Pangandaran, Indonesia, August 20-25

Pangandaran

On Friday I left the business of Jakarta heading for the beach town of Pandangaran some 7 hours away via bus. I figured this might be my last beach stop for the remaining time I'm here in SE Asia. The bus ride from Jakarta was, not surprising, an adventure. I left Jakarta around 10:00am for a bus headed towards Banjar. Apparently, the direct bus only goes at night (thanks Lonely Planet for that mis-leading info). As the only tourist at the bus terminal, I was harassed by at least 10 people trying to point me in the right direction, but more so trying to get some money from me. After wading through the crowd I got on the bus and was quickly back to sleep. This was my first bus trip in Indonesia and I was quick to learn that there is a smoking section on these buses. Essentially, the last 3 rows of seats are glassed off with it's own door that really didn't prevent the smoke from entering the entire bus at all.

Five hours later, including a 30 minute stop along the side of the road to fix the broken AC, we made it to Banjar were I caught the local bus to Pandangaran. This was a minibus that quickly became jam packed with school kids since it was around 3:00 and classes were just let out. It was only 30km to Pandangaran, but because of the roads took almost 3 hours. Again, I was the only non Indonesian person on the bus so was a site to see. I did spend most of the bus ride talking to a guy who wanted to practice his English which was fun.

I finally made it to Pandangaran around 7:00pm and quickly went out for some dinner and a couple drinks at one of two local beach bars. Everynight people gather at the beach for a bon fire and live music. The next morning, after a good sleep I went out to the beach to find it completely empty! After  a few hours at this beach I walked over to the "white sand" beach where I was able to find some more people. I basically spent all day there reading and swimming. Pandangaran is a small town so you see a lot of the same faces each day. At night I met a few of the locals who were really cool and offered to take me to the Green Canyon the next day. I heard a lot about this place so I decided to join them.

The next morning I met up with the people from the night before, got onto the motorbike and hit the road for an hour to Green Canyon. We got to the river and hired a boat to take us up the emerald colored river. I wasn't sure what to find, but the water was an amazing color and the canyon walls (about 100m high) were lined with ferns, palms, waterfalls and other lush greenery. After about 20 minutes upriver the boat stopped and we got out and were handed life jackets. I followed the locals as we swam upriver through the rapids and into a portion of the canyon where the walls almost touched at the top. It was quite a scene!! Something I've never seen before. It felt like I was in a made-up world!!! After some strenuous swimming we got to the mouth of the river where we jumped off some cliffs and into the rapids which we then floated along back to the boat. Unfortunately, I couldn't bring my camera all the way with me since I was swimming. 

After about an hour at the Green Canyon we were back on the motorbikes on our way to Batu Karas for lunch and to hang out at that beach. From there we went across the bamboo bridge and back to Pandangaran.

Pandangaran is known for it's surfing here so I gave it another shot (the last time being in Bali). It's a pretty good spot for beginners although in the afternoon the waves get pretty powerful. I feel like I was in a boxing match, all soar and everything, but it was definitely lots of fun and certainly worth the effort once you get up!

I origianally planned to stay here for two nights, but that quickly turned into five. That summarizes Pandangaran very well. The locals are the friendliest people I've met in the world, instantly making you feel like one of them instead of a tourist. It really was one of those magical places where you felt at home and you never wanted to leave. It's hard to pin-point what makes Pandangaran stand out, but for some reason it does (I guess the people) and will undoubtedly be a place I will never forget. Who knows if they'll ever read this blog, but here's my thanks for a great time and truly memorable experience to Deni, Iwa, Erma and the rest of the locals. I will never forget Pandangaran.

Off to Yogyakarta!