Go Green!

“Americans have their Grand Canyon, here, we have Green Canyon!”

That was the tag line of almost every tour guide who promoted Green Canyon. It caught my attention. Of course! I had always been wanting to see Grand Canyon. Since it was not possible in near future, so I was considering visiting this so-called Green Canyon.

And, I did. I joined a backpacking trip to this place. The pack leader was Leo. I knew him from my last backpacking trip to Biawak Island. That’s another story that you can check here.

There were 18 of us waiting at the meeting point on Friday night. The traffic was crazy. As always! But the atmosphere was enthusiastic. There were actually other backpacking group at the same meeting point. They were going to Garut. So, we had to part with them at 10.30 PM. We were lucky that the mini bus we were going to use had broken down. Because in exchange, they gave us 2 mini vans that gave us more space inside since we were about to have a quite long trip in the van.

We arrived at our inn at daybreak. So, it took around 7 to 8 hours to get there. We were escorted to a medium room with 10 wooden bunk beds inside. So, it can fit 20 peeps. I felt like laying down for a while when I spotted that white linen beds. But in no time, Leo called for breakfast. A hot local soup, Soto, was served to refresh us. I joined the troops to march along the buffet table. It was not really nice. Sorry to say. But to be eaten after a tiring journey, seasoned with laughter had made it edible, or even tasty. The power of surroundings. We, then, cleaned ourselves up and got ready for the Body Rafting, the famous activity that one can do in Green Canyon. Have you ever try it?

Unfortunately, we had to spend another 2 h in the van from Pangandaran to Green Canyon. We almost got frantic! And the roads to get there were not helping at all. Thankfully, none of us were grumpy about it, an attitude that any backpacker should have. Almost everybody sighed when we read road marks showing we were there. Finally! We were guided to the local tour guides. There, we must rent  shoes or sandals, helmet, safety vest and knee cover (I don’t know what do they call that thing). They were all included in the trip price, so we were only getting and sizing them up. Once we were ready, the tour guides showed us pick-up cars that will transport us to the Body Rafting location. I guessed the only think that kept me from screaming of no more cars please! was the adrenaline that rushed through my veins. And excitingly, it was a pick-up car. A change of wind.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After 45 minute of a roller coaster trip, we arrived at the top of Guha Bau. A stinky cave! What a name, eh? It was stinky because of bat excrement. No further explanation about that. hehe… And the adventure begun. We can see the stream of green water, the cliff and trees surrounding it. What a view. I plunged myself into the water, not very cold, but very refreshing! One or two of or friends got panic attack. I guessed they cannot swim very well. There were 3 local guides accompanying us. So, nothing to worry about. I was not scared at all even though I was thinking about rapids that every river has. Looking forward to it! 😀

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rapids time! And I was one of the victims. Or, should I say my pants are? An incident happened to me when I was climbing down a rock. This rock is not a smooth surfaced rock. This particular one was spiky and sharp. So I torn my pants when I climbed down from it. Ouch! The rapids were also criminals. They gave some scratches to our friends, mostly on arms and tights.

We also found some great spots there, a 7m rock, a rainbow cliff and a virgin pool. I dared myself to jump from the 7m rock. Too bad Leo cannot catch my great acrobatic scene with his camera. LOL! We also took pictures at the rainbow cliff. There was a very tiny waterfall there, that was why there were so many rainbows in the cliff. And virgin pool, some bule, foreign tourists, were there. So we skipped that one. It took us 4h for the entire round, starting from gearing up to lunch. We started around 9.30 AM and ended late at lunch time. Lunch was included in the trip. No worries. After lunch, we took a bath in local bathroom provided there. We had to pay 2 000 IDR for the bath. Then we headed for some remote beaches nearby to play with sand and catch the sunset.

It was indeed a superb experience! I love it! Thanks group!

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Photos are courtesy of Leo and Anthony. Mostly Leo. He was the only one who bring water proof camera 😉