Yesterday I embarked upon a trip to East Java with a group of expats who live full-time in Bali. Following domestic guidelines for COVID-aware travel, we started out in Bali and will do our entire trip by car. There are 6 of us total.
I’ve inserted a few photos of the actual trip so far.
Updates will follow, but here is the itinerary:
(Copied from David Metcalf – note we left one day later than on the itinerary):
“OCTOBER 22 – 29 2020 – 7 NIGHTS 8 DAYS
OCTOBER 22
Depart Ubud at 8 am and drive 3 hours to Gilimanuk Port, West Bali.
Arrive at the beautiful Solong Hotel in Banyuwangi at approx 1 pm for lunch.
After lunch, we head to Baluran National Park, East Java where we will be met by our local guide who will tell us about the fascinating and unique savanna land of this park, which is home to 150 species of birds and other wildlife including the wild peacock, the Javan leopard, the rare Banteng and Java mouse-deer. The beach is pristine (bring your swimmers) and we will visit the mangroves.
We will catch the sun setting over the surrounding volcanos and see many features of this extraordinary landscape.
Back to the Hotel for dinner and our overnight accommodation.
OCTOBER 23
Up early for the sunrise over Bali, which we can see from the grounds of the Solong Hotel.
the mosques started their “music” at 3:30 am!
Then we head to Mancur fishing village to meet the Madura fisherman and see them return with their catch from the previous night’s fishing. This is a very colourful, fascinating scene and a great way to start the day.
Back for breakfast and check out around 12 noon.
We then head to the De Djawatan Forest – plenty of time to photograph these unique and unusual trees.
Onto the Alas Purwo National Park where we will stay for the night in a local homestay, and catch a beautiful sunset on the beach.
Overnight in Homestay.
OCTOBER 24 :
Alas Purwo which means ancient forest is a very unique and special National Park.
It is Java’s largest reserve that looks like a misshapen club foot. The area is most known for its gigantic Sawo Kecik trees which grow to a diameter of 1.5 metres.
This area is known to have special spiritual energy and many locals come and spend weeks in the meditation caves in this area. We will spend the day here.
Overnight in Homestay.
OCTOBER 25 :
We leave after breakfast and head further along the coast to Sukamade and the Meru Betiri National Park.
There are leopards in this park and magnificent hornbills which nest in the tall trees around the edges of the valley.
We will stay on the beach in a homestay and will be up early to watch the female turtles lay their eggs on the sand. If we are lucky we may witness a giant turtleback who lives in this area and often appears.
We will learn about the turtle conservation project.
Overnight in Beachside Homestay.
OCTOBER 26 :
Leave late morning and head up to Mount Ijen where we will stay at the beautiful Taman Gandrung Terakota Resort, with unique terakota dancing life-size statues in the rice fields.
The resort is located on a cultural and artistic preservation heritage site, which is surrounded by not only rice fields but the mighty Mount Merapi, Mount Raung and Mount Ijen the owner of this resort, Mr Sigit Pramono, is a retired banker from Jakarta and a professional photographer.
He has put his heart and soul into supporting the local Osing community and his great passion is keeping the traditional dance and music traditions alive – hence his terracotta statues which number around 400.
This is a very unique place. One of the highlights of the trip will be to witness one of these special Osing dance performances at the resort and learn more about the traditions of the Osing people.
OCTOBER 27 :
A day of cultural activities including the traditional Gandrung dance performance.
Overnight at Taman Gandrung Terakota Resort
OCTOBER 28 :
Up early at 3 am to head up to Mount Ijen to climb the volcano and return to the hotel around 12 noon.
The hike to the top takes around 2.5 hours, and we will witness an incredible sight as the sun rises over East Java.
It feels you are on top of the world.
There is the option of hiking down into the crater to see the famous “blue flame” for those with lots of stamina.
We will meet the quarry and sulphur workers as they make the daily return trip to fill their baskets with Sulphur rocks.
Those baskets can carry up to 80kg, so be respectful when asking to take a photo.
They are busy at work.
We then visit a nearby waterfall and relax at the hotel and discover more of the surrounding area.
Overnight Taman Gandrung Resort
OCTOBER 29 :
We leave the hotel after breakfast and head back to Bali arriving back in Ubud around 3 pm
Looks & sounds fabulous Heather, look forward to seeing more photos of your adventure along the way 😍