I’m Flying…..

On April 21st, I have a change to visit my friends guntur and met his newly wedded wife, Ita, guntur’s hometown is Malang. Malang is a wonderful city in east java province which has a lot of beautiful scenery of  hills and mountain. fresh air. cold water. hot water. and delicious food.

Malang also has a lot of tourism places. I used to goes to Malang for a school vacation since I was in the primary school, and after I became a student in a university I used to goes there to get some fresh air after spending sometime to study.

How to go there,

From Surabaya, the capital city of east java province, you can ride a bus, it is only cost about Rp. 20.000; or you can go with train from Gubeng Station. another option is by car, it is faster and saver. Hehehhee….

Paralayang

Paralayang (English: paragliding) is a free-flying sport using a fabric wing which made from parachute, which took off with the foot for the purpose of recreation or competition. The pilot sits in abelt (harness) that hangs below the fabric wing shape is determined by the rope and the pressure of air entering vents in the front wing. This sport began to emerge at around the 1950’s.

I knew the sports Paralayang since 2004, when I was visited Batu, one of Malang hills and now became a City. Batu city is located in a highland, and one of the tourism place is paralayang in a Banyak Mountain.

at that time,I was afraid to try it, and did not have enough of money to pay it. hehehehe,,,,,,,                So I just watched people’s fly and thinking when I’m going to able to do that.

and now is the time to try it.

at first, I go to Banyak Mountain from malang city with guntur and his wife, to go to paralayang places you can ride a car or motor cycle. after that I registered to one of the pilot and he will prepare everything.

Learn to Fly

after I was prepared, helped by the pilot, I was asked to stand in front of him and ready to run towards to ravine in front of me.. Wow !!!!!

I thought that I was gonna be placed behind him, but it’s NOT. and i have to run for a take off towards a ravine,,,,, this is hard for a beginner to run towards a ravine. can you imagine that !!!

it was so thrilling for me,,,

I’m not afraid of height but to run to the ravine, is like a suicide,,,,

oh my God… that word come out of my mouth everytime.

the pilot said, “it’s Okay”

hehehehe,,,,

and we wait for the wind to blow….

so when he (the pilot) says that he ready, I have to runs, because we have to wait for the right wind to fly us…

and this is it,,,

the moment is come, and the Pilot said. “OK… RUN !!!!”

hah ?!!! OMG…OMG…OMG…. after a few minutes

and I fly….

Up in the air

after a few moment to take off,  I was surprised that I AM FLYING !!!!

WOOAAA…… I’M FLYING !!!!!

that what’s I screamed all the time..

the pilot was laughing. he also realize that this is my first time doing paralayang.

we tried some style like swing style and manuver style, and it was awesome !!!!

well guys, if you want to try to push your adrenaline, you can try paralayang in Batu City, Malang, East Java.

have a nice trip.

this is the information about the Batu Paralayang.

http://paralayangbatu.blogspot.com/

Unfinished bussiness in Bromo

Bromo is an active volcanoes mountain located in the east java province. In the Kabupaten of Probollinggo. 2 hours from Malang City and 2 and half hours from Surabaya city. Mount bromo is very famous, it interest every people from all over the world because of its unique condition and very beautiful scenery. Bromo mountain is surrounded by a wide sand caldera that makes you want to run every where. The height of its mountain reach 2.300 meters above the sea.

look how the wind is trying to fly us !!!

The temperature in Bromo is very cold. It could reach 00 degree in the morning (before the sun rises). So if you are willing to travel to bromo, you may have to prepare some cold outfit, like hat, big jacket, and scarf. But if you forget or did not expect that it will be cold,n you can try to buy some cold outfit in the local merchant. It is quite cheap.
Local people in bromo are called the Tengger tribe. It was taken from the name character of  legend roro anTENG and joko seGER (Tengger), they believe that they are the descendant of Majapahit Kingdom. For them, Bromo mountain is very sacred, in some time they held kasodo ceremony, a sacred ceremonial to the Gods by sacrificing their harvest or sometimes cattle to the crater. It is very unique, some of tourist are fighting to get this moment. I was told that this kasodo ceremony was held every Kasada month on the 14th day (Javanese calendar).
Transportation in bromo is only hardtop jeep. Local people usually called it hardtop. Other transportation is a horses. Vehicle besides that is not allowed. Because it is usually got stuck in the sand desert.
On jan 7-8 2012, I had a chance to visit it, along with 7 friends, our objective is a beautiful sunrise. I went there by car, I rent the car from Surabaya, it cost me about Rp 350,000 include a driver. I hired a driver so that we didn’t have to worry about who supposed to drive while everybody is tired. It is a Safety reasons, actually. The cost for the gasoline from Surabaya city to bromo and went back is about Rp 200,000.
I was went to bromo on Saturday eve at 23.00 pm and reached the location on 02.00 am the next day (Sunday). Its almost 3 hours ride cause of the rain. After I reached the entrance of the location, a lot of local guy offering us some Hardtop jeep with negotiable price, my suggestion is that to go straight to the official Hartop’s ticket counter which is located in the edge of the road near the Hotel Bromo view. The hardtop tickets it’s about:
Rp. 350.000 to go to the Penanjakan 1 loacation
Rp .250.000 to go to the Penanjakan 2 location.
The location to enjoy the beautiful sun rise is divided in two. There are penanjakan 1 and penanjakan 2. Penanjakan 1 was up in the top of the hill besides bromo mountain, and it has been known as the best location. While penanjakan 2 is also has a beautiful sun rise view  but it is located in the side of the hill not on top of the hill. So, we decided to go to the Pananjakan 1.

in the gate of Penanjakan 1

After we reach the location, hard rain comes and the fog was down, so it was white all over the place. We decided to continue to climb to the top and wait until 08.00 am. The result was, we did not see anything. Well, not a good luck for us that day. That is why we have to get back at summer time.

it was all white (a picture with meme)

After waiting for sunrises in the penanjakan 1 was unsuccessful. We move on to the next location which is sand desert. From that location we could visit a temple and climb a bromo mountain and you can try a horse riding to the stairs in bromo mountain. It cost about Rp. 50.000. We were there until 10.00, again it was a hard rain that makes us end our journey.

jump !! in front of Batok mountain

in the sand desert with Asta, Laras, Meme, Buts, and Mr. Ayang

Well, from that experience we could see that the best time to visit bromo is in a summer time moreover when the Kasodo ceremony is held. That would be nice one.

Banda Aceh short trip

Banda Aceh short trip.

The Beautiful Dieng Plateau

April 22, 2011 was a Friday and it is a holiday. So it is means that it will be a long weekend. After a several discussion with my friend Alvan, Tya and Laras, we decided to go to Dieng Plateau. A beautiful highland in Middle Java Province. and guess what, we decided to go on a Backpackers way. This is what happens next…

Alvan, Laras, Tya and Me @arjuna Temple

History

When I heard the name Dieng, I was thinking like “what an odd names!!”. After I get a little researched about the place it came that the name Dieng was taken from a sansekerta language which was the word “di” means a place and “Hyang” means God of creation. So the word “dieng” means that a place where the Gods (Hyang) belongs. Therefore the ancient society built a temple, moreover, a complex one, that given with the name arjuna temple, which is become one of the oldest temple in Java island. Dieng is placed in 2000 meter above sea level. It has incredibly beautiful and exotic land.  Because it place on a high land, the temperature in dieng is quite cold. Sometimes it reach -10⁰celcius.

@ Arjuna Temple

still @arjuna temple

How can I get there

Well to get there, was not an easy way. Because it is place in a highland that far from Yogyakarta or Semarang. So, there was 2 options to get there. First, we can ride a bus. It takes more time, but cheaper. Second, we can go with the travel car that has destination to wonosobo, a city near dieng plateau. After long consideration, we take second option. So we go to wonosobo first and then went up to dieng by local transportation, which is minibus. I go there by pak Gito travel, the number is 085711487666. The cost of the travel is about Rp. 200.000; The cost for minibus from wonosobo to Dieng is Rp. 2000;

in front of Hotel Bu Jono (me, Tya, Laras, Alvan)

Where do I stay

There were not much options to stay in Dieng, the average type of place to stay is motel or homestay. Well after several call I get two empty rooms for us in Hotel Bu Jono. Actually, it was like homestay to me than a hotel.  Well, these are the details.

HOTEL & RESTAURANT BU JONO
Jl Raya Dieng Km 27, Dieng Wetan, Kejajar, Wonosobo
Phone:
+62 85227389949/+62 81392162734/+62 85643958085

Harga kamar / malam:
Rp. 75.000 (kamar mandi luar)
Rp. 100.000 (kamar mandi luar)

mie ongklok…

Dieng Plateau experience

Well, it was a busy day on Thursday 21 April 2011, we were planned to go to dieng in Thursday night and hopefully arrived at Dieng on Friday morning. After a long journey finally we arrived at wonosobo city on Friday morning at 11.00. it was a little bit late than the schedule. Then, the driver asked us weather we continued using the same car with a extra charge or step out and ride a bus. Considering we have been through a long journey, so we decided to continue with the travel. Before we left wonosobo, the driver offers us to taste a delicious traditional noodle called “mie ongklok”. YES we tried it and it was delicious. It also cheap. It cost us about, Rp. 10.000;++. Then, after finished eating we continued our journey to go up to Dieng Plateau. It didn’t take too long to go there. The scenery around us was incredibly beautiful.

Finally, alhamdulillah, we reached Dieng’s plateu. First, we have to go to the Bu Jono hotel to put some of our weight and continue to visit the tourism object.

The rooms at bu Jono was not bad. It has too bed and a hot water. But it is quite small. But it was OK. The hotels owner offered us a car to take us everywhere in Dieng. I was thinking about going with the angkot but after I saw, angkot is rare. So we took the rent car. It cost us about Rp 200.000;. These are some destination we have visit.

jump up !!!

@ Telaga Warna

Laras and Tya…

sunrise… this is what we came for…. (Laras and Tya)

sikidang creater… (Tya and Laras)

someone being a model in the middle of the rain

hungry……

ready to go home @ wonosobo

Trip to Borobudur

Borobudur Temple,,, well eveybody in Indonesia knows Borobudur. But for me, this is the first time I visit  this iconic temple. Sejak dulu sebenernya dah pengen kesana, mulai jaman SD yg ga jadi rekreasi sekolah karena guru-gurunya takut akan huru-hara tahun 1998. Wow… so lebay klo dipikr sekarang. Trus sampe sekarang umur 25 ini baru tercapai kesana. Pdhl dah bolak-balik ke yogya for any business trip but, I didn’t spend a little more of my time to visit it.

monggo…..

Sejarah

Well, lets refresh our memory about this temple, shall we.

Borobudur  terletak di desa Borobudur, Magelang, Jawa Tengah, Indonesia. Lokasi candi adalah kurang lebih 100 km di sebelah barat daya Semarang dan 40 km di sebelah barat laut Yogyakarta. candi ini didirikan oleh para penganut agama Buddha Mahayana sekitar tahun 800-an Masehi pada masa pemerintahan wangsa Syailendra. Borobudur diibaratkan sebagai bunga teratai kalau dilihat dari atas. The archeologist belief that it built upon the ancient lake which dried now.  Setiap relief di candi tersebut menggambarkan kehidupan pada masa Budha dan masyarakat sekitar saat itu. Borobudur sempat ditelantarkan pada saat pemerintahan mataram, dianggap pembawa kesialan dsb. Namun pemerintah Belanda yang saat itu berkuasa memutuskan untuk melesatarikan bangunan ini. Dan pada tahun 1885 kembali di perbaiki. Kata pemandu, Borobudur juga sempat tertutup abu Merapi saat Gunung Merapi meletus, namun segera dibersihkan. Jika melihat batu-batu penyusun candi, maka akan terlihat beda antara batu asli (sejak dulu dibangun) dengan batu yang baru (ditambahkan saat renovasi). Dan beberapa relief yang hilang memang sengaja diisi dengan batu yang polos, tidak berrelief, karena untuk menjaga keaslian bangunan. Well, semangat untuk pengelolanya, karena sudah cukup profesional.

How do I get there

From jakarta to Yogyakarta, I used Garuda Flight. It’s aboout one hour trip. Dari Yogya to Borobudur I use motor cycle. Kalau perjalanan dengan motor dari Tugu Yogyakarta sekitar 1 jam dah nyampe. Itu dengan mampir beli kopi bentar krn takut ngantuk di jalan. Karena yg dibonceng was a little afraid of riding motor cycle. Hehehe….. back again,

Where do I stay

Well, I stay in a hotel in Santika hotel. The fare is not affordable for me. About Rp 500.000++. But luckily, I did not pay it. My office pay it. Hehhehe… because I’m in a business trip.

view on the top

My Experience

Wow.. borobudur is like the biggest temple I ever visit in Indonesia. First time I arrive, I don’t see where the temple is. Because it is covered with tree. So many tree around it. Looks like that the  local government ware concern about green concept. I remember the picture I watch in internet was that the environment around Borobudur was like a football yard. And if we went there on daylight, the sunlight would like a sting to the skin. Luckily, when I got there, it was cloudy, and the land around it already plant with a lot of tree. So it is not that hot as I imagine. I went there with my high school classmates, Icha. She is taking her master degree on MM UGM right know. And always accompany me when I visit Yogya.  After I enter the main gate, I have to wear batik as sarung. After I asked the officer what is it for, he answered that it is for conserve batik. Well. That’s Ok I think. And here we go,,, but where is the temple? my question to my friend, Icha. I still confused where the temple is. Then a local trader ask me if I want to ride a bike to the temple. I thought that the temple would be far, So I try double bike. Like in the picture. Oohhh… that was a heavy bike… because the landscape is climb. After turn around with no direction. Finally I arrived at the temple. Which is right beside me in everywhere, oohh GOD.. so I just went around the temple. *tepokjidat

borobudur sebelum penghijauan

Setelah penghijauan

I thought that temple was far,,,, ohh..GOD… the temple is covered with tree so that I can not see it clearly…. well that’s fine, at least I know the beautiful park around Borobudur.

After that, I parked the bike and climb up to the temple. Wow… all I can say was … WOW… how can people at that time built this stunningly beautiful temple,,, WOW…

with Icha