Weeks ago (Feb 26), my friends (@dindun_ @eriek_sobieski @chockysihombing @junglon @nisian @neng_rizka @magicaelly) and I decided to escape from our daily workdays stress by getting some challenging activity. We decided to go to Green Canyon (Pangandaran) by backpacking. We started backpacking from Terminal Kampung Rambutan Jakarta at 9pm. We got an economy-class bus "Perkasa Jaya", which its direction is Kp.Rambutan-Pangandaran. It took almost 8.5 hours until we arrived at Pangandaran. It was 1.5 hours longer than we thought, due to some sparepart issues in the midst of our travel. Sounds quite scary, doesn't it? :p I have tips for travelling with economy-class bus in Indonesia: take a sleeping pill. Just make sure that you're safe and comfort enough in your seat, then swallow a medicine, such as antimo (anti-carsick drug).
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| Pickup Truck for Travelling |
We arrived at Terminal Pangandaran (near Masjid Agung Pangandaran) at 5.30am. An hour later our body-rafting guide, Dede, picked us up using his pickup truck. It took 30 minutes for him to bring us to his village, Desa Kertayasa, located in Cijulang district, Ciamis. Right in front of Green Canyon gate, there is "Guha Batu" Body-Rafting office. We put our backpacks there and just wore t-shirt, short, and body-rafting equipments, such as helmet, life vest, water shoes and shin guard. We should not bring any precious things while doing body-rafting. I left my SLR camera at his office. For documentation, we just gave one of our pocket cameras to our guard, Dede. He kept the camera and took our pictures along the journey.
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| Always wear body rafting equipment properly |
Let the game started... We went up to the hill by pickup truck, and then climbed up and tracked the jungle to the cave of bats (gua kelelawar) for about 20 minutes. It was really a great view there. Althought when we went there, the color of the water is brown, not green, the nature was perfect for having challenging activities. We had a briefing first there before we started body-rafting. There are some rules to obey, such as always follow our guides' instructions and keep having good manners along the journey.
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| Enjoy the view with some foreigners |
The river was flowing rapidly because it was raining the day before. That was also why the water was not green. First thing we did was jumping to the rapid-flowing river. Yeah! As long as there were no dangerous rocks ahead, we were permitted by our guides to let our body flow with the rapids. Once our track was almost totally blocked by rocks, we had to avoid it by walking or crawling on the edge of river. And sometimes, the guides had to unfold rope so that we could cross against the rapid flow to the safer side.
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| Climbing a cliff |
While letting our body flow with the rapids, we enjoyed the beautiful scenery along Cijulang river. Sometimes it looked like a scenery in Pandora world, but
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| Challenging activity? :D |
The challenge was not over yet. There was a point in our body-rafting track that we had to climb a cliff to avoid a dangerous rocky ravine. Above the cliff, we could enjoy a waterfall and a natural "bathing" place made from solid rock. And the most interesting thing is... we had to jump off from that cliff to the rapid river. Woohoo! That was my first free fall experience, jumping off from a high place like that. My adrenaline was working so joyfully at that time! :)
After we jumped to the river, we let ourselves flow with the last rapids. If our direction was correct, we could reach the next cliff so we could free-fall one more time. When we arrived at the calm river, a boat came and picked us up to the green canyon. It's finished. Next, time to lunch and take a bath after 4 hours (8am - 1pm) of a great body-rafting adventure!
Since we rented the pickup truck for a whole day, we still had a few hours to have a trip to some beaches in Ciamis. Dede (our guard) and his friend accompanied us to three beaches: Batu Karas, Batu Hiu and Pangandaran. Batu Karas is well known of its wave (not too dangerous, I thought), many people did surfing or banana boat there. Batu Hiu is like a private beach. When we went there, there were only few people there. We can see the beauty of blue sea and clear sky from above the small hile. It's really a nice place to relax. Last, Pangandaran, is the most popular beach in West Java. Some people said that Pangandaran is the most beautiful in Java. Well, I think they must be some tourists with suitcase, not backpack ;-)
After having dinner with seafood in Pangandaran, we went to Terminal Pangandaran. We took a economy-class bus (again? yeah! we're backpackers! ;). We took "Budiman" bus in direction Pangandaran-Bekasi. We arrived at Bekasi at 4pm, before going back to Cikarang. Overall, it was a great weekend, although we just spent one day for having fun and two nights for travelling. Smooth escape! :)
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| Body Rafting at Green Canyon, Pangandaran |
Our expenses:
- Bus (Kp.Rambutan-Pangandaran) = IDR 55,000
- Body Rafting = IDR 175,000
- Pickup Rental = IDR 200,000 / 8 = IDR 25,000
- Bus (Pangandaran-Bekasi) = IDR 55,000
- TOTAL = IDR 310,000
Contact person: Dede ( +6285228766558 / Facebook )
Credit: Photos above are taken by using Chocky's and Dina's camera.
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