What kind of person are you? Are you a beach person or a mountain person? Would you prefer staring at the pristine blue-turquoise water and feeling the warm sands beneath your toes or does the wind that blows your hair while standing tall on a cliff excite you more? Well, if me, I am both a beach person as well as a mountain person. I could find serenity through the wave in the beach and find peace through the breeze in the mountain. This time I am going to tell you my journey both at the beach and at the mountain when I visit two different places in Banten Province.
I am in my 6th semester and my university sent me and a group of friends to do research in Tanjung Lesung Special Economic Zone (SEZ), Banten Province. We stayed in Banten for about three weeks and in between, we took a day off to visit some tourists attraction. The first tourist attraction that I visited with my friends was Liwungan Island, a tiny island near Tanjung Lesung.
We went to Liwungan Island early in the morning from the local pier by boat, when the sun was just risen up to the sky. I could feel the warm sunlight kissed my skin and hear the birds chirped. We conducted tourism activities guided by one of the local people, namely Mr.Ahmad. He explained to us about tourism activities around Tanjung Lesung. Liwungan Island Tour costs Rp100.000/person, it includes lunch and snorkeling gear. Prior to Liwungan Island, Mr.Ahmad invited us to visit a traditional fishpond owned by the local community. The fishpond commonly called Sero-sero by local people. After about 15 minutes journey, we finally reached the Sero-sero. The design of Sero-sero is eco-friendly since it was made of bamboo. The catch of fish from Sero-sero became a source of income for some locals. Some men have been preparing on the Sero-sero. We were shown how to catch fish using Sero-sero. The trick is to pull the large net and use a smaller net to catch the fish. We managed to catch some fish and lobster. Unfortunately, our catch must be returned to the sea. Mr.Ahmad showed us Sero-sero as educational purpose only. But it is good to know that the local community is able to create something that is not only beneficial for their livings but also to educate others. What a niceexperience.
After spent time at The Sero-sero, we were heading to the snorkeling spot near Liwungan Island. From the distance, I could see several boats filled with tourists in the snorkeling spot.
When we arrived at the snorkeling spot Mr.Ahmad gave us the snorkel equipment and he gave us some instructions to be safe during snorkeling activities, then I put on the snorkel equipment. If you wear a hijab I suggest you put on a swimming cap inside your headscarf so your hair will not show. After I am ready I jumped off into the sea. I swam around and was fascinated by the beauty of Tanjung Lesung underwater scenery. I could see variety sized fishes swimming here and there. Some of them tickled my feet as I spread the cookie crumbs to them. The fishes have many beautiful colors, some have indescribable colors like a galaxy. I even saw a fish that has a pattern looks like the American flag. Not only that, but the enchanting scenery of Tanjung Lesung underwater also radiated from the beautiful coral reefs on the seabed. One of Mr.Ahmad’s friends asked me to go to the location of coral reef cultivation. We swam about five meters from our boat to the location. When I dipped my head into the water I saw some iron frames that have coral reefs of various sizes. The corals were cultivated by the locals to preserve coral reefs in the area of Tanjung Lesung sea. Once again the locals of Tanjung Lesung impressed me by how they taking care of nature.
Finished snorkeling, we continued our journey to Liwungan Island. It takes about 5 minutes from the snorkeling spot to Liwungan Island. The thing that surprised me when I arrived at Liwungan Island is the beauty of the turquoise sea water and white sand, its dock also has a modern design looks like a resort in the Maldives. When I arrived, the sea water was receding so that the sand land stretched beautifully. I could not help but run through the sand. But you should be careful, remember to wear your sandals when you walk or run in Liwungan Island since the sand is mixed with some pieces of coral reefs and shells. You don’t want your feet injured while on vacation, don’t you?
The clarity of the sea water might captivate you but nothing beats the adrenaline rush that you get when you climb a mountain or go chasing waterfall. The second tourist attraction that I visited in Banten Province was Curug Putri. Curug means waterfall in English. Located near Carita Beach, Pandeglang, I had to go there by car for about an hour and a half from Tanjung Lesung. Curug Putri is located in the forest. We parked our car in the village near the forest. The locals were ready to guide us to Curug Putri you as soon as we arrived at the location. The locals have prepared a tour package that includes taxi-bike, scouting to Curug Putri and safety jackets for swimming at the waterfall that costs starts from Rp60.000/person. Using the services of a guide to the waterfall, in my opinion, is needed because the track to be taken quite complicated and dangerous. I and my friends were a group of five and there were five men who guided us to Curug Putri.
We departed from the village residents to post 1 using a motorcycle that took about 30 minutes. At that time the road was very slippery and muddy due to the rain that flushed the night before. It was a bit hard to passed the road. Our motorcycles got stuck several times, fortunately, we were able to reached post 1. From post 1, we then began to hike towards Curug Putri.
As I hiked into a higher altitude the weather began to get colder, yet I kept sweating since the trails were getting challenging. I need to be very careful because the trails are narrow and next to the hiking trails was the gorge. The sound of the animals and my heartbeat that got faster accompany me along the way. On half of our journey to Curug Putri, we stopped by Curug Gendang to take a rest. Curug Gendang is a small waterfall. Gendang means drum in English. The locals called it Curug Gendang because of the sound of gurgling water sounded like drums. It is said that the area of Curug Gendang was used by Indonesian freedom fighters as a hideout from the pursuit of Dutch troops.
Feel recharged after took some rest at Curug Gendang we continued our journey to Curug Putri. The trails were getting more slippery, but we were lucky that our guides were always prepared to help us.
I and my friends finally arrived at the resting place. I was confused because I did not see any waterfall, yet I saw a river. It turned out that we need to change our clothes into swimming clothes and wear a safety jacket at the resting place then we will continue to walk along the river to get to the waterfall.
The sound of the waterfall was heard from the distance. We walked on our barefoot along the river. The stream flow was a little heavy that day so we walked carefully I watched out every step I took in order not getting any sharp objects hit my feet. From one rock to another I stepped, the closer I got to the waterfall. My excitement getting bigger as the sound of waterfalls increasingly heard.
As we got closer to the waterfall the river is getting narrower and we were surrounded by tall cliffs. The color of the water turned from green into more turquoise and the stream got heavier. Finally, I saw a waterfall.
Curug Putri was not a high waterfall as I imagined, it was a small waterfall that has a pond and flows into a river. The pond and the river of Curug Putri flow in the gap between the tall cliffs. The river is the one that dominates Curug Putri. That is probably why not many travelers know the existence of this place, thus making it a hidden tourist attraction in Pandeglang.
Curug Putri lived up higher than my expectation of a waterfall. Being surrounded by the magnificent tall cliffs with shady trees over the cliffs I felt like I stumbled into a fairy world. The hanging roots of trees dangling from the top of the cliffs, turquoise river water, and streaked cliffs added magical vibes to Curug Putri. The view was absolutely mesmerizing. I was lucky that my phone is waterproof so I captured some videos and pictures of Curug Putri. I and my friends had fun in Curug Putri by swam around the river and jumped off into the river from a tall rock. When I felt tired, I laid down on the water, floated, surrender myself to the river flows while I gazing at the beautiful view of the sky. The journey to Curug Putri was not easy but it was totally worth it
If you wanted to visit Curug Putri here are several tips for you:
- Go to Curug Putri on weekdays and early in the morning so you will get better scenery and fresher air. On weekdays there are not many people so the water will be clearer.
- I suggest you put on a mountain slippers so you will be comfortable during your trip. Shoes are fine too but your shoes might get wet. Wearing slippers is a bad idea due to the muddy and rocky hiking trails.
- Wear a backpack to bring your belongings
- Do not forget to bring a change of clothes, because inevitably you will be wet to get to the location.
- Do not forget to bring drinking water and snacks to be able to relax while you take a break
- It will be great if you bring a waterproof camera to capture the moment. The beautiful view of Curug Putri is too good to not captured by the camera.
My journey in Banten has been another unexpected journey. I visited other great places with amazing sceneries. What made Banten so special is that the tourism activities were conducted by the local community. They even took care of nature while they doing tourism activities. Tourism should be beneficial for the prosperity of the local community and Banten has shown it. My advice is that the local government should pay more attention and facilitate the local community in managing tourism in their area.
Indonesia indeed has wonderful natural landscapes, some have been found, and the rest are waiting to be discovered. I think it is our role as a young generation to discover what’s more outside and tell the world about how great our country is. But keep in mind to always taking care of nature so that our future generation can also enjoy the beauty of Indonesia.