K I D U LB E A C H

HOW TO GET THERE

Go to WONOSARI

Local Culture

SEDEKAH LAUTTHANKS TO THE SEA

MY JOURNEY

YELLOW SAND BEACHES

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FUN I RELAX I LOW BUDGET

ACCESORIES : LIFESTRAW I COMMUNITY : BLACKPACKER I TIPS : CAPTURING BEAUTIFUL MOMENT

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BACKPACKIN’OKTOBER-NOVEMBER 2010

YOU WEREHERE

YELLOW SAND BEACHES

I’VE JUST GOT home from a brief vacation with my family to Gunung Kidul’s beaches. The first time I went to Sadranan Beach was at the Waisyak holi-day, May 28, 2010, with my friends from Univer-sity of Gadjah Mada, bachelor of management. Then, I got so excited for taking my family for a vacation there.

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THANKSTO THE SEA

AS A SOCIETY WHOSE life is still depended on nature, the seashore society of Gunung Kidul has some custom rituals that is held routinely to pro-tect the harmony of nature. Sedekah laut (giving offering to the sea -red) and Melasti are two of the examples.

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GALLERYCAPTURING KIDUL BEACHES23

HOW TO GET THERE : GO TO WONOSARI

THERE ARE MANY WAYS to get to Gunung Kidul, with Wonosari as the capital. Below are the routes to Wonosari that you can get by train and bus. Special for train, you have to go to Yogyakarta first then take bus to Wonosari.

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FROM SEA URCHINTO OCTOPUS

A VARIETY OF MARINE LIFE has been a daily meal for the people of the coastal Mount Kidul. Govern-ment efforts to develop the coastal area of Mount Kidul make the tourists can come to enjoy it.

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TENS OF BEACH IN ONE LINE

MOST PEOPLE GENERALLY not realize many beau-tiful beaches in Gunung Kidul. Baron Beach, Siung Beach, and Wediombo Beach are already famous among the tourists, but not many people know about Ngobaran Beach or Sepanjang Beach

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COMMUNITY :BLACKPACKER INDONESIA

INDONESIA RAYA SONG (national song of Indo-nesia –red), the more we sing it, the deeper the meaning.

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ACCESORIES:LIFESTRAW

ONE WEEK WITHOUT food, human still can sur-vive, but just three days days without water, most-ly people cannot survive. The value of water be-come more important to the backpackers,

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Bright red sky is one of the best times

for enjoying beaches. Yogyakarta is a

province that has a blessing of beauti-

ful beaches in the South. However, there are not

many writings that show the detail of how to

go there, how much money we have to spend,

what we can find, what we can do, local stories,

and many more. Backpack-

in’ tries to discuss them in

details. So, the readers will

get a full knowledge to go

there, only with reading this

edition.

Parangtritis similar to

Roy Suryo, its name is really

famous and there are more

references from Google

if we type its name. But,

Parangtritis is not the best in South of Yogya-

karta. There are Siung and Wediombo which

are quieter, cleaner, and more beautiful. Well

it’s true that the access to go there is harder

than to Parangtritis, especially for solo back-

packers. But that’s the cool thing about back-

packing.

Our message, don’t be a nature connois-

seur, yet be the true nature lover. Because a

connoisseur can only enjoy the beauty of na-

ture, but a true nature lover maintains its beau-

ty.

EDITOR IN CHIEF

EDITOR IN CHIEF :Ambar Arum

SENIOR EDITOR :Muhammad Iqbal

TRANSLATORS :Annisa M.F. Harahap

Anindya LeonitaDea Maria Crista

Ryana Andari Purba

ART AND DESIGN:Galih PermadiOdie Destrana

MARKETING :Jeremy Gemarista

Putri Uloly

WEBMASTER :Kurniawan Aji Saputra

WEBSITE :www.backpackinmagazine.com

CONTACT/ADVERTISING:redaksiezinebi@yahoo.com

BACKPACKIN’ MAGAZINE STAFF

CHEERS FOR BACKPACKERS!CONTENTS

BACKPACKIN’ 4

I’VE JUST GOT home from a brief vacation with my family to Gunung Kidul’s beaches. The first time I went to Sadranan Beach was at the Waisyak holiday, May 28, 2010, with my friends from University of Gadjah Mada, bachelor of management. Then, I got so excited for taking my family for a vacation there.

BY : AURELIA CLARESTA UTOMO

Yellow Sand Beaches

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KIDUL BEACHES KIDUL BEACHES

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I was so happy when I saw the yellow sand beach which located in Yogyakarta. It seemed like I was looking for a beautiful thing that I haven’t seen before; at least that was what I felt in the first thirty seconds, to make it not hyperbole. What made it more special was that the beach was still natural a.k.a. there was no merchant there and there were just a few people in Sadranan Beach. Why did I so happy? It was because the beaches that I’ve seen all my life in Yog-yakarta were just Parangtritis Beach and De-pok Beach which have gray blackish sands. Moreover, there are many andong and horses’

feces which really disturbs the scenery. The beaches are also less clean, because the visi-tors often leave the garbage in the beaches. What I hate the most is the beaches are too crowded with visitors and merchants. It was a coincidence that my little sis-ter, who had just graduated from elemen-tary school, had already had her school off. Therefore, my family planned to spend our holiday in Sadranan Beach. Although I didn’t remember the way to go there, I was so sure we could get there with conventional GPS (read: asking everyone) and a little memory from my trip with my colleague to Sadranan

Beach. We were late from what we have planned, because we packed our clothes just before we left. We should have gone by 1.30 pm from our house in Depok, Sleman, be-cause 3.30 pm is the perfect time for arriving there, with a prediction that the sun will not be too hot. At last, we departed at 2.15 pm, and before we went to the beach, we stopped at Mister Burger first for the sake of our stom-achs and mouths. With the information I got from Mr. Zulkarnain, the owner of a guest house called Kampoeng Baron where we

would stay at, I took Sundak Beach which is more famous than Sadranan Beach as the pole. He said that if we found an instruction in the street, we had to take the way that goes to Sundak Beach. After I had followed the way to Sundak (turn left), instead of to Baron (go straight ahead), I felt like it was not the way that I have passed before. It seemed like it was not the right way. Although I was a little worried, I tried to fix the situation with driving faster, so we won’t get there at night. In short, I could finally find Sadranan Beach with a pole of a villa which is located

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Photo :Sunset 0n Sepanjang Beach

on the hill. I had planned to stay there from the first time, but from my browsing in the internet, I found out that the rate for a night in that villa is 4 million rupiahs. Noooooo! It was 4.30 pm when we arrived in Sad-ranan Beach. Wonderful! It’s true, Sadranan Beach is located approximately 500 metres in the west of Sundak. Although there are many rocks in the road, it still can be passed by cars. I was still a little bit disappointed when we were arrived here; the cloud was over-cast, so it was less blue. Besides, the sea was in a low tide, so I could see the corals which are grown by the seaweeds, therefore, it was

hard to play in the water. Yet the sands were still pretty, yellow and clean. I thanked God, because there were still no merchant in that beach. I felt like it was my private beach. Wow, so happy! My sisters played in the seashore, but me, I was still too curious with that 4-million-villa on that coral hill. My mom agreed to go there. In short, we arrived on the hill and the view was not very beautiful up there. We could only see the view of Krakal Beach which is crowded, and it has already had a building. It was not as pretty as what I had imagined. It seemed like there was no guide in that villa, yet the plants looked very well taken care of. I saw two cottages and a glass room simi-lar to a restaurant or a meeting room inside. However, all the doors were locked. I did not

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CATPERPANTAIKIDUL

“Yet the sands were still pretty, yellow, and clean.

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know where the maids were. Then, we went back to Sadranan Beach. At 6 pm, we got ready to go to our guest house, Kampoeng Baron. We went the wrong way from the first place, but then we finally found it. Kampoeng Baron was not re-ally far from the retribution of Baron region gate. I knew this place from a brochure that I had got when I was here with my friends. We ordered a room with AC and dou-ble bed, and then we added another extra bed. This place was the best I could find for

my family. Before, I got pretty depressed with that 4-million-rupiahs-villa and small hotels that cost only 20.000 rupiahs a night. This place is very recommended! My suggestion, you should come with lots of friends, because it was so quiet in the night.

*** In the morning, we chose Sepanjang Beach as our next destination. It is also a great beach! Again, the characteristics are similar with Sadranan Beach, it’s still natural. The road to this beach hasn’t been asphalted

yet, just like Sadranan. Moreover, there was no parking lot, bathroom for rinsing, and mer-chant. This morning, there was only a man that sat and fished there. Hooray!!! Another private beach! So happy! The sand in Sadranan is gentler and prettier, but Sepanjang is also beautiful, be-cause there are many beautiful corals in the east side. We played in the water from 5.30 am until 7 am. This time is the most perfect time to play in the beach, so our skin won’t get dark.

Aaaa… they are my favorite beaches in Gunug Kidul. Say sorry to Krakal, Baron, and other beaches… I love virgin beaches like these ones. Audris, my sister, said that Tanjung Tinggi in Belitong is way more beautiful, com-pared with these beaches. Well, but it’s in Yo-gyakarta. At least these two beaches are the best beaches that I could find in Yogyakarta. Love them!!!

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JAKARTA - YOGYAKARTA TRAIN SCHEDULE

THERE ARE MANY WAYS to get to Gunung Kidul, with Wonosari as the capi-tal. Below are the routes to Wonosari that you can get by train and bus. Spe-cial for train, you have to go to Yogyakarta first then take bus to Wonosari.

Arrive in Tugu Station (for executive train only), walk for 10 minutes to Malioboro Street, and then take a bus in lane 4, stop at Giwangan Terminal.

Arrive in Lempuyangan Station (for Economy train only), walk for 10 minutes to Hayam Wuruk Street and then take a bus in lane 10, stop at Giwangan Terminal.

Arrive in Giwangan Terminal, take a bus to Wonosari Terminal.

Train Ticket Price Eksekutif:IDR 210.000,00 – IDR 320.000,00Bisnis: IDR 100.000,00 – IDR 150.000,00Ekonomi:IDR 26.000,00 – IDR 37.000,00

Train Name Kinds of train -Station Departure Depart Arrive

Argo Lawu EKS - Gambir 20.00 03.38Argo Dwipangga EKS - Gambir 08.00 15.10Taksaka II EKS - Gambir 20.45 04.30Taksaka I EKS - Gambir 08.45 16.28

Bima EKS - Gambir 17.00 00.42Gajayana EKS - Gambir 17.30 01.25Gajayana EKS - Kota 17.15 01.25Fajar Utama Yogya BIS - Senen 06.57 14.53Senja Utama Yogya BIS - Senen 19.42 04.10Senja Utama Solo BIS - Senen 20.27 05.12Progo EKO - Senen 21.00 07.04Bengawan EKO - Tanah Abang 19.30 05.53Gaya Baru Malam EKO - Kota 12.00 21.10

Important ContactsGunung Kidul Region Ministry of Culture and Tourism :0274 - 391 031Train :121 atau 021 - 21391121 ,or visitwebsite http://kereta-api.co.id/ Pulo Gadung Bus terminal :021 - 4893 742Kampung Rambutan Bus Terminal : 021 – 84 000 62Lebak Bulus Bus Terminal :021 – 750 9773

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GO TO WONOSARI GO TO WONOSARI

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Bus To get to Wonosari, the bus can be found at Lebak Bulus, Pulo Gadung and Kam-pung Rambutan terminals (between 1 until 2 o’clock in the afternoon) If you have arrive at Wonosari Termi-nal, to get to Baron Beach you can use mini-

bus with Baron Beach direction. For other beaches in Gunung Kidul, there is no public transportation. So the best way is to use private trans-portation or to rent transportation from the nearest city, like Wonosari or Yogyakarta. In Yogyakarta, you can found transportations to be rented around Tugu Station. As for Wonosari, you can found it around Wonosari

Terminal. The guide from Wonosari to Gunung Kidul beaches can also be seen on the map.

1. Executive Price :IDR 200.000–IDR 250.0002. Economy Price :IDR 100.000–IDR 150.000

3. Motorcycle rent price :IDR 50.000–IDR 85.000 / day4. Car rent price :IDR 300.000- IDR 450.000 / day

BACKPACKIN’

Go to Wonosari

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AS A SOCIETY WHOSE life is still depended on nature, the seashore society of Gunung Kidul has some custom rituals that is held routinely to protect the harmony of nature. Sedekah laut (giving offering to the sea -red) and Melasti are two of the examples.

Thanks to The SeaBY : AMBAR ARUMPHOTO : Various Sources

Sedekah Laut This ceremony is the form of feeling thankful for the harvest of the farmers and fishermen who lives in the south seashore, also asking for blessing so that there will be no misfortune for the seashore society in do-ing their work in the future. Sedekah Laut is done with releasing the offerings for spirits to the sea. The offer-ings are loaded with 7 different things with different meanings :

• Male chicken representing that fishermen are brave and strong men looking for fish in the middle of the ocean.

• A shape of a boat as the symbol of fishermen’s lives.

• Jenang-jenangan Jenang Abang as the symbol of mother and White Jenang as the symbol of father.

• Sugar cane a symbol to protect the seashore soci-ety.

• Foods from goat represented for South Shore Queen (the ghost who lives in the south shore –red) as the symbol of victim in searching for fish.

• Silk purple tube top the symbol of clothing The Queen gave to her soldiers to not disturbing the fisher-men in searching for fish.

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SEDEKAH LAUT SEDEKAH LAUT

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• Fruits aim to the spirits in the seashore to not bother the fishermen.

The procession of Sedekah Laut starts with prayers by the one who guard the place, then the offerings are brought to the mid-dle of the sea with one fisherboat which is guarded by four boats. Meanwhile, there is also music played called Gendhing Kebogi-ro. After approximately one kilometer from the seashore, the offerings are dropped to the sea with praying also so that fishermen would be safe and get a lot of fish. Besides of that part of the ceremony, Sedekah Laut is usually held with thankful-ness event, where the society gathered and eat together. Sometimes there is also read-ing the Qur’an together or puppet show for a whole night. But all those things are tenta-tive. Sedekah Laut, or often called Labuhan, held routinely every suro month in Javanese

calendar. It is uctually held in many places along the south shore of Java Island, so it is not in the Gunung Kidul only. For Gunung Kidul region, the Labuan Ceremony is usu-ally held in Baron, Kukup, Drini, Sadeng and Ngrenehan Beaches. In the society of Wediombo environ-ment, this tradition is called Ngalangi. The ritual is more or less the same as the Sedekah Laut, but in here some of the dead clothes of the elders are also added in the offerings to be released to the sea.

Melasti Near to the New Year according to the Saka calendar, Hindus people held Melasti ritual to purify themselves before New Year. The Hindus society who lives in the Gunung Kidul region did the Melasti Ceremony in Ngobaran Beach. This beach is considered sacred for the society because they believed that Ngobaran Beach once became the last place of asceticism of Majapahit’s last king, Prabu Brawijaya. The first thing to be done is the God Yadnya Ceremony or the sacred offerings

to the Almighty in Sagara Wukir Temple and Bhuta Yadnya Ceremony or offerings to Bhuta Kala in Paseban Segoro Wukir. After that, the holy property is carried to the sea to be cleaned. Sea water is believed as the eternal water and can purify ourselves and the universe. Many nature products then released to the sea. Melasti Ceremony is measured to the Tri Hita Karana, which means three impor-tant things to get wealthiness and prosperity. That three things are to keep the harmony with God, nature and human. Harmony with God marked with re-leasing nature’s products to the middle of the sea. The harmony with nature is done by planting for about a thousand trees in some location in Gunung Kidul, all done by Gunung Kidul society, young or old. The Melasti Cer-emony is also open for people in different religions. That is the realization of harmony with human.

Besides those two ceremonies, there are still another ceremonies but isn’t held on the sea, but in mountains or villages. These are the culture that still been kept by the so-ciety of Gunung Kidul. This culture is also be-lieved to be the cause of the strong lasting foods. Though modernization has occured in many ways, still Gunung kidul’s society is very strong in preserving their culture which will be difficult to be separated from Culture Visit Agenda by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

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A VARIETY OF MARINE LIFE has been a dai-ly meal for the people of the coastal Mount Kidul. Government efforts to develop the coastal area of Mount Kidul make the tour-ists can come to enjoy it.

From Sea Urchinto OctopusOLEH : AMBAR ARUMPHOTO : Various Sources

20 BACKPACKIN’ 21

Almost in all the beaches that have been described, there is at least one food stall, unless the Beach Baron and on the beaches next to it, the presence of these stalls are not too distracting the beauty of the coast, because in general they maintain a good hygiene. The existences of stalls that actually can make the interaction of visitors with the local residents become more natural. After fishing, visitors can ask their caught fish to

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SEA URCHIN SEA URCHIN

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be cooked, or even introduce new recipes to the food vendors there. Prices are set in the normal range, or even slightly cheaper than in the market. All kinds of marine-style food ranging from the ordinary to the unusual here, one of the unusual seafood is fried sea urchin. Gen-erally people find this sea urchin in the vicin-ity of the beach. Only with bring the bucket, the filter oil, and sickle, the sea urchins are ready to be arrested. This scene can be seen every afternoon at the Ngobaran beach. The way of cultivating is not difficult. Sea urchin that has been captured initially is beaten until blended to destroy prickly, then

his body is broken down with a sickle, from that the meat was taken. Then, the porcupine meat is fried together with seasonings chili and salt. Finally, the chewy fried and deli-cious sea urchin is ready to be served! If you get luck, the octopus also can be a meal choice. Certainly not the whole octo-pus that will be served, but the pieces of the body and the tentacles that are processed with rica-rica seasoning, oyster sauce or it can be cooked to be satay. But both of these foods are not sold by people who live there, not only because it is rarely obtained, but also because the food is not too popular. So, it is seldom offered to

the visitors. To be able to taste, visitors can ask first whether it is available or not. Outside the seafood, there are also some unique foods that can be found along the way to the beach. Some of them are tiwul and fried grasshoppers. Tiwul is a food made from cassava that

has been dried, and then ground up into a flour, steamed and given brown sugar. Tiwul is usually eaten with grated coconut. Formerly, when there was a difficulty in finding rice, tiwul was a staple food and rice was substituted by tiwul. But now, tiwul only a food booster stomach like a cake. One more food that is also interest-ing is fried grasshoppers. It is said that so many locusts in the agricultural fields of so-ciety, then the grasshoppers into a commod-ity for confectionary that is served with fried just like that. Unexpectedly, these tasty fried grasshoppers are much liked and have be-come the merchandise in some areas in Java that still have the rice fields, including in the area of Mount Kidul. Mount Kidul community, ranging from coastal areas to the mountains and country-side, in their daily life are very close to the nature. Most of them work as fishermen, farmers and ranchers. Therefore, they can live from their own harvests. There are still many villages that have a habit of eating together. Not because there is a wedding party or certain celebrations, but it is a habit that they do almost every day. Generally, they gather in the middle of the village. There are some people who carry rice, others bring dishes, and the rest carry vegetables, then all the villagers are called and they eat together. They know each other. If there are newcomers in their village, they will be very happy and serve them with food crops. That’s all about the life of people in Mount Kidul that is very simple and full of kinship.

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“Tiwul is a food made from cas-sava that has been dried, and then ground up into a flour, steamed and given brown sugar.

SEA URCHINSEA URCHIN

GALLERY

CapturingKidul BeachesBACKPACKIN’

Photo : Ambar Arum

Tens of Beach

BY : AMBAR ARUM

In One LineMOST PEOPLE GENERALLY not realize

many beautiful beaches in Gunung Kidul.

Baron Beach, Siung Beach, and Wediombo

Beach are already famous among the tour-

ists, but not many people know about Ngo-

baran Beach or Sepanjang Beach.

It is understandable, because there are

about 46 beaches spread in southern Gunung

Kidul. Not all of them are getting exposed

as tourism object, even there is no data for

some of those place. Like a new born baby,

everything is pure and natural. The sand is

clean, the water is blue, and the coral is still

well-kept. The roads to several locations of

the beach are not in a good condition, some

is perforated and rocky. The access is not

easy to pass, also the electricity readiness

and cellphone signal are terrible. But be-

sides all of those lacks, it is worthed if you

can see the beauty of the beach in front of

you. Next is some of the best beaches from

Backpackin’:

ON THE SPOT

WONOSARI

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GESING BEACH NGOBARANBEACH*

NGRENEHANBEACH

BARON BEACH

This is a small beach, full with fisher-man’s ship. Gesing Beach is a beautiful beach, but unfortunately the track to this location is out of order and rocky.

Facilities: lavatory, a place for fish auction.

Ticket price: IDR 0

If you want to feel another sensation of a beach, this is the right place. Ngobaran Beach has a God statues which were a pil-grimage to visit a sacred place (The 7th Ma-japahit’s King: Prabu Brawijaya the 5th) by the follower of Kejawan belief. Not far from that place, you will found a Pura, a temple for Hindus. Few meters ahead, you will find a mosque measures three across four meters with sand as a base. It is a unique beach, isn’t it?

Facilities: lavatory, small shop.

Ticket price: IDR 3,500 per person(including Ngrenehan Beach)

It is located side by side with Ngoba-ran Beach. Ngrenehan Beach is a rest area for fisherman after they seek for a fish, also as a place for them to sell their fish. The two hills that flank the narrow beach make a hard waves from Indian Ocean undirectly hit the shore.

Facilities: lavatory, small diner, a place for fish auction.

Baron Beach is the most popular beach in the area. This brown-sand beach is really crowded with the trader, including fisherman and litter.

Facilities: lavatory, small diner, a place for fish auction, and inn.

Ticket price: IDR 5,000(including Krakal Beach, Kukup Beach, Dri-ni Beach, Sepanjang Beach, and Sundak Beach),

Parking fee:IDR 2,500 (car) and IDR 1,000 (motorcycle).

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KUKUPBEACH

SEPANJANGBEACH

DRINIBEACH

KRAKALBEACH

Located side by side with Baron Beach, Kukup Beach has different sand color, which is light brown. This beach is famous because of its variety of sea creature. There are lots of coral along the beach, its become the home of the beautiful fish. The tourist can buy those fish at the store along the way to the beach. The visitor can also catch the fish on their own at the coral on the shore by buying the small fish net at there, but this activity is highly not recommended.

Facilities: lavatory, small shop, inn.

Because the length of the beach, it is named by Sepanjang Beach. The clean sand and the beautiful waves make this beach known as old Kuta.

Facilities:lavatory, small shop.

This beach is more quite than the beaches next to it, Baron Beach and Kukup Beach. The beach is more wide, and the sand is more bright.

Facilities:lavatory, small shop, a place for fish auction.

This beach is wide, similar with the beaches next to it. Krakal has a clean sand with coral on the shore. The fisherman’s ships and people who are fishing become a cool view.

Facilities:lavatory, small shop, a place for fish auction, inn.

SUNDAKBEACH

This beach is wide and clean. The sand is white. People say Sundak is from the word ‘asu’ (dog) and porcupine. When asu chased a porcupine to a cave, no longer after that, asu came out from the cave with soaking wet. From that time, people believe that the cave has a spring, something rare in Gunung Kidul area.

Facilities:lavatory, small shop, inn.

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SIUNG BEACH*

This beach is famouse with the coral, because it is often used as a rock-climbing arena. The name Siung is taken from one of the coral with siung (teeth) of monkey shape. If you get lucky, you can see long-tailed mon-key in this beach.

Facilities: lavatory, small shop.

Ticket price: IDR 3,000 per person.

Coral reef, sand, and waves are per-fect composition. Different with other beach which have straight-long form, Wediombo Beach has inside-round shore line like a gulf, until half of the area faced the south to see the sunset.

Facilities: lavatory, small shop.

Ticket price: IDR 2,500 per person.

*) Recommended

WEDIOMBOBEACH*

Besides coddling our eyes and mind on the Gunung Kidul beaches, there are

some activities that you can do :

Fishing The heavy south beach waves is a chal-lenging field to the fishers. Moreover, when you do this activity on the uprock/uphill, or usually called rock fishing. This activity in-cludes hiking: to reach the top of the hill, and camping: when you want to do fishing on the night if you want to catch bigger fish. The fishers usually can catch several variety of fish, like shark (panjo), red snaper, grey snap-er, barracuda, grouper, ribbon fish, and oth-er big fish. You should be careful when you are fishing in this place, because if you fall down, the waves and the rock are ready to catch you. You can do fishing on almost each beach, but the most famous beaches to do fishing are Wediombo Beach, Baron Beach, Ngerenehen Beach, and Gesing Beach.

Rock Climbing The beaches in Gunung Kidul have many rocks to climb, but the most famous is Siung Beach with 250 climb-path. So it is not surprised if this place become host in many rock-climbing competition. In 2005, The Asian Climbing Gathering was held at this place.

The most famous path is sea horse path. It is named like that because there is a rock which has sea horse form at the top of the hill. Because of the position is facing the sea, you can see the extremely beutiful view from the highest point of the hill.

Surfing Southern beaches are known for its high and heavy waves. Because of that, it becomes the perfect plece to surf. The wide area, great waves, and lovely view makes Wediombo Beach the perfect place to surf.

BESIDES THE BEACH’S VIEW?

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R e a l i z i n g that problem, Sadar Wisata Community (Conscious About Tourism Commu-nity) or Pokdarwis was formed in Gu-nung Kidul’s beach-es. An effort to pro-tect the beauty of beaches to not be-coming damage or worst. Actually, Pokdarwis was a government program held in every region in Indonesia. The execution involving particu-lar society of one’s region. This time, figure column would like to present Mr. Sute, one of the active members of Sadar Wisa-ta Community in Sundak Beach, Gunung Kidul.

Since when the Sadar Wisata Community exist in Sundak Beach? Since about ten years ago.

What are the activities? Usually, we clean the beach oftenly and

33 BACKPACKIN’ 34

FIGUREMr. SETU

BY : AMBAR ARUM

if there are visitors who’d like to dam-age the beach, well we warned them.

Is there any diffi-culties to ask the society to clean the beach? Nope. Be-cause we often held routine gatherings and from there on

we told them about the impor-tance of cleaning in here (the beach). It’s for our sake also, so the people clean the beach vol-untary.

How do you persuade visitors to also keep the environment clean here? Well, we told them. But sometimes there are still always garbages left because we can’t always monitor the visitors. But

if we see someone leaving their garbages or intended to damage trees, we warned them not to.

BACKPACKIN’

“Usually, we

clean the beach

oftenly and if there

are visitors who’d

like to damage the

beach, well we

warned them.”

Gunung KidulBeautiful Beach Guard

NATURE VACATION PLACES, generally, are becoming less beautiful than it was after many people visited it and then, conscious or not, damage it. There has been a dilemma in the back yard of tourism world. Promoting the beauty of one’s place means that increasing the welfare of the society and the income of the regional government. But on the other hand, the beauty of the particular nature are in danger by the unresponsible hands from many direction.

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INDONESIA RAYA SONG (national song of Indonesia –red), the more we sing it, the deeper the meaning. If Susi Susanti (Indone-sia’s batminton player -red) didn’t care about her wet eyes appeared when her name was mentioned as the olympic gold receiver, then several tens of young people in Ujung Kulon could also be quiet for a moment for red and white (Indonesia’s flag –red). WR Supratman (Indonesia Raya’s composer -red) is indeed great.

A year of Indonesia

Blackpacker

35 BACKPACKIN’ 36

To celebrate Indonesia’s independence last 2009, some active members of the Indo-nesia Backpacker Community held a travel to Ujung Kulon, guided by Yuni Artha. For-tunately, there was a day-off on Friday, so it was nice to go somewhere far without having to furlough. Among them were the people who didn’t know each other, very common for people who is used to travel cheaply. In one of the many islands in the Ujung Kulon region, they participated the Indepen-dence Day Ceremony which was coinciden-tally followed also by Indonesia Surfing Couch

community. Maybe from the spirit of red and white, some people suggested to make a new community, which was the part of some sort of state of Indonesia Backpacker, then appeared the Indonesia Blackpacker. The name is “Blackpacker” because they like to play on the beach and beach makes skin black. At the beginning, the ideas was flowing naturally, not pushing too hard to organize it seriously. But then, Yudhistira Rangga Wahesya, one of them, coinciden-tally had a new modem. So between serious and not serious, made a fan page of Black-

BY : MUHAMMAD IQBAL

BACKPACKIN’

“The name is “Blackpacker” because they like to play on the

beach and beach makes skin black.”

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BLACKPACKER BLACKPACKER

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packer Indonesia. The response was quite low. It was very hard to ask people to join the fan page. But next travels kept going on with the same people, but more fun. Ujung Gen-teng (Sept 09), Seribu Islands (Sept 09, Oct 09, Apr 10), Sawarna Village (Nov 09), Dieng-Magelang-Jogja (Des 09), Nusa Kambangan-Pangandaran-Green Canyon-Galunggung (Des 09), Krakatau (Feb 10), Malang (Mei 10), Surabaya (Mei 10), and Baduy (Jun 10) are the lists of their traveling. It is common if there was a “merger” along the road with other com-munity. For future, they really want to ex-plore Lombok, Komodo Island, Wakatobi, Toraja, Alor and Raja Ampat. Maybe be-cause having the same intention as them, 1400 people joined Blackpacker Indone-sia.

Of course not all of the Ujung Kulon participants participate on the above travels. It is also added by new people which is al-ways come almost in every travel. This can be the indicator that Blackpacker Indonesia is not a closed community. On the contrary, they are happy with a new character colour in the group. The gatherings are not just held on trips, but also on their everyday life so that it get more and more intensive. Almost ev-ery week they gathered, either for eating out together, watching film or chit-chatting only. They grew to a community that bound emo-tionally, like a family. Blackpacker is becom-ing the comfort zone for most of them. Since the majority of the members live in Jabodetabek (Jakarta, Bogor, Depok,

Tanggerang, Bekasi -red), the gatherings is often held in Jakarta, usually in Setia Budi, Plaza Semanggi, Sarinah, Menteng Park or Suropati Park. There is no special base camp, but it looks like they don’t need that too. It is more fun to gather in different places that matches with their need at the time. After that, comes the ideas to have ac-tivities outside travelling. Hunting and sharing photos are done more routinely. Swimming also one of the routine agendas for some members. These activities, though seem like

octopus tentacles, still got the biggest activ-ity which is, obviously, travelling. Travelling info always shared to mailing list blackpackerindonesia@yahoogroups.com. Though they have the fan page, mailing list is often used as an information board for community travelling. If you want to search for a travelling community that has family re-lationship, Blackpacker Indonesia is the best choice.

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IT’S TRUE WHEN Ibnu Batuta said that an adventurer has bigger inst-ing to write than before he starts adventuring. That’s happen to Nor-man Edwin. His name become “big” because of the national medias, in-cluding Kompas. The new release book ‘Nor-man Edwin: Catatan Sahabat Sang Alam’ (Norman Edwin: The Notes of Nature’s Friend), published by KPG, try to summarize all of the man’s work that spread in many places become one literature as a guide to the people who have the same pas-sion to explore the universe. Sixty four notes from the journey from the ex-member of Mapala UI are a gold mine to those who seek for eco-tour knowledge. Norman explains with such of his way that it can criticize the arrangement of eco-tour. He

explain some stories, like when he was ex-ploring Kapuas River at West Borneo, then walked along Luweng Ombo Cave at Pacitan, East Java, and when he explored Indonesian Ocean with Ammana Gappa, the Phinisi boat. Until when the end of this ‘Friend of Nature’ came at the snowy mountain named Acon-cagua on March 21, 1992. The experiences in his book make our feet want to run as soon as possible to those places.

TO A BACKPACKER, AF-GHANISTAN might be-come the last choice to vis-it. I think it is OK because there is no people want to take the risk entering the warfare area, and then ac-cidentally step on the mine fields, and only persented with the view of collapsed building rubble along the way. However, it is not valid for Agustinus Wi-bowo. This Beijing Univer-sity alimnus like to explore risky countries like Iran, Pakistan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan. Agustinus spent long time on his journey in Afghanistan. He had stayed at Kabul for two years as a journalist photog-rapher, he was busy go around with truck to

The Notes ofNorman Edwin

The Friend of Nature

Inhaling Dust in Afghanistan

BY : GEREMY GEMARISTA

BY :GEREMY GEMARISTA

explore many interesting locations at that country and he also explored the local cul-ture from the local residents. The reflective of Afghanistan face is very well described on this book.

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THE FRIEND OF NATURE INHALING DUST IN AFGANISTAN

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ONE WEEK WITHOUT food, human still can survive, but just three days days without wa-ter, mostly people cannot survive. The val-ue of water become more important to the backpackers, because it is not easy to get clear water at unfamiliar places. Because of that reason, LifeStraw® is created.

LifeStraw As The Practical Water Filter

The water filter has straw shape which is easy to carry everywhere. The usage is easy as using normal straw, you just use it to drink from any spring. The virus and bacteria will be filtered by itself, so it will not get in to our mouth. The Swiss company, Vestergaard Frandsen created this sophisticated straw. They are the supplier for health devices. They target is developing countries which experi-encing difficulties to get clear water. The two

BY : AMBAR ARUM

varieties of their products are LifeStraw® Per-sonal for private needs and LifeStraw® Fam-ily for family needs. One LifeStraw® Personal could filter the bacteria in the water until 700 liter, or equal with the using of water by a person for one year. Whereas the LifeStraw® Family has ability to filter the water until 18,000 liter, it is same like the need of water for a family for two years. With LifeStraw®, the mountain climber do not have to bring water more than nec-essary, you just take from the spring around you, for example from the waterfall or the

river, also you don’t have too busy cook-ing to remove the bacteria from the water. LifeStraw® can do that with only one suck! Many online stores already sell LifeStraw® products, including the trading fo-rum Kaskus. The price of LifeStraw® is around IDR 150,000 to 300,000. Unfortunately, there is no clear information about the price of LifeStraw® Family. For more info about LifeStraw®, you can visithttp://www.vestergaard-frandsen.com/lifestraw

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LIFESTRAW

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1. Bring a proportional backpack for your camera and its accessories

2. Prepare some back up batteries, memory card, and tripod for taking pictures in certain situations, for instance when light intensity is low, high composition, or when you take pic-tures together

3. It’s also good if you increase your knowl-edge about photography first, before you go on your trip. You can just browse it in the in-ternet

4. Take some frames with varieties of angles for a place or a moment, so you can choose which one the best

5. Last but not least, this is the most impor-tant tips; don’t forget to enjoy your trip. Al-though you want to take great pictures, you still have to enjoy your trip. So, give yourself a chance to kiss the flowers, breathe some fresh air, or wash your face with translucent water from the river.

INSTEAD OF LOSING IMPRESSIVE moments in the place you visit, you should study these ways of capturing pictures in your trip.

CapturingBeautiful MomentBY : MUHAMMAD IQBAL

Photo : galih.dok

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CAPTURING CAPTURING

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Communities’ SocialPrograms

NOVEMBER TRIP

1. Biawak IslandIndramayu, West JavaNovember 6 – 7, 2010

Organized by: Tim Sergap IndonesiaFacebook group: TIM SERGAP INDO-NESIAwww.sergapindonesia.com

2. Talaga BodasGarut, West JavaNovember 6 – 7, 2010

Organized by: Share TravellerFacebook group: Share Traveller 3. Mount Slamet ClimbingPurbalingga, Central Java (date to be confirmed)

Organized by: Tim Sergap IndonesiaFacebook group: TIM SERGAP INDO-NESIAwww.sergapindonesia.com 4. Jomblang CavingGunung Kidul, Yogyakarta(date to be confirmed) Organized by: Share TravellerFacebook group: Share Traveller

BY : AMBAR ARUM

During the month of Ramadan, back-packer communities organized vari-ous social programs in different

places. Some of them were SERGAP Team sharing with street children, Kaskus Indone-sian Traveller with Sanggar Anak Akar (chil-

dren’s studio), also Share Traveller with or-phanage children.

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SOCIAL PROGRAM SOCIAL PROGRAM

The Adventures Begin! After Idul Fitri holidays, everybody was eager to have more adventures! So, many backpacking communities were exploring several mountains and beaches, such as Mount Rinjani (plus Explore Lombok) by Go to Summit Community and Bali Backpacker, Mount Semeru by SERGAP TEAM, Mount Ar-gopuro by Share Traveller, and Sempu Beach by Odong-odong Traveller.

ProgramInformation Below is a list of programs planned by several backpacker communities in No-vember 2010. Backpackin’ only gathers in-formation about the agenda. We’re not the organizer of the programs. So, for further information please contact the communities directly. Happy backpacking and don’t forget to keep our nature beautiful!

PRAYFORINDONESIA

WHEN NATUREISN’T FRIENDLY ANYMORE...

WE CAN’T DO ANYTHING...

WASIOR (WEST PAPUA)September, 26, Flood Disaster

MENTAWAI ISLAND (WEST SUMATERA)October, 26, Earthquake and Tsunami

MERAPI VOLCANO (YOGYAKARTA)October, 26, Eruption

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