In May 2016 I went to Yogya with my elementary school’s friend, some of them brought their family, it could happen because of the initiative and generosity of one of our friend. We gathered from Jakarta, Surabaya, Semarang and Kediri using various modes of transportation. On the 3rd day we went to Samigaluh by mini bus and micro bus, it took around 2 hours from Yogya to reach Samigaluh at the north of Kulon Progo in Yogyakarta Province.
Actually there are many tourism places at Samigaluh, such as waterfall, cave, flower garden and tea plantation. When we arrived there, the next 2 km distance upward to tea plantation could not be reached by mini bus, so we had to cramp the passengers to our micro bus, it looked like the public transportation as some of them must sit facing to the back. Lucky that our friend also brought a car that could bring some other friends from the mini bus. Fortunately the micro bus could arrive safely to the parking lot near to the plantation area although it’s overload and the road was very steep. The air conditioning was shut down when driving upward.
There were restrooms near to the parking lot, as the weather was much colder than the city, most of us wanted to go there first. Nobody guarded the restroom, just a small box available next to the toilet to put our money after using it. The toilet was quite clean and the water was cold. To reach the tea plantation we still had to walk on the hilly road, no vehicle was allowed to go up.
Although the weather was mild, we were sweaty because we struggled to walk on the steep road. Four persons of our elementary school teacher which were around 70 years old joined us in the trip. Some of them even walked backward, she said it was lighter. Unfortunately they could not reach the top, they took a rest on the bamboo bench at the edge of the road, then decided to return to the parking area. Some food stalls were available to take a rest while waiting for others, some of our friends were kind enough to accompany them.
When we reached a crossroad, a local person informed that we could go straight to reach the top of tea plantation or take the left path to go for photo spots. Of course we chose the left path as the road looked easier, it’s sloping while the other way climbed very steep. We took some pictures on the intersection, I didn’t realize that our teachers were not there anymore. Not further from the intersection, we could find the very nice spots for photo. I was very surprised and happy to see it as I didn’t expect that I could see that amazing views. They have built 2 storey bamboo bench on the trees that enable us to enjoy the view on the cliff. Actually I have seen in the internet the place called 'Kalibiru' that had the facility, I really want to go there, but my friend told me it’s difficult and took a long path to walk, he’s afraid that our teacher could not reach it. That’s why I have dropped my desire to enjoy Kalibiru.
After taking pictures together on the bench below the tree with my friend, and no more people at the bamboo bench on the tree, I rushed to climb the ladder to reach the bamboo bench on the tree. Unfortunately a young couple were faster than me to reach it. I gave my smartphone to my friend to take my picture from below to show the height of the bench. We asked the couple permission to take picture. Finally my friend and myself stayed there longer to take more and more pictures while the couple decided to go down. Only 3 of us dare to take picture on the bamboo bench, while others took picture on the leader. I really loved the scenery, I could see the panoramic view from above the tree, the natural beauty presented just in front of my eye. I would like to stay there longer, unfortunately there were still many interesting objects below the tree.
Our friends had taken many pictures together below the tree, as they didn’t dare to climb to the bamboo bench on the tree. We didn’t want to miss it, so my friend and I went down the tree and would like to take a picture on the wood swing. Unfortunately we had to wait a long time for 3 girls that never stop taking picture, so we decided to take the other object first, where there was a heart frame on the bamboo board above the cliff. Unfortunately it’s cloudy, so my photo was not as good as my friend, my face looked dark, almost like a silhouette.
Finally I was the last person who got the turn to take a picture on the bamboo bridge protruded into the middle of the canyon. It’s rather scary as there was no handle at all on the side of the bridge, we had to be careful and kept our balance well. After standing pose, I also took a sitting pose to show the height of the bridge, actually it’s more frightening because the edge of the bridge looked somewhat torn. My friend who took the picture was shaking, she said that she was afraid that I’ll be falling down. I really loved the result of the picture, thank you my friend who took the beautiful shoot :-)
We didn’t feel that we had spent a lot of time there, my friend, one of the committee, asked us to stop taking picture and going back to the parking lot. On the way down, I asked them to take picture together in the middle of the tea plantation, as we didn’t have the picture at all with the environment. It looked very beautiful in the middle of green tea, it’s very fresh and nice to see.
The natural panoramic view was really very refreshing, our effort to reach the photo spot was worthy. We could enjoy the winding river surrounding by mountains make us drift away. If you like nature, you should visit Samigaluh. We didn’t have much time, so we didn’t have a chance to see the waterfall, flower garden and cave. Back to the mini bus we were starving and started having lunch, lucky that the committee has prepared a really nice lunch, grill 'kampong' chicken with vegetables, and very nice rainbow heart pudding as the dessert.
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