are also Kaledupa, Tomia and Binongko. And around to those 4 main islands, Wakatobi has some more small small islands. To make you be able to explore them all, being in group or travel agent is the smart option. Because it’s gonna be a lot cheaper and you will have a lot of chance to explore Wakatobi.

Well guys, if you want to go to Wakatobi you can contact me in my email address : okharismagita@gmail.com. I will probably able to help you to get a cheap price from Seto 😉

Alright, those are my reviews about Wakatobi. See you at my next journey!!!

By. O.K Gita

What Can You Find in JAMBI ? (part of Sumatra – Indonesia) Part 2

Jambi tourism map

 

Traditional Market in Kuala Tungkal.

Where is  Kuala Tungkal? It is located 125 Km north of the city of Jambi. Kuala Tungkal position is located in the east coast of Sumatra, not far from neighboring countries such as Singapore and Malaysia made ​​the city received a variety of imported second-hand goods.

Although the size of this city is small, the city has a population of approximately 50 thousand. Kuala Tungkal offer culinary tourism, especially in the matter of seafood. Dishes ranging from pan-fried scallops, pan-fraid calamari, grilled fish senangin, etc. Beside known as market with full of foods,  Kuala Tungkal also known as a place who sells foreign goods (imports) but with low prices. It could happen because Kuala Tungkal is the entry of foreign ex thrift, especially Singapore, Japan and Taiwan. This situation is leading Kuala Tungkal to be visited by people especially on Saturday and Sunday.

The second used goods such as foreign secondhand computer, secondhand car tires and various electronic goods secondhand household can be found at this place. In addition, various materials needs like rice, sugar market, garlic, food and beverage in the cans from the foreign origin came to Indonesia through Kuala Tungkal Jambi Province. Therefore Kuala Tungkal grew as a trade center and the second largest business in Jambi province after the city of Jambi.

Orchid Garden, Tama Anggrek Soedewi Loka Ria. From the available data, the presence of Sri Taman Anggrek Soedewi Loka Ria has an area 18,483 M2 and open to the public since 2008. Location of The Sri Soedewi  Orchid Garden is on Jl. Gen. Ahmad Yani, Telanaipura District, Jambi city. To go to the location to Sri Soedewi  Orchid Garden, you can use private vehicles and can also use public transport what available in the city of Jambi. Location of this park is easy to be found. Because the location is not too far from the city center, only about 4 kilo meters from the city center of Jambi.

There are approximately 53 species of orchids what available in this park, and some of them are the typical orchid species of Jambi city. What makes this orchid garden is interesting to be visited is almost all of the collection of orchids in the park already decades-old. These are some of variety of orchids in Sri Soedewi Orchid Garden :  Arundina, acriopsis, and bolbophyllum which is a type of wild orchids are often found in the forest. And for the land-orchids variety this park have emma, vandadouglas, James storie, vanda tiger, heavy Baraga, cross orchids, dendrobium, ocidium, cattleya, mocara, phalaenipsis and there are several other types of orchids are cultivated in Sri Taman Anggrek this Soedewi .

This garden is first built on a proposal of Prof. Dr. Soedewi Sofwan, therefore this park is named according to hers name. The park opened to the public in 1984 and was inaugurated by Mrs. Tien Soeharto. Apparently this park is also became the Learning Center of Planting. However, any visitor who wants to get into the garden area must report to the office prior to the Jambi Provincial Agriculture Office which. The location of the office is about 100 meters away from Sri Soedewi  Orchid Garden. But it is becoming difficult to visit on Saturday and Sunday, because it was a holiday for the Farm Office and you will not get the permission to come in.

Orang Utan Reintroduction, Bukit Tigapuluh (BTP) National Park,  is located in the provinces of Jambi and Riau in Sumatra. BTP is the only of the Sumatran Orangutan Reintroduction Centre. Bukit Tiga Puluh is situated in Tebo Regency and Tanjung Jabung Barat Regency, whereas in Riau Province territory it is situated in Regency Indragiri Hilir. There are 5 rivers in this ecosystem; they are Mangata River, Gangsal River, Reteh River, Sumay River, and Pengabuan River. This National park is located in Sungai Pengian. The large of ecosystem of Bukit Tiga Puluh can reach until 400,000 hectare, whereas the National Park’s large is 144,233 Hectare. Orangutan and elephant are being the important animal what have high value of tourism in BTP National Park, because they are spread everywhere in Bukit Tigapuluh National Park. There are 3 remoted ethnic group in this National Park, they are : Talang Mamak, Orang Rimba, dan Melayu Tua. They have culture to live side by side with nature.

Go a little bit to South of Tebo Regency, you will arrive in Bungo Regency. Here is the place to enjoy the Geo tourism and see old houses in Rantau Panjang.

A little bit west of Bunga Regency, we will arrive in Kerinci Regency. I can say it is the most wonderful part of Jambi after Berhala. In this place you will find the beautiful Kerinci lake and Kerinci Mountain, but what I also had just found was Kerinci Lake and Kerinci Mountain aren’t the only thing you can find in Kerinci Regency. There are also Gunung Tujub Lake, Tea plantation, Penuh River, Kaco Lake and Kerinci Sebikat National Park.

On the east of Kerinci Regency, we will arrive in Merangin Regency. Here we can do river sport, which is rafting in Batang Merangin and also caving in Tiangko Cave and visiting Geo Park.

Rafting isn’t only available in Merangin Regency, it is also available in Sarolangun Regency. We can go rafting in Batang Asal River. Beside rafting we can also explore new people in Merangin Regency by visiting Tribe Ethnic people.

That is my little share about Jambi, I wish it can inspire you guys… See you at next journey

 

By. O.K. Gita

What Can You Find in JAMBI ? (part of Sumatra – Indonesia)

Jambi tourism map

I have just realized that Jambi has plenty of something to explore when I stayed in Cosmo Hotel nearby airport (5 minutes from airport). In front of reception desk I found a standing map what explain what are available in Jambi.

Hereby, I will share you what did I found about the places what shown in that map. Start from east part – north – west – south. First I would like to inform you, almost all the way you will see oil palm trees. Oil palm become a big commodity of Jambi, it reached until 515,300 hectare. Beside oil palm trees you will also see river in almost every place you stop, it caused by Jambi is passed by Batanghari River.

In East Tanjung Jabung Regency there are at least 4 places we can visit.

Berbak National Park. To get there you will have to reach Air Hitam Dalam. There are 2 ways to get “Air Hitam Dalam”. 1^st way is through public transportation, started from WTC (shopping mall in Jambi, close to Angso Duo Market), 2^nd way is renting the car to go to Suakkandis. The 2^nd alternative is more suggested because it’s gonna be shorter (1,5hour – 2 hour). The unique characteristic of this National Park is the condition of nature what have wetlands (peat) and it counted as the 2^nd biggest National Park in Southeast Asia. Consider most of the land of Jambi is surrounded by river and swamp, so please be ready to pass rivers and swamp quite often.

National Park Berbak is situated in between of the territorial of Tanjung Jabung Timur Regency and  Muaro Jambi Regency with 162,700 hectare large. There are 3 interesting place what you can visit in Berbak National Park, they are Air Hitam Dalam, Air Hitam Laut and Simpangkubu.

Berbak National Park provides habitat for a rich fauna, which includes the endangered Sumatran Tiger and Malayan Tapir. Small remnant populations of the critically threatened Sumatran Rhinoceros may still exist in some areas of the park, although not sighted in recent years.  There are also more than 250 bird species include the Chinese Egret, Lesser Adjutant Stork, many species of Kingfisher and White-winged Wood Duck. Reptiles such as Malaysian Giant Turtle, Batagur Turtle and Saltwater Crocodile also exist in this National Park.

Kampung Laut. Kampung laut is administratively located in Kuala Jambi subs-district, Tanjung Jabung Timur Regency, and geographically located on the mouth of Batanghari river. This situation put Kampung Laut as the “gate” to enter Jambi, since long back time a go until now. What makes Kampung Laut become unique is the way the build their house. They build it on the top of swamp or mangrove plantation area. Those houses are built on the top of areca branches as a buffer. Most of the houses are made by woods.

The people are coming from many ethnics such as Malay, Bugis, Banjar, Java, etc. These people created the community what people call as Duano Ethnic Group. Duano Ethnic Group is the people who mostly spend their life in the sea. In Indonesia, this ethnics are known as Bajo People.

If you visit this place, people will start to talk about mutik sumbun. Mutik is Jambi traditional language, it means harvesting. Sumbun is solen grandis sp., the marine species as the phylum Mollusca. Sumbun is kind of clam what are habitat in Tanjung Solok. It is unique because sumbun isn’t available anywhere, it’s only available in China, Kalimantan and Kampung Laut. Mutik Sumbun will happen when the harvest time of sumbun started, it’s usually will be held in the month of April until July. The way they take them is still traditional. They will use stick and put chalk on the top of that stick. The stick will be placed in the hole where sumbun live. After a while, sumbun will get drunk by the chalk and automatically come out from their hole.

Muaro Jambi Temple, is the largest ancient temple of Hindu-Budha in Indonesia what might was legacy of Sriwijaya Kingdom and Malay Kingdom. This Temple Site is located in Muaro Sebo sub-dictrict, Muaro Jambi Regency, Jambi, Indonesia. It is situated on the edge of Batang Hari river, 26 kilometer from Jambi City. This temple is estimated come from the 11^th Century.  Started from 2009, Muaro Jambi Temple is nominated to UNESCO as the World Legacy Site.

And a little bit cross the delta, you can enjoy 1 package of beautiful islands – Berhala Island.

Berhala Island, there is no word can describe how beautiful and wonderful is Berhala Island. Berhala Island is the main island what located in Berhala Strait. You will probably can’t find it in Indonesia Map. But it what makes it beautiful. I (the writer of this article) have ever visited that place and I spoke a lot about it in my blog already. You can find complete story in this link : https://kharismagita.wordpress.com/2013/01/08/256/. On the top of this blog you can find the cover picture, that is the part of Berhala Island from the top of big rock.

Berhala island is the island what populated by 130 families from Riau Province and 6 families from Jambi Province. This island is surrounded by other islands. here was an island what contain only rocks and 1 building on it, I guess that was a house (well until now I am still curious what building is that, whether that is a house or cottage or just watchtower, anyhow I will visit that building one day), that island name was Lampu island, it situated on the south of Berhala Island. In the east of Berhala Island there was Layak Island. Compared by Berhala island, Layak Island was contain more rocks, and I was real eager to stay a night with tent in that island, turn on the fire, catch and cook fish alone, well maybe with 1 or 2 accompanies will be better :p . And the northwest of Berhala Island, there was Telur Island. Telur means egg in English. This name came from the characteristic of this island. Yeah,, this island is the place for sea turtle to lay their eggs whenever full moon reach the night.

Before, it was difficult to reach this island. People used to have to rent pompong or fisherman ship from Nipah Panjang to get there. And from Jambi City to Nipah Panjang you will have to go by car as long as 3 hours through uneven road. But right now, it’s no longer that difficult. Because the special boat to go to that island is available already, the name of the boat is SB. Rahmat Jaya 06. Below is the tracks and schedule details  :

Dabo – Jambi (via Lalang Island – Berhala Island – Kampung Laut) : Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday (10:00)

Jambi – Dabo (via Kampung Laut – Berhala Island – Lalang Island) : Monday, Wednesday, Saturday (10:00)

Mileage : 3 hours

Below is the ticket price details :

Dabo – Jambi                     : Rp. 230,000 (arrived in Simpang Kawat Terminal Jambi, and will be delivered to your address in Jambi

Dabo – Kampung Laut    : Rp. 200,000

Dabo – Berhala Island    : Rp. 105,000

Dabo – Lalang                    : Rp. 55,000

Ticket reservation details :

H. Hamdi Idul (Mr.)         : 08163627510

H. Yazahar Usman (Mr.): 081536659046

Rahmat(Boat Taker)       : 081366666777

This observation is not finish yet. I will come back to you with more information about interesting place in Jambi. Next article I will show u the West Tanjung Jabung Regency part. See you ^_^

 

By. O.K. Gita

TIPS TRIP (BERHALA ISLAND)

Hi guys…

As what I wrote 2 months a go, I planned to go to Berhala Island Jambi, and… I did.. 😉

I spent around 6 days (include journey time) to learn and observe a lot. I have written all the story, but might be, you will be more interested with this – “the tips trip” to give you a good reference before you go there.

What is the different between the trip what I have done and the below table? My own trip is honestly not 100% perfect, because I had limit information and knowledge what made my trip became ineffective. But what are mentioned in below table will be better.

Hey I am not saying that I didn’t have a lot of fun, because I did…. Not only fun, I got also a lot of inspiration, about kids, live, simplicity and earth. Anyhow below are the best tips you can get to enjoy Berhala Island (Jambi).

Check this out :

berhala trip

And these are some contact persons what might be useful for you :

Driver from Jambi to Kampung Laut / Nipah Panjang :

Zamrud : +6285377664258

Honest Ojek in Jambi :

Maedi : +6281366558110

Honest and nice person in Nipah Panjang (where I used to stay with) :

Ms. Emmy Situmorang : +6285386114224, +6287793464142

Headman in Berhala Island who is very friendly and nice :

Zunaedi (Pak Edi) : +62852 69743205

and his son, Ian : +6285789000528

Ok guys, see you at the next journey 😉

O.K. Gita

Foto Collection of Jambi – Nipah Panjang – Berhala Island Trip (9 – 13 November 2012)

Arrived in Sultan Thalha Airport Jambi

Arrived in Sultan Thalha Airport Jambi

How did I dress for RIa’s Wedding

Procession of Ria Dullah Wedding, Jambi traditional wedding

With Bride in Honeymoon Room

Hotel where I stayed in Jambi for the first night

Inside Angkot kuning

Student Statue

The only club I saw in Jambi, I didn’t enter it. LOL “Bintang everywhere”

WTC, shopping mall Jambi

Bu Emmy Situmorang, Nipah Panjang

Bridges what I saw a lot of times during the journey to Nipah Panjang

1st Brunch in Nipah Panjang

Road broke the wheel of our car on the way from Jambi to Nipah Panjang

The thing what they deem as “toilet”, Nipah Panjang

“Fuel Station” in Parit 1 (Parit Bengkok, Nipah Panjang)

Live like as Nipah Panjang Resident

Chit chat with kids of Nipah Panjang

Have fun with kids on Camp, Nipah Panjang

View of Camp, Nipah Panjang

view arround Nipah Panjang Delta when sunset

DINNER – PETE SAMBEL Goreng Sambal!! Nipah Panjang

Emmy’s house , where I stay as Nipah Panjang resident :p

On the way to Berhala Island from Nipah Panjang

With Pak Sikin n his friend, the fisherman who brought me from Nipah Panjang to Berhala Island

Entrance to Kampung Riau, Berhala Island

IAN, son of Pak Zunaedi, my guide in Berhala Island

YEEEEYYY, SB. Rahmat Jaya 06 what was started to operate on 2 days before my arrival to Berhala island, will accessible us to reach Berhala Island. Yeyeyeyey!!

Right a day before I arrived in Berhala Island, there was a group of youngest visitted this island

Datok Berhalo Grave, Kuburan Datuk Berhala, Berhala Island

Northwest of Berhala Island

Butterflies everywhere in Berhala Island

Layak Island View, this pic was taken from east of Berhala Island

Neighborhood of Kampung Kepri or Kampung Oncbunde Tanah Melayu or Kampung Riau in Berhala Island

MIIIAAAAAOOOW,,,, cat in Kampung Riau, Berhala Island, greet me

Heels in Berhala Island

Pompong in Berhala Island

Stove from Japanese Colonial in Berhala Island

Snorkeling experience in Berhala Strait

NICE!!, Enjoying the view around Berhala Island

CILUKBAAA Berhala

I swam with this turtle.. Amazing or AAAAAMMMMAAAAZIIIIING. in Berhala Dock

Penyu Island (beside Telur Island 10 minutes from Berhala Island)

Entrance of Telur Island, the neighbor island of Berhala Island

Pool in Telur Island

See the pompong… See the pompong!!!!! It passed the rocks just like that..

VICTORY

Lunch Menu in Berhala… PERJENGKOLAN!! hAHAHA

With Zunaedi’s Family

That is SB. Rahmat Jaya 06

SB. Rahmat Jaya 06

Realtor Fish

Last Dinner in Nipah Panjang

“Gundulan” Traditional Ceremony in Nipah Panjang

My fisherman is an artist also!!

DON’T KILL THE OCEAN – Educate People in Nipah Panjang (Jambi)

Collection photos of people what show a model of how do people kill the ocean from the mouth of river

Setelah perjalanan saya ke Miospun, Saonekmonde, Saleo dan Napriboi (Raja Ampat – Papua) dan melihat sampah meski pulau-pulau itu kosong, saya jadi punya 1 teori. Tentu aja gak mungkin ada yang buang sampah di pulau-pulau itu, kalaupun ada pasti gak akan mengakibatkan sampah-sampah sebanyak yang saya lihat saat itu. Jadi saya berkesimpulan kalau itu adalah sampah kiriman dari lokasi lain. Lokasi dimana terdapat banyak manusia yang buang sampah sembarangan – atau malah lebih parah, buang sampah ke sungai atau laut. Sampah membunuh fitoplankton hingga jumlahnya merosot, kemerosotan ini berdampak langsung ke supply makanan ikan-ikan lain termasuk hiu, predator teratas dari rantai makanan. Selain supply makanan, kemerosotan fitoplankton mengakibatkan bumi sakit, penyakit itu bernama “global warming” alias pemanasan global, yang berdampak pada meningkatnya jumlah bencana. Bencana bertambah, supply makanan berkurang, ekosistem terganggu, pada akhirnya, gak menutup kemungkinan manusia juga ikutan punah. Ini semua bukannya gak mungkin terjadi, kalau kita gak berhenti buang sampah sembarangan. Tapi sayangnya, gak semua orang sadar hal ini, terutama orang-orang di Indonesia, jujur aja.

Teori ini memotivasi saya lakukan beberapa observasi. Yang terakhir saya lakukan adalah perjalanan ke Nipah Panjang – Pulau Berhala (Jambi). Perjalanan ini saya lakukan dari tanggal 11 sampai 13 November 2012.

Di Nipah Panjang, saya tinggal dan hidup 2 hari sebagai orang lokal. Saya tinggal di kecamatan Parit Bengkok, di rumah Bu Emmy, orang yang saya baru kenal dalam perjalanan dari Jambi ke Nipah Panjang. Mayoritas perumahan di desa ini berbentuk rumah panggung. Mereka tinggal di atas sungai. Pee,poo,bath di tempat yang sama dengan tempat kita mengambil air yang menurut mereka bersih – Sungai Batanghari. Dan minum air hujan yang diendapkan semalam kemudian direbus.

Pee,poo,bath di tempat yang sama dengan tempat mendapat mengambil air, kalimat ini sudah menyiratkan sanitasi yang buruk.Sengaja saya jalani untuk mendalami perasaan mereka.

Kaget saya sewaktu mendengar jawaban saat saya bertanya dimana  harus buang sampah. Mereka  (anak Bu emmy (Yuni) dan temannya Rita) bilang, “buang sembarang tante, nanti air sungai bawa lari kok”. Membayangkan limbah manusia itu jatuh ke sungai dan digiring ke laut, hampir menarik air mata saya keluar. Tapi masalahnya mereka gak tahu kalau apa yang mereka lakukan itu salah, yang mereka tahu ya… sungai bisa jadi tempat sampah mereka, mereka gak paham dengan dampaknya.

Setelah dengar jawaban Rita, saya minta tolong ambilkan kantong plastik yang sengaja saya siapkan di tas ransel saya, in case saya gak bisa nemuin tempat sampah. Sambil menaruh sampah di plastik itu, saya mulai bercerita. Ada 7 anak yang dengarkan cerita saya saat itu. Saya cerita dongeng yang saya buat, “perjalanan kantong plastik”. Kemudian saya minta mereka untuk ajak saya ke tempat yang mereka sering sebut Camp.

Camp adalah dermaga kecil di Parit Bengkok, langsung mengarah ke delta yang menghubungkan Sungai Batanghari dengan Selat Berhala. Senang sekali mendengar komentar Leman saat melihat kantong plastik terapung lewat. “Lihat tuu.. pembunuh ikan”. Kemudian semua tertawa.. Bahagia rasanya untuk tahu kalau pembelajaran ini berkesaan di pikiran mereka. Mereka juga janji untuk ajak orang sekitar mereka untuk berbuat yang sama. Tapi susah juga sih, karena memang gak ada fasilitas yang bisa ngedukung mereka untuk buang sampah pada tempatnya. Secara tempatnya aja gak ada.

I wish one day, saya bisa wujudkan obsesi untuk mengedukasi dan memfasilitasi orang-orang yang tinggal di pinggiran sungai atau muara untuk berhenti buang limbah sembarangan, untuk kelola limbah dengan cara yang ramah untuk lingkungan. Atau kalau bukan saya, saya harap ada orang lain yang bisa lakuin itu. Supaya populasi biota laut gak terkikis, termasuk hiu.

 

Created by. O.K.Gita

Trip History , Jambi – Nipah Panjang – Berhala Island – Jambi (9 – 13 November 2012)

November 9th, 2012
I arrived in Sultan Thaha Airport, Jambi on November 9th, 2012 at 14:21, directly I asked help from someone around me to take my picture in front of the airport.
Just when I arrived I got message from Ria, my friend who will get married at the next day. She informed me that hers uncle has waited for me and will drop me to hers house. Therefore, I arrived as Ria’s information to me. Ria’s home was at Perumahan Taman Arsenal, it took 15 minutes from Jambi Airport.

When I arrived I was welcomed by a unique design of Ria’s wedding party, everybody used nice clothe beside me. They did a little party before the wedding tomorrow with children who is parentless. It’s kind of donation day for them. The only person I knew there was only Ria, Tiwi and Ria’s mom at the first time I step my foot to her house. Then I ate ‘soto ayam’ as my lunch. After some chats with some new people I’ve just known there, they brought me to the Hotel nearby, it is Bungo Aldo hotel. A simple hotel with rate Rp. 150,000 – Rp. 250,000 but it was comfortable.

In the evening I went to congregation and I met some brothers and sisters in organization. They were so friendly, I was real enjoyed to meet them and saw another congregation from another province beside Jakarta. To be picked and drop hotel – congregation (Taman Pasar Baru) – hotel was Rp 100,000. Not nice, coz the taxi driver was fooling me. It was not supposed to be that expensive, really… After congregation I went to Empek-Empek Selamat to have dinner, the food was nice, especially the Campur Ice! It was so perfect. I ordered Empek-empek (Rp 15,000) and Es Campur ( Rp 10,000). And I bought the fish chip (kerupuk ikan) what was real nice, I ate 1 full plastic in 2 nights, price of kerupuk was Rp. 19,000 include the sauce.

After had dinner there was a little party in Ria’s house. It was so nice, relatives and closest friends of Ria’s family were gathered. Actually that night wasn’t real party, it more called by check sound and last general checking for wedding, but after all checking points done, all people include me, enjoy moment, nice laughs, and conversation and sometimes sang and danced together. Here I recognized that some relatives of Ria are good musicians. We finished the gathering at 23:30. And I came back to hotel.

November 10th, 2012
Today is wedding day! All relatives and close friend should be gathered at the location at 7am. The event will start 8am.

Ria’s dress changed 3 times, first white, then gold, then purple. She was looking pretty that day.

The new view what I saw in this wedding party was the traditional ceremony when the groom took the bride to the throne. From the distance groom and his family walked and lead by the Jambi Music Players. The groom was covered by unique umbrella, on his right was father of him, on his left was mother of him and on his back there were almost all relatives of groom. At the corner of right and left there was a guy who brought imitation of trees from paper and wood with money on each branch. They walked so slowly. They stop walked after they have around 100 meters distance from the bride’s family (without bride) and at the same time music already finished. After they stopped, the bride just showed up, Ria with a gold wedding kebaya gown! So pretty!! Therefore, parents of Ria gave Ria’s hand to her new husband, and at the same time the imitation of trees was put on lower position, and people start to take it branch. After those processions, Ria and Dullah – her husband came to the throne. And party started.

I enjoyed all moments. The traditional foods they served in the party (Tekwan, Empek-empek, Lupis, etc), music, conversations, and meeting new people. The band of Ria’s father also did the show, they sang 3 – 5 songs. The band name was Brothers Band. Content from mature guys (m…. old maybe too rude :p ). Pak Gito – Ria’s father, Pak Tris – Ria’s uncle, and some other uncles what I forgot the name (mm…. sorry  ). They rock the stage! I didn’t lie, they did!
In this party also I got some additions information regarding how to reach Berhala Island.

Accordingly, I have concluded what tracks I will use to go there. First I will take public transportation with yellow color in front of the hotel, and I will get off in Sukasari Bus Station. From Sukasari Bus Station I will go to WTC to find a locket to get a car to Nipah Panjang. From Nipah Panjang I will take fisherman boat or pompong and after haggle a good price I will go to Berhala Island.

In the hotel room I directly prepared my stuff, coz tomorrow morning I got to leave the hotel room at 6am maximum.

I finished the day at 22:30 and slept.

November 11th, 2012
I left the hotel room at exactly 6am. I met Ria’s father and Ria’s uncle – Pak Tris down stair. I regarded them first before I leaved.

I have been waiting angkot kuning (public transportation with yellow color) what I mentioned in my story on November 10th, 2012 for more than 30 minutes. Then I started to be impatience, therefore I called ojek (motorcycle rental with it rider). After I bargained the price, finally we agreed in Rp 5,000. But just right after we deal the price, the angkot kuning came. Then I canceled the ojek and took that angkot. LOL. I know I know,, that ojek must be mad to me. Good thing, I am only a visitor here, so I wish he won’t remember my face.

After 30 minutes, finally I arrived in Sukasari Bus Station. I still got the opportunity to get some information from the driver. Muhamad Effendi from Kampung Kopi was the driver. He told me how to go to WTC. According to his direction, I went straight from Sukasari Bus Station and turn right. After I found the student statue, I turn left, hehehe,, I was still giving sometime to take a picture of it. In front of that statue there was a market of fruit, name of that market was Pasar Buah. From that market I went straight and I saw a special block for bank buildings, 5 minutes walking from banks block, I arrived in front of WTC Building. I arrived in WTC at 7:30am.

WTC is the biggest shopping mall in Jambi. I asked to one person, he was an ojek rider, his name was Maedi. I asked how to go to Nipah Panjang, and he said there are 2 ways. First by boat, but it will start from Jambi at 3pm. And the other option I can use travel agent car. Travel agent car is the most common public transportation what people use to go to Nipah Panjang – Jambi – Nipah Panjang. I paid Rp 50,000 for it.

There were 7 people inside the car. The Driver – Pak Zamrud, Me, Bu Emmy Situmorang from Medan, Pak Mane and hers old sister – Bu Remang from Bugis, Pak Har from java and Bu Jinah from Purworejo but live in Jambi for 20 years. We have a lot of conversation on the way, consider it’s a long journey and I need some information also for my trip. Good thing I got was, Bu Emmy allowed me to stay in her house after I asked.

I passed Batanghari river, then Aurduri 2 Bridge, Bernai River, Batanghari 2 Bridge and Muara Sabak Bridge. The road was good until I arrived in Petrocina. The road after Petrocina has shaken me a lot. And it cause the wheel of the car I used be broken and leak in the middle of the road before we arrived in Nipah Panjang. Therefore we stop a while to fix the wheel. And it causes the delay in my trip planning.

I arrived in Parit 1 – Parit Bengkok – Nipah Panjang, Bu Emmy’s house at 15:00. I directly asked Pak Sikin, husband of Bu Emmy to bring me to Berhala Island. But he wasn’t confidence coz condition on the sea will not possible us to go to Berhala Island. I used to doubt that because what I saw was the river water condition was calm. But he showed me the sky and the direction of wind, therefore I believed him. So I decided to postpone my journey to Berhala tomorrow morning.

At home, I met some kids. Rita, Yuni, Gadis, Leman, Rifky, Bima, etc. They listened to me when I got call from my boss. Because of my boss was Indian so I spoke in English. After I finished the call, Rita asked me to teach them English. Other kids started to ask the same. So I taught them English as they requested. Just a very basic learning, like as introduction and greetings.. But they were so excited about it.

With those kids I went to the Jetty of Nipah Panjang, they called it “Camp”. I saw 1 vessel and barge with 1 excavator there. The Jetty is under construction now. Because I saw some woods are covering the road to that jetty and there was another excavator blocked the road. I took a picture with kids and it makes me always happy whenever I saw their cheerful faces.

In the afternoon at 17:00, I insisted to go out, wherever, as long as not at home. So I paid Rp 100,000 to Pak Sikin to bring me to go around the river and see islands nearby. He told me that there are Tambi Island, Anak Island, and Suak Udang Island closed to Parit 1. So, short story I agreed to go there.

Those islands are situated in delta triangle between Berhala strait and Batanghari river. I tried to go swimming in there, but I know it’s danger so I hold the boat while swimming. And swimming in the brown water isn’t fun, isn’t it? But I enjoyed the view of sunset. At least, I observed something.

On the way back home, I saw some pigs and big snake in Anak Island. Anak Island is an empty island, so there are only wild animal there.

I arrived in my homestay at 19:00. Some kids were waiting for me there. They asked my promise to give them an English lesson. Then I did.. I told how to do introduction and greetings… Hehehehe, they were happy enough and proud for whatever they got.
I had nice dinner tonight. Fried Pete, Sambal, Fried Chicken, Fried Tempe and Rice…. Yummy..

At 22:00, I went to sleep.

November 12th,2012
I had prepared all my stuff since last night. So I can easily depart to Berhala Island in early morning.

I started from Parit Bengkok at 5:00am, it was rainy morning. The condition of the water was real ok in first 1 hour. But after 1 hour, I really thought that I was gonna die. Because of the wave was high and strong. Sometime if it was too strong, we turned off the boat machine several times to follow the wave, coz if we hack it, then the worst thing will happen. Probably the boat will be crashed into 2 parts. I didn’t take pompong (bigger and stronger fishermen boat). It was only old boat and small, it can only contain maximum 4 persons. Sometime boat vertically went to the left and right, so I was like real almost fell to the sea.

I was not kindly prepared, because I’ve never thought the condition will be worse than being on the long boat when I was going to Miospun and Saonek island from Waisai (Raja Ampat). I didn’t use safety jacket coz I don’t have any. I didn’t bring my backpack and stupidly, I leaved my wallet in Bu Emmy’s house. It means the only thing I brought was our lunch (fishermen and me) and my snorkeling tools, I brought sweater and 1 linen, but I don’t have raincoat. What was there to cover myself was only tarpaulin, what usually Pak Sikin and other fishermen use, if they obliged to stay a night in the empty island if they can’t come back home due to wind issues after fishing.

After 1 another hour, finally I can see Berhala Island with the other islands surround it.. 20 minutes before I got off from the boat, I have just noticed that it was the first time they came to this island. In the beginning, I was confused why they stopped when we were much closed with that island. We can see the jetty from there, why don’t we just go and reach that jetty and get off, that was my simple thought. But I prefer to find out what is real their confusion.

Well,, they afraid because they used to pass this strait only, but they have never reached Berhala island completely. They said, there are a lot of rocks surround Berhala islands, and most of them were covered by sea water and invisible. What they worry was, this boat will hit that rock and will break the boat. I didn’t say anything, because I was real blank. I don’t have any solution. After 5 minutes stopped, finally they run the boat again.. M.. They were mysterious.. They didn’t tell me whenever they will stop and run the boat. Anyhow, the only thing I can do that time was waiting what will be next occurrence.

7:30am, November 12th, 2012. I arrived in Jetty of Berhala Island what owned by Province of Riau. Fortunately, I arrived in 1 piece. I welcomed by a wonderful view around me, I can see some fishes from jetty and I can’t wait to swim with them. And yes, I saw a lot of rocks around me. Those rocks looks like arranged artistically, like there was someone who arranged them one by one until it created a beautiful view. I have several questions in my mind. How do they live, how is the condition of the sea, name of islands, is there any cottage here, how many people live here, etc. And fortunately I met one guy who I greet in the very first step of mine in Jambi’s village.

From jetty I saw some houses with yellow color, all with the same design. It made my common understanding and conclusion. I thought, those are cottages. So I came closer. But what I found was completely different than my first thought, those weren’t cottage, those were houses of Jambi’s people. It name is Village of Jambi. In this village I met Ian. He stands up in front of marquee and I greet him.

Ian is a Jambi’s resident. He was 1 year younger than me. He lives in Berhala Island for 6 years with his mom and dad. After I greet him, I attacked him with questions. Hehehehehe…. First he explained to me that most of people here are fishermen (lol, no wonder). And he told me the name of Islands what surround Berhala island. I started from the east part (entrance from Nipah Panjang). There was an island what contain only rocks and 1 building on it, I guess that was a house (well until now I am still curious what building is that, whether that is a house or cottage or just watchtower, anyhow I will visit that building one day), that island name was Lampu island, it situated on the south of Berhala Island. In the east of Berhala Island there was Layak Island. Compared by Berhala island, Layak Island was contain more rocks, and I was real eager to stay a night with tent in that island, turn on the fire, catch and cook fish alone, well maybe with 1 or 2 accompanies will be better :p . And the northwest of Berhala Island, there was Telur Island. Telur means egg in English. This name came from the characteristic of this island. Yeah,, this island is the place for sea turtle to lay their eggs whenever full moon
reach the night.

The other information I got was about confrontation between 2 governments, Riau and Jambi. Well,, don’t judge bad first when I say confrontation word, because this island was real peaceful island. I will make it to be short explanation, but still neutral. Jambi deem that Berhala Island is belong to them because most of the territorial of Berhala Island is owned by Jambi, and Riau only owned 47,990m2, and Jambi owned some evidence (map from 1933) what showed that based on history, Berhala Island is belong to Jambi. But…… Jambi family who live in Berhala island was only 4 families and Riau has 120 families in that island (this amount is the updated one when I visited that island ya..). And from the Geographic part, location of Berhala Island is closer to Riau than Jambi. But all people there live in peace. Even Ian brought me around Riau’s Village. People know Ian well and greet him. They don’t care who is from Jambi and who is from Riau. I visited one house of family from Riau though ;). And they were so friendly.

More information I got when I visited Ian’s house. Here I got some news. Ian was a jambi province’s volleyball player and he was the best shooter. I saw his picture in the tournament, which is cool.. hehehehe.. And I met Ian’s mother here. I discovered that they used to live in Kuningan, Jakarta. And hers husband works for government in tourism division. His name is Zunaedi. I remembered his name was mentioned in one blog one time. I didn’t meet Ian’s father but I saw his pic with some tour groups.. People here are so friendly, the thing what is very necessary in tourism place.

After friendly talks with tea and some crackers, I went snorkeling. I can’t believe that I can swim with a sea turtle what as big as my half body. It was not for long duration, but it was so exciting. I was very very very closed.. I swam with a lot of yellow tail fishes too (caesio sp.). It’s interesting.

As Ian’s guidance, finally I went to Telur Island. It takes 10 minutes from Berhala Island. Again, I saw an amazing view. But some garbage destroyed this beauty. This is an unpopulated island, those garbage must mostly came from other source. Yeah my mind directly flying to the visitor of this island and the way people throw their garbage to the river what I saw by my own eyes in Nipah Panjang, they daily do it. Maybe the visitor has realized that throwing garbage not to trashcan, will give bad impact to nature especially the sea. But the problem is there are a lot of people who live on the river has no idea that what they do is wrong. Not only people in Nipah Panjang. But also other rivers, even Jakarta! Well.. I used to live next to river as well (Palmerah – West Jakarta), I used to try to remind my neighbor to stop throwing their garbage to the river, but they won’t. People habit to make river as the giant trashcan is so common here. That’s why there should be someone who should educate them, and make them realize that what they are doing is totally wrong. See… Their garbage came to this innocent island.

Beside of those view garbages, I saw a wonderful view. I was feeling like I was in the paradise. Telur Island has 2 natural pools. It’s not real a pool but looks like a pool, coz it has round shape.. Grrrrr… I don’t know how to describe it. But it was like WOW. This island has 3 beaches. First beach was in the entrance from Berhala Island, the place I “park” the boat. And the other two was hidden by some trees. I suggest you to get on the highest rock in Telur Island. Then you will see how wonderful it is. Beside that you can see from the distance the broken MV. Baruna Mega what aground in the waters of the Berhala Strait on October 9th, 2010. On this rock you can even yell as loud as you can, because nobody can listen. Water and rocks and sky and trees and beach, and empty, wonderful. From this rock you can see 2 pools in Telur Island. In those pools you can see rocks everywhere, some of them are covered by the water.

One “pompong” (the bigger fishermen boat) through those rocks without hit it. How could they know the location of the rocks? They can’t see the bottom of their ship right? But then I got the answer from Ian. They were local people of Berhala Island. “Local people of Berhala can hear coral and rocks sing and talk” Ian said. M….. I see…. Impressive ya?
I snorkel around Telur Island…

……….. (to be continue)

IMPLEMENTATION BERHALA TRIP PLANNING (THE VIDEO)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhoUVz2UOVg

Pulau Berhala (Berhala Island) – Jambi (The Trip Planning)

Hi Travelers,

You might never heard about Pulau Berhala (Berhala Island).

There are 2 Berhala Islands in Indonesia, what I am going to visit is Berhala Island in Jambi. This island used to be contested by 2 provinces, Riau and Jambi. But after the proof what shown in the original map, finally it is belong to Jambi. You can check by your self the proof : http://phi-kualatungkal.blogspot.com/2012/03/fakta-sejarah-pulau-berhala-masuk.html.

But now I am not going to talk about that controversy. I am going to talk about how beautiful this island. Not much people know about Berhala Island. This Island is situated in Malaka Strait. What make me curious is, I can’t find this island in my map. How could this beautiful island can’t be shown. And how my friend, Ria, who live in Jambi doesn’t know about this island. So finally I decided my self to go there on this November after Ria’s wedding on November 10th, 2012. By the way, I would like to congratulate her as well from this blog. Congrats Ria,, wish you can produce thousands of kids ^_^.

For your reference, my beloved travelers.. I give you my trip planning. Well,, this planning will be my guide only, but I will not limit my self or making my trip become over structure. Coz honestly, I have no idea what is the real situation. Wish me luck guys ^_^

I wish it could be a good reference for you, The Trip Planning to enjoy Pulau Berhala in Jambi

 

Foto Collection of Babo – Raja Ampat Trip

Waisai Sea Raja Ampat, in the morning

Bats on Miospun Island Raja Ampat

Tips to Travel to Raja Ampat for a week

Try to type a keyword, “Raja Ampat” on Google search and see some pictures what will appear as your search result. You must also agree that Raja Ampat is a beautiful islands what could be wonderful to be visited and enjoyed. It  has already felt wonderful to dream it, how if we taste it and make that dream come true.

But seems like not all of people able to make that dream become true, because as rumors what we have received from some conversation you will need a lot off money to visit that islands. How to avoid a giant expense during our visit to Raja Ampat?

Let me show you how to make your trip won’t be more than Rp 6.000.000 or U$ 653 (with assumsion the ticket return price is Rp 3.000.000,- or U$ 307). This all informations I got from local people who used to stay with me during my visit to Raja Ampat on November 2011. My completed story was written in the pdf file attached.

First thing you should know is, Raja Ampat is located in the West of Papua, (Head of Bird) and the closest port to these islands is Sorong Port. So our flight should be departed from Jakarta to Sorong.

PREPARE A TEAM

Never go alone to Raja Ampat, otherwise you have a lot of money. Make sure you will go with your team, minimum is 6 people and maximum 8 people (consider the speed boat size). If you don’t have it now, try to open a conversation in chat room or make the invitation by email to your friends, for sure from you 100 invitations there will 8 – 10 people will interested, as long as your way to deliver the information is interesting also.

Why do you have to go with team? Because I have to admit that the most expensive thing in Raja Ampat is tranportation. It caused by the facilities in Raja Ampat is still limited.

For example, if you want to go to Wayag Islands  from Waisai (Waigeo Island), the most beautiful icon in Raja Ampat, you will obliged to hire the speed boat, because long boat (fisherman boat) won’t possible to reach that island. And the price of speed boat is around Rp 6.000.000 (U$ 653) – Rp 8.000.000 (U$ 867) (exclude fuel charge, fuel won’t be more than Rp 150.0000 or U$ 16.5). Just deem that your team are 6 people, so to do trip from Waisai to Wayag Island (you can visit 1 or 2 islands before you arrive there), so each person will have to pay Rp. 1.025.000 only (U$ 111.5).

If you want to visit the neighbours of Waisai, such as Saonek, Saonek Monde, Miospun, Saleo, Napriboi,etc you will need only the long boat (fisherman boat).  The highest price of long boat is Rp 1.000.000 but the last time I used to rent only Rp 700.000 included with fuel. Depend on your way to bargain the price nicely. You can use that long boat with he driver from morning until 5pm, consider the waves at night will be very wild. Back to fare sharing with team. Rp 1.000.000 for the 6 people team means Rp 170.000 each person.

You can share the room rent also, share the food, or cook together, or whatever. And you must admit go with team will be nicer, you can make your own party, consider there is no club in Raja Ampat. 😉

So, please prepare the team first.

ARRANGE THE “WISE” FLIGHT

The flight what usually depart from Jakarta to Sorong are X-press, Batavia and Sriwijaya. It will take around 7 hours from Jakarta, consider it has to transit in Makassar for 2 hours.

Kindly try to check the ticket fare regularly, such as once a week or every 3 days. Try your best to don’t lose a chance to get a cheap price ticket. Try to book six months in advance and avoid the dates on peak season.

FYI, the highest ticket return to Sorong could reach until Rp.10.000.000 or (U$ 1,089.32). That’s why I suggest you to be a good hunter wise ticket.

Sorong-Raja Ampat-Babo 2Nov-9Nov 11 complete story