Just like I thought, Stasiun Senen was not really a comfortable place to enjoy my coffee and fried Mozarella. Hundreds of people were sitting in the –not so big—waiting room. Several of them were smoking innocently right in front of a huge “NO SMOKING” poster. We, me and four male friends, laid our back on a wall persistently, waiting for our Jakarta - Kroya economy class train. We were going to Ciamis and continue the long waited journey to Pangandaran. We had been city walkers too long, and ready to grab some adventurous travel.
8.05 pm, we were trapped in the moist, stink, most crowded compartment on the train. Hoping for a bit bigger space, we struggled, pushed our feet forward. After the sweaty fifteen minutes, we gave up. We stood stiffly in front of dried broken toilet. The wind blew from uncovered rusty windows; delivered the smelly air to my nose. I sighed and kept reminding myself, that the train cost me only Rp. 28.000,- Anyway, the seven hours long journey on the train brought some awesome thoughts; passengers, beggars, food sellers, smells, bugs, children crying loudly and those other things created a thousand words in my mind, and kicked out a bunch of hectic daily life caches. I was somewhat refreshed. If you never do something different in your entire life, it is worth a try.
3.10 Am, it was almost dawn. My exhausted body was freed from the crowded. Fresh oxygen at Ciamis train Station brushed the fatigue away from all of us. The small old-styled train station became a model for our SLRs in the next few minutes.
Seven hours long journey drained out our stomachs. We filled our tank fully at a tiny stall near the station, offering hot fried tofu and black coffee. One sheet of five thousand Rupiah covered everything I grabbed. A sincere service from the fifty years old couple sellers energized me. 5.30 Am, we continued the adventure.
We walked ten minutes away from the train station to a bus station. There were only two small buses parked at the garbage-free area. One of them was our bus. Not as cruel as the train, the bus started to move without waiting too much longer. It felt like heaven. Sitting on a hard textured seat did not prevent me from falling asleep, and woke up when I have to pay. Rp. 13.000,- took me right to the heart of Pangandaran.
The ocean breeze embraced us all the way to a private villa. Many kind of hotels from non-rated to two stars, fenced the beachfront. The road was quite busy. It was weekend. But in a non-peak season, everybody there becomes a salesman for those hotels. If you know which lodge you are heading to, then say no a thousand times.
Located at the west part of Pangandaran beach, Vita Villa was not so hard to find. We discovered the villa info on a backpacker community website. For only Rp. 150.000,- per night, it was really a nice and sleek villa compared to others. Two small rooms with queen size spring beds accommodated us well.
Activity Options:
- Seafood hunting: You can explore seafood kiosks at the east side of the beach. But generally, they offer similar seafood and similar price, starting from Rp. 15.000,- per portion. But if you are adventurous enough, just sit on the sandy beach early morning, wait for fishermen to finish their job. You can save more than 70% of your meal budget. All you have to do is trying to find charcoal at the nearest store and grill the fishes by yourself.
- Boating: Sail around Pangandaran cape, from west side to east side. Remarkable view of cliffs and caves will accompany you in about 30 minutes boating. You have to pay Rp. 25.000,- per person.
- Swimming: It is only allowed in the west area. You can swim as long as you want for free. Can’t swim? Body board rentals are there to help you. Only Rp. 6000,- per hour.
- Surfing: You have to move a bit from the center beach a little more to the west. Here you will find bigger waves for perfect surfing. You can rent the surfing board for Rp. 20.000, - per hour.
- Exploring Green Canyon: Grand Canyon?? No, Green Canyon, a beautiful green river ends up in a green huge cliff, 20 minutes away from Pangandaran. It is in a small village called Cijulang. You can go there by using a rented motorbike. Rp. 15.000,- for half day rental, and Rp. 7500,- to pay the boat man that will lead you to the green cliff. Uh, don’t forget to bring your swimwear here; at the upper part of the river, you can enjoy fresh crystal clear mountain water as your swimming pool!
Happy Adventure!
Kappa Fikom, AP-002 :)
Tulisan ini adalah manifestasi kekangenanku pada petualangan.
Nuhun kanggo Furdy, udah ngasih kehormatan sedemikian mendadak! hehe
