2. Pangandaran
Pangandaran is Java's principle beach resort. It is renouned for it's surf and beautiful beaches. We struck gold when we arrived as there were barely any tourists. We had been told that Pangandaran - a favourite for locals and tourists alike, had flocked there the week before to celebrate before the start of Ramadam. We arrived late afternoon after an unnecessarily long journey. We discovered from day one that travelling Indonesia was not going to be as easy as travelling other Asian countries. The problem we found is that so many people who travel Indonesia do so by organised tours paying western prices, and therefore those that don't have to work harder to get a fair deal on public transport. Most Indonesians have become accustomed to charging any foreign looking person prices which are extortionate by Indonesian standards. We found ourselves having to haggle for absolutely everything to reduce this huge toursit tax.
Back to Pangandaran and the point I was making! It was a long journey as we took a great scenic train journey across to Banjar where we had to catch a bus from the bus station to Pangandaran. The issue was getting to the bus station from the train station. The only option was to hop in to an Ojek which is essentially a bike with a seat in the front. We had to haggle ridicuously hard to get to a decent price bearing in mind it was a small journey. We were on our way when the drivers all stopped by a van that was beside the road, the van wanted to take us to Pangandaran for another stupid price. We made it clear that we wanted to go to the bus station after a further 2 stops for the same reason we told the drivers that if they stopped again we wouldn't pay them any money. This seemed to do the trick and we eventually got to the bus station an hour later (approximately 3km). My driver then had the audacity to ask for a tip! I didn't give him one.
Panganadaran was a chilled out beach town where we stayed in the lvery relaxing Bamboo Cafe and guest house. It was here that we heard terrifying first hand accounts from the owner of how the town (cafe included) had been devestated by the 2006 tsunami which had destroyed a large majority of the town and claimed 1000 lives. One guy told us he was on the beach at the time and looked at the sea and just a saw a wall of black coming towatrds him, he ran and climbed a coconut tree which ended up saving his life.
We spent our time learning to surf with a local "instructor". We think that our "instructor" was really there for the ladies and couples didn't really suit his lifestyle choice! The remainding days we were left to our own devices with the boards. Through practice, practice, more practice and near exhaustion, Marky wore down his hands, injured his rib (an injury that was to plague him for the following month) and just about got the hang of the surfing malarky. I on the otherhand, found that exahaustion came before practice and preferred the beach much to our instructors frustration! In hindsight the waves were pretty huge/trashy and fairly hostile towards beginners. During our intensive learning (to surf) curve, we (I) decided that we needed a break to nurse our injuries. So, we headed to the Green Canyon for a day out. Little did we know when we arranged the trip that our "guide" would be the same person as our surf "instructor"! To be fair to him he was a better guide than instructor and we ended up having a good day learning a great deal about Java culture. The Green Canyon was an incredible emerald green river valley where we swam in fresh water and indulged in a natural power shower. We had a different guide for the trip into the canyon who encouraged us to jump from a rock 10 metres high in to the rock filled river below. Marky followed the guide up to the top, upon arrival the guide started to quiver and began breathing really deeply. It was then decided that jumping may not be such a great idea if the guide was wary of the risks of the surrounding rocks and the fact he was looking quite terrified!
We spent 6 days in the town other than surfing we spent our time eating delicious food, most notably:1. The local fish market where we devoured a Red Snapper that was the size of my head (not Marky's-they don't grow that huge)
2. Ali's Restaurant - where it was a one man band (everyone else had gone to the Mosque to pray). Ali welcomed us, waited on us, cooked for us and served us some delicious traditional Indonesian cuisine.
We decided that 6 days was enough in the town and embarked on another challenging quest to the volcanic Bromo.