Java (via Jakarta) Pangandaran

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We arrived in Jakarta around 8pm by Lion Air, the flight was good, we only wanted to stay here for a quick stop then leave the next day for Panandaran by the Sea.

We caught the train (Posh class with aircon and a snack) for about 2pounds, took us 4hrs to get there and the views onthe way were lovely, really high up in the mountains, looking down on rice fields and villages.

We caught a local bus the rest of the way and met a really nice local lady who owned a hotel called Komodo Island Hotel, so we agreed to take a look, as we didnt arrive there untlil 11pm, we are glad we stayed it was really relaxed and friendly staff, but she did like to put chocolate sauce on anything you ordered, even toast, mmmm interesting!

Pangandaran was hit by a Tsunami in July 2006, which Stu and I were unware of, approx 531 people were killed by a 2-6 m high wave which came in land from an earthquake out at sea. (7.7 Magnitude), this stretched 110miles of coastline, which was untouched by the Boxing Day 2004 Tsunami.

This beach with over 1000 resisdents was the worst hit. We spoke to a few locals and all tell of their scary stories of their encounter with the Tsumami. This place felt like a ghost town, very few tourists (not a bad thing for us, but it is for them) because of the Tsumanis and Bali bombings, tourism has gone down, which is such shame, as its a lovely country, great people and pretty cheap. At the moment the visa on arrival is only 30 days, thats why we are doing a quick stop but as of next year the visa will be 2months, which will be much better.

We really enjoyed our time here, its a shame we could only stay a couple of nights.

The sea is too rough to swim and the sand is volcanic black sand.

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Photos

Us
Lisa trynig out her new Sarong!