Tuesday 3 December 2013



PROBOLINGGO,  BATU, MADAKARIPURA & TALUN WATERFALL'

S
We were dropped god knows where, in Probolinggo, and with Yuni's lingo we soon boarded a local bus complete with sacks of rice, furniture, bags of coconuts and some toothless,  inquisitive smiles..   plus everybody smokes on them.   

Then it was a scooter ride through jungle villages to the start of a 2 km hike through the jungle to get to a waterfall,  and no,  I don't need no guide in the jungle thanks,  I watch Man vs Wild!  haha  
  The guides were actually quite aggressive about it all, one guy got very upset that I didn't want to pay 100k rupiah for him to guide me, told Yuni he ‘doesn’t like me’.   

The waterfall is Madakaripura,  and wouldn't you know it...   my waterproof gopro ran out of battery before I could get any footage of the waterfall (precisely what I bought the thing for). 

 This place was amazing, the pictures I saw online before I went don't even come close to being there,  you actually stand underneath it as it spills down the side of this massive mountain from about 200m up.  It has been one of the best waterfalls I have visited and is absolutely worth seeing if you’re in the area, scratch that, MAKE SURE you visit the area!

By late afternoon we were homeward bound, back to Malang by local bus and completely exhausted from the huge day, or couple of days we had just experienced.  A hot shower, dinner and some relaxing watching 'The walking Dead' (our favourite show at the time) saw the night out, we had definitely earned a good sleep that night after such a massive day.

After a great and well needed sleep we opted for a fairly casual day, taking the bike out to Batu, a nearby town and mountain.  We got lost a few times in the labyrinth of small village streets lining the hillside, but eventually found our way to another of the best waterfalls of my travels.


  The walk in wasn't that far, maybe a 25 minute trek, but the steepness was getting a little tough and our legs were turning to jelly, maybe it was the altitude.  We were rewarded big time when we came to the waterfall, Air Terjun (waterfall) Talun, it was such a beautiful place, and we were the only ones there for nearly an hour. 

There is a more famous waterfall in the area, Coban Rondo but we opted to check this one out instead and I'm so glad we did.  Yuni had camped near the start of the hiking path before with friends but none of them had ever bothered to hike to the waterfall?!    A great little secret spot, I doubt many foreigners ever visit.

Indonesia as always provided me with amazing riding, more twists and turns than an
M. Night Shyamalan movie.  But it was also bloody freezing right up near the peak of this mountain, I actually turned back as it was getting harder to see and the cold was just too much, besides there was nothing left to see up there, we had explored it all. 


I think it was this night that we had the fireworks in the street that I posted about earlier, i couldn't resist, I never can.  Fireworks are illegal in Western Australia so i always jump at the chance to let a few off.  I know, so mature!  A few hard sought beers and some fireworks in the Main Street, what better way to celebrate a religious occasion I am not actually a part of!



Air Terjun Talun





Jungle trails
My big bag of rockets!




Yep,  you probably should duck mate...