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Published: November 13th 2009
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Bandung to Banjar
Typically scenic Indonesian countryside with the impressive volcano looming in the background 16 October 2009 - 20 October 2009
TRANSPORTATION:
Bandung to Banjar by train (3 1/2 hours)--Rp120,000 (Business Class)
Banjar to Pangandaran by chartered bus--Rp 50,000
HOTELS:
Muara Laut Resort
Double, aircon, TV, cold water, western toilet, swimming pool--Rp160,000 incl. breakfast (low season rate)
Just opposite the beach, this brand spanking new motel-style hotel is clean, friendly and convenient.
Sunrise Beach Resort
Double chalet, satellite TV, aircon, western toilet, hot water (that didn't work)--Rp 385,000 incl. breakfast (low season rate)
A bit of a walk to all the action, but this is the best place in Pangandaran. Sea views from the chalet are great and the low season rate is worth every penny!
TOURS:
Green Canyon Tour--Rp150,000 (not including boat rental & food).
We set of on another train ride to take us to Pangandaran, a beach resort on the south coast of West Java. We had to get off the train at Banjar, about 200km's east of Bandung and this is where one of most taxing dilemma's rear's its ugly head. See, we had a few option on how to get from Banjar's train station to it's bus terminal (all bus terminals here are quite far
Bandung to Banjar
Crossing bridges on Indonesia's railways is not for those who suffer vertigo! out of town). So first we consult with Lonely Planet (who we can't trust), listen to what the many becak drivers have to say (who we can't trust) and also what the private minibus drivers have to say (who we can't trust). Lonely Planet says that you can flag a bus down on the side of the road. Becak drivers say they don't pass by the station and that it's 3km's to the terminal and they will take you, and the private minibus drivers promise to take you to your hotel in comfort! We chose the becak driver and ended up getting ripped off. We agreed on Rp15,000 each to take us "to our bus". Again, we had not listened to the small print as just a kilometer down the road he conveniently passed an empty bus parked on the side of the road seeming like he was waiting for us. The becak driver had told us that buses usually cost in the region of Rp50,000. So when he was stopped by this bus driver on the side of the road, he told us that all the buses are full and don't leave until 3pm (we were at 1pm at
Bandung to Banjar
Beautiful paddy fields this point)...are you following so far?? So Dan started piping up to no avail. Finally we agreed for him to take us to Pangandaran for Rp50,000 each as long as he doesn't start picking up passengers on the way. The cheeky becak drivers were paid for not even half a journey, but in Indonesia you do not change your negotiation after you have agreed on a price. So the lying bastards won this time! Grrrrr! So we hopped on our minibus, with very bad suspension, but we got it to ourselves and by this time we just wanted to get to our destination. Rp50,000 wasn't too bad a price to be honest, until the driver stopped at a petrol station and wanted money for petrol!! We did not oblige and he huffed and puffed and we finally continued on our way. See, this is the problem with Indonesia. The majority of people are out to relieve you of your money, which is fine, it's understandable....but why try and lie and cheat your way out of doing that?? We feel that if this carries on tourism will get worse and worse and then the lies get bigger and bigger. It's sad
for such a great country, with great people. But we shouldn't dwell on it, even though the bitter taste still lingers.
Anyway, the bus dropped us off outside the bus terminal, which is situated about 500m from the main gate into Pangandaran, from the gate it's about another 100m that you reach the hotels. We got off and straight away were mobbed by becak drivers who were claiming the hotels were 2km's away. Dan turned around, still bitter and now with a divine hatred for becaks, telling them to stop the BS, the gate is 500m away and that he's been here before....three times!! Who's lying now! We walked it and proceeded to the gate where it's a Rp2,500 charge for admission. God knows what the money goes to but it's not much. We planned to check out Komodo Hotel, as recommended by the staff at the By Moritz in Bandung. We were being followed by a guy on a motorbike telling us we should try his place (or the place that will most likely be giving him commission). We ignored him, proceeded to the Komodo, and found him waiting outside. We knew that if we didn't like this
hotel then he'll be hot on our heals again. We didn't like it but ended up escaping out of another exit, and thus left the guy to wonder where the hell we had disappeared to! We came across a clean looking motel-like place and soon after were checked in.
One of our priorities whilst here, was, yet again, to find somewhere to watch the Grand Prix! Luck would have it that this hotel had all the local channels except the one we wanted. Most of our time was spent looking around other hotels but to no avail.
We rented a couple of bicycles and set about exploring down Pangandaran's impressive coastline. Just like the majority of impressive beaches, the sea was un-swimmable at this time of year, as the southern beaches of Indonesia are battered by the mighty Indian Ocean swells. This didn't bother us too much however.
The highllight to our trip to Pangandaran was the tour we had booked to the nearby Green Canyon. We set off bright and early and stopped at a few sights on the way. The first was a small prawn cracker-making factory. It was amazing that for such a rural place,
the factory still boasted a state-of-the-art machine to help produce these crackers. It was left to the women to pack all the crackers into bags, to be later sold to hotels and warungs in the area. Next on the agenda was a small village housing a one-woman sugar-cane factory. At this little stall, she made her own sugar-cane (or was it actually palm sugar????) drink as well as a toffee-like substance. A quick walk through the village, learning about village life, took us to the local wayang puppet making factory. We were given a quick rundown on the history of wayang as well as a demonstration by the owner and master-puppeteer who was only too happy to show off his voice skills. Soon after we were at the Green Canyon, a magnificent emerald green river, snaking it's way to a waterfall. We were told to get off the boat and float down river back to where we had got on the boats. We just did as we were told, with Amy worrying about what creatures lurk in the river. It was a unique experience nonetheless!
On the way back to Pangandaran, we stopped off at a surfers beach, called Batu
Keras. This sleepy little village had a more sheltered beach with some pretty good waves. Dan rented a body board (as both of us can't surf) and had fun in the waves.
We then stopped off at a small turtle conservation centre where new-born turtles were rescued, and then released once they matured.
All in all in was a pretty good day out.
Our last 2 nights we decided to "upgrade" to a room at the swankiest resort in Pangandaran all for the sake of catching the Grand Prix and to have a rest before we headed to Yogyakarta for the next part of our Java jaunt.
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