Monday 19 January 2015

The only tourists in the village ...

Bandung used to be known as 'The Paris of Java' and even though it still holds some remnants of its colonial Dutch past, it is now as conjested as Jakarta and has become just another sprawling, polluted city. So we were quite happy to leave it behind and head off towards Pangandaran - even though it was going to be a seven hour mini bus drive along long and winding narrow roads! Thank goodness for travel sickness tablets!

And so we set off in the morning, passing the oldest hotel in Asia; the Savoy Homann, where Charlie Chaplin stayed many moons ago whilst over here performing at the oldest theatre in Asia, found just around the corner. And as we admired its original Art Deco design and Art Deco furniture, TC and I agreed that this was where we would have much preferred to have stayed (though obviously it's not within Intrepid Travel's budget), despite our local tour guide telling me that he could never stay there because 'he sees dead people'!)

We passed by the Museum of Geology where 'Java Man' now 'sleeps' and on towards West Java and the coast, whilst the rain continued to pour intermittently and the roads mainly consisted of dirt and pot holes. At various points along these 'dirt tracks', 'officials' stood holding out fishing nets in which drivers would drop money as a toll, in order to be able to pass onto the less common newly laid parts. But I had taken a double dose of travel sickness tablets and after managing to stay awake through a couple of episodes of 'The Killing' (TC and I were both completely addicted at this point), I fell into a deep sleep, leaving my sick bag (my other travel companion) neatly tucked away in my day pack!

West Java stretches from the Islands of Ujung Kulon National Park across to the beaches of Pangandaran. With a beach on either side (the East and West beaches) and the National Park in its headland. Pangandaran is considered to hold Java's premier beach resorts and one of the best places to go surfing. (Something you won't find me reporting back on, as you may remember my ineffective thigh muscles can just about support me on dry land, let alone on a piece of board flying across a huge wave).

Talking of huge waves; in 2006 the peninsular was hit by a massive tsunami, killing hundreds of people in its wake and although there is some evidence of the devastation still remaining; dead trees and unsafe buildings, the town more or less recovered within a few months and is back in business.

And so, finally, after our seven hour journey across land we reached our destination - The Sunrise Beach Hotel - and clambered out of the mini van to meet our local guide Aep.

Aep was extremely welcoming (as are most Indonesians) and filled us in on the option for that afternoon; to go and check out some of the National Park and its wildlife, the beaches and the village, should we so desire. TC asked what the weather forecast was - by now the sun had come back out and Aep assured us there would be no more rain that day! 

After a brief discussion as to what clothes/shoes should be worn, TC, one of the Jos and I paid him his fee, dropped off our belongings in our rooms and headed out on our three hour treck in the beautiful sunshine ...

The village itself seemed quite small, with rickety houses practically on top of each other and the beach front lined with stalls selling food, clothes and various touristy items. 

Being out of season, (well it is the rainy season!!) the streets were quite quiet and we seemed to be the only 'Westerners' around. There was something quite surreal about walking along the deserted roads whilst wild deer casually roamed around us! (A bit like the sacred cows in India).



The deer were quite shy, but as soon as we held out slices of fruit, a few of these sublime animals  walked cautiously over and fed directly out of the palm of our hands. I wanted to stroke one, but I could see TC looking over nervously as she washed her hands with anti bacterial gel and I decided that this time she may be right about diseases and infections!

We followed Aep and headed off towards the National Park - now listed by UNESCO as one of its world heritage sites. We were eager to observe some of the remaining wild life that was still able to live in its natural habitat. And I write that last sentence with sadness, because, as was already evident, all around the outskirts of forestation, many Indonesian homes and land had been knocked/cut down for the wealthy Chinese businessmen that were moving in and building more hotels everywhere. It really was quite depressing watching the local deer and macaque monkeys rummaging through the rubbish and debris looking for food and chewing on plastic bags and brickwork.

We climbed a slight incline and within minutes of stepping into the lush parkland, the heavens opened and the rain chucked down! Jo was clever enough to have brought her pac-a-mac, however TC and I had been too trusting in the earlier weather report and looked woefully at each other, like two drowned rats with extra frizzy hair!

Using a couple of large leaves for umbrellas, we pushed on through the trees, thankful that at least we had changed out of our flip flops and into proper walking shoes. My feet were feeling grateful of the release from the tight Havianas, as they were still badly swollen and my toes had been completely lacerated by the thong as the plastic dug into my toes that were now resembling little chipolatas!

Aep led us over to a couple of small tunnels hidden amongst the foliage that had been used by the Japanese to spy on the locals, when they had occupied the island. There was no way I was going down there into the darkness to take a closer look and I was quite pleased that Jo felt the same. However, TC was surprisingly feeling brave and with a smug smile on her face, courageously made her way down. 

It took approximately 30 seconds before she let out a huge scream, or two, then came scuttling out screaming "Bats, bats!"

And we hurried away as best we could through the flora, fauna and sticky mud as the rain thankfully subsided - for now.

Our guide led us up towards a sacred spot in the entrance of a cave, where it looked like two tiled shallow bath sized troughs had been made with a memorial stone at its head and foot. Each stone had a white muslin cloth wrapped around it, under which we found small piles of envelopes filled with prayers and wishes that local Muslim villagers had left. Surprisingly, Indonesia has the largest Muslim population of any country in the world and yet, as I mentioned earlier, the Islam generally practised over here is much more moderate and has more of an Animist approach, with Shariah law having been rejected by the national parliament in 2002. (Apart from Aceh on the island of Sumatra where it was reintroduced in 2005 as part of its peace agreement with the govenrment).

Aep pulled out the prayer letters from their envelopes and held them out for us to peruse, though surprisingly enough none of us can actually read Indonesian and/or Arabic! Which in a way was lucky because the three of us were feeling uncomfortable looking at someone's private and sacred thoughts. 

It had started raining quite torrentially again and so we headed further into the cave in order to reach the beach on the other side - though by this point TC and I were past caring as it would have been impossible to get any wetter than we already were!

Making our way through the cave by torchlight, we passed more bats hanging from the ceiling above (no screams this time round) and stopped off to watch a family of porcupines - the mother and father and their two little ones - playing in a large alcove. As we stood there 'oohing and ahhing' we came to a unilateral decision it to pick up the pace a bit and make our way out after hearing the subtle sound of hissing and slithering from somewhere in the darkness behind us.

We exited out onto the West Beach just as the rain stopped again and walked along its fine white sand, made from the huge coral reef beyond. I could only imagine how amazing it would be to spend the day swimming and sunbathing there - though as a woman I would have to remain in t shirt and long shorts so as not to offend anyone should they see my shoulder blades or a slight glimpse of knee cap, while the men are allowed to wear whatever they want! Though im quite sure a line would still be drawn with regard to them wearing tiny speedos and 'Budgie Smugglers/Banana Hammocks' - mind you I think an international law needs to be drawn up against wearing any of those! 

After visiting both East and West beaches and sadly not being able to see the sun set due to the bad weather, we headed back to our rooms for a bit of R&R before a BBQ fish dinner for us and a vegetarian one for Jo and Jo.

By the way, I'm not sure if many of you are aware, but out here in Indonesia, chicken is considered a vegetable! So as a warning to any of you veggies out there, should you want to order vegetable fried rice/noodles remember to say "Without the chicken"!

The following morning (Wednesday) we woke up to brilliant sunshine - yahay! It was already hot and humid but we were happy as we all clambered onto the mini bus and headed off to The Green Canyon, known locally as Cujang Taneuh ! (Which is 'exactly what it says on the tin'). Unfortunately, due to the heavy rainfall the day before, the water was not the beautiful vibrant green seen in the pictures but a musky, thick chocolatey brown. This meant there would be strong undercurrents and therefore too dangerous to swim in!

However, we were still able to go for a small boat ride as far as the mini waterfall and take pictures of the stunning views and vegetation around us - reminding me of TC's and my boat ride along the Backwaters in Kerala. Oh but it was so frustrating sitting in the boat all hot and sweaty with the sun finally beating down on us, yet unable to swim in the cool water. 

The boat trip was cut short as the currents were building up and by the time we had got back to dry land all other tours had been cancelled, so I guess we were quite fortunate.

Next stop was the puppet maker, where we were shown how to make the intricately carved puppets our of balsa wood and then given a brief show. Generally the shows performed are excerpts form the ancient Asian legends (you know the ones, so please don't expect me to spell them!?!), but in times of trouble, some extra bits would be subtly added by the puppeteer in order to pass on political messages and ideas.

We bade our farewells to our creative host and then agreed - partly in a bid to keep out of the sun for a bit, but also out of curiosity - to go off and join in a religious celebration that was open to all and sundry. It was the celebration of a young Muslim boy's circumsicion. (I did check with our guide that it was just the party we would be attending and NOT the actual snipping, luckily it was the former!

We turned up at the huge gathering and were warmly greeted by all the family and friends, who kept inviting us to eat the food being prepared by a group of women around the back of the tent. But the four of us made the universal sign for "Thank you very much but I'm full", in the hope that they wouldn't be offended and realise we were too scared to eat the food for fear of getting sick!

A band was up on stage performing some 'well known' Indonesian songs and us four Brits got up and merrily joined in with the dancing - bit of Bollywood style. Then Sally handed TC some money to give the singer before we sat down (a customary thing to do). TC handed her the notes then rushed over to me looking quite pale - which was quite hard to be in that heat - "Oh my god" she said "I just accidentally handed her the money using my left hand!" I tutted at her mistake and shook my head. (Remember one never uses the left hand for any greetings, gestures or eating, but only for 'cleaning ones personals' after going to the toilet). We all hoped that the woman would realise that TC  had just made a typical 'Western' mistake and wasn't inferring that her singing was shit and she should leave the stage!? 

No one took offence and we stayed a little longer. A short while later, as we took our leave, a couple of young children rushed over with smiling faces to say goodbye. As a gesture of respect and wishing someone well, the children would take our right hand in both of theirs and press them to the side of their temples whilst bowing their heads.

I wondered why the little girl looked at me nervously as I held out my hand, then she reluctantly took it and held it to the side of her head and quickly stepped back. And as I walked back up to the mini van I realised it was because I had accidentally offered her my left hand! Oops! Oh well it's an easy mistake to make!

That evening, TC and I took a walk along the beach watching the groups of locals either going for a final swim for the day (fully clothed) or coming in from an afternoons fishing. As is custom out here, if you are of a 'white skin persuasion', you will find (as in most if not all Asian countries) locals stopping and asking to have their photo taken with you (it's about the kudos). And the walk along the beach was no exception, when a group of students approached the two of us and one of them tried to explain that apparently he had been set a project at school to get a photo with a tourist on the beach!

Hmm, really?! What strange projects the students are set over here! 

TC and I obliged and took our positions as the sun slowly set behind us.








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