The room's cozy atmosphere and the comfort of Jogjakarta Plaza Hotel's soft and soothing bed, in addition to the refreshing scent of clean sheets, would make most people reluctant to get up in the morning. It was our second day in Yogyakarta and, with Gunung Kidul on our minds, we dragged ourselves out of bed.
The most important meal of the day turned out to be one of the best, although 7 a.m. did seem like an ungodly hour for breakfast when staying at holiday accommodation. I have heard of some hotels that can't even fry an egg, but the Jogjakarta Plaza Hotel's buffet breakfast is perfect to start any day.
It was 10 a.m. and we made a quick stop at a local store that sells fried insects for snacks, charging Rp 25,000 for a little bucket of them. Locusts have been quite a problem for the farmers of Gunung Kidul, and apparently there's no better revenge than to eat them.
China and Thailand have long fried locusts in addition to other critters like scorpions, beetles, grasshoppers, centipedes, not to mention silkworms in the cocoon and seahorses to intrigue tourists, and the idea of not having to go to either one of these countries for such a delight is tempting.
They didn't taste that good though, but in later days, I realized that people in my office found it a once in a lifetime experience to nibble on the crunchy bugs.
Our first stop about a half an hour later was at the ancient Mount Nglanggeran. Located in Patuk sub-district of Baturagung, the northern part of Gunung Kidul, the once active volcano stands 200 to 700 meters above sea level. Extinct now, it has been opened to both international and domestic tourists with an outbound activity site, camping ground and mountain hiking offered as programs.
"At least 20 people come to the site every day, with numbers rising especially on weekends," said Sugeng Handoko, a member of the village's Karang Taruna (youth organization) who voluntarily maintains the area.
"Like other parts of Yogyakarta, the number of tourists coming to the site has significantly increased over the past two years. Youths from university mountain hiking organizations are the main visitors, but more international tourists are coming," he added.
A recent event held was "Green and Culture Valentine", celebrating Valentine's Day at the top of the mountain. It was held in cooperation with the Jogja Facebook Group, bringing together at least 200 youths to plant trees, one for every participant, hiking to the mountain top, games and tumpengan (eating yellow rice together as a celebration).
With shapes resembling one of the Punakawan (the five comedians) in shadow puppetry, there's absolutely nothing funny about hiking to the top. Along rocky and narrow paths between large boulders, with unclear steps on vast areas of granite, we worked our way to the first peak, roughly 400 meters above sea level. Catching our breath, a stunning view of the surrounding green areas from the top welcomed us. The racing clouds on the horizon, silently tapping distant tall trees standing on green grass, and small wooden houses was all surreal, until of course, some cows bellowed in low key from below.
In addition to its official website, www.gunungapipurbo.com, Handoko stated that a blog about the youth organization's activities on the mountain has been launched, at http://kalisongku.wordpress.com Rain started to fall, and amid the repetitious drumming of its anger on the car roof, we set off with the intention of visiting the underground caves. Gunung Kidul has plenty of caves with karst topography, including Cerme, Seropan, Bribin, Grubug, Jomblang, Kalisuci, Cokro and Ngingrong caves. The Kalisuci, Grubug and Jomblang caves are close to each other and that's where we were headed.
Located in Pancarejo village, Semanu sub-district, "It will take approximately five hours to get there, explore the cave and return," said Adi Kusuma from Jomblang Adventure Resort.
Kalisuci has been a designated tourist spot since 1997, but due to its verticality, equipment to explore Jomblang is new and its official opening will have to wait until around April. Packages start from Rp 2.5 million for a group of five for a whole day.
"The resort near Jomblang will be finished around April, hence the official opening then. But people know about the place from word of mouth, and if you plan to go tomorrow we can make all the arrangements. Just call and we will pick you up at your hotel," said Kusuma, adding that the perfect time to visit is around May or after the rainy season ends.
We didn't go, though we have his phone number (081331931271), but they played us a captivating documentary about Jomblang, with spelunkers exploring the vertical cave to a depth of 60 to 80 meters. And with a big gaping hole on the earth's surface as its entrance, it's no wonder the rain is the enemy.
Gunung Kidul also has a line of beaches with various points of attraction, namely Baron, Kukup, Sepanjang, Drini, Krakal, Slili, Ngandong and Sundak beaches. These eight beaches, located in Tanjungsari village of Tepus sub-district, are just a fraction of the entire 70 kilometers of beaches with 46 different names in Gunung Kidul.
"By paying just Rp 2,000 per person, tourists can enjoy eight beaches stretching 30 kilometers. A low price if I may say so. Most of them are untouched, kept as natural as they were when we found them," said Lutfi Nugroho from the Gunung Kidul Cultural and Tourism Board.
It was such a mystery how such beautiful beaches in our own neighborhood have never been heard of before. The answer, as Nugroho put it, is because they have "a very limited budget to market these beaches".
"We send a proposal with a budget for advertisements and commercials every year, but the amount we receive is always less than a fraction of it," he said.
It's a common problem faced by the nation, a vast area with huge potential to attract tourists and even making these areas known domestically is proving to be an insurmountable task. Whatever the reasons behind it, Gunung Kidul is also facing the same problem.
