73 Km Southern From Malang City

There were only Brex, Andreas, and I who were lounging on the beach with mat covered. It was around 9 PM, and everything around us was almost completely dark, while the light source was only from our mobile phone and the vague light from other camping tents. For the second time in my life, finally I could feel the outdoor-overnight-staying, far from the city hustle-bustle, something that I hadn’t experienced yet since 8^th grade school.

Although the night sky was cloudy and the star wasn’t visible at all, we could still enjoy the camping. The three of us were chatting on the beach till fall asleep, before woke up again at (probably) around midnight just because the beginning of the tide sea water. Finally we had to move our mat on the grass beside the tent for sleeping there, meanwhile there were 4 other people had a deep sleep inside: Zico and his wife Megga, then Aril (Brex’s wife) and their 4 years old daughter Nadira. Luckily there wasn’t raining at that time, like the previous afternoon, so that we could sleep in peace. And obviously we made this camp as a refreshing after a very tiring Parkour Surabaya Monthly Jam 2 days earlier...

Saturday, May 28^th 2016, exactly one week after East Java Regional Jamming in Jombang, Parkour Surabaya held the 11^th monthly jam. This monthly jam was special because we had a guest instructor from Parkour Bandung: Zico Desreira. He was also one of the first Indonesian Sasuke Ninja Warrior finalists. His training method made all the monthly jam participants exhausted, but very fun and also challenging. As the result everyone went home with stiff and weary body on that day.

The next day; Zico, Megga, Andreas, and I continued straight to Malang city around 8 PM. After a ±2 hour motorcycle ride, the 4 of us finally arrived in Malang to stay at Brex’s house. The atmosphere there was totally different, after the heat in Surabaya, finally we could feel the cool air. We rested for a while and recharged our strength for the following day preparation to go to Gatra beach.

After about 2 hours traveled southern from Malang, finally the 7 of us arrived at Gatra beach entrance around 1 PM. Before continuing inside, our belongings were checked first by the beach officer. They recorded the total amount of our bottles, plastic bags, snacks, etc; so that we had to make sure the numbers stay the same when we left later. The main purpose of this check up was to make every beach visitor not littering. So in other words, each of the garbage should be kept until the final check before exit. Every missing item would be fined Rp.100.000. And thankfully, Gatra beach become one of the cleanest beaches in Indonesia because of this rule.

From the entrance we had to walk ±30 minutes to reach the beach. Although quite tiring, but it paid off when we arrived at the location. The waves sound and the breeze relaxing our mind and also made us forget about all the city busyness. Unfortunately the weather wasn’t really good at that time. As soon as we finished setting up the tent, the heavy rain was falling down, so I couldn’t really take clear pictures. But in spite of that thing, we all enjoyed this camping moment.

About the food, because it wasn’t allowed to make a campfire, we decided to bring stove and a small gas canister. We just ate instant noodles for simplicity’s sake, so that we had to cook nothing but water. Even though there was a small food stall (and also toilets) not far from the camping area, but we’d better cook by ourselves for cost savings.

After spending the night by sleeping outside the tent, the next morning we continued to Tiga Warna beach with a guide. From Gatra beach, we walked along the path about 30 minutes before getting to the location. By the way, the reason its name is Tiga Warna (three colors) because when we see the sea surface from a distance, it looks like it’s divided into three colors based on the water depth. And before swimming, for the safety procedures we had to wear life vests and snorkeling gear first. Sadly the sea water was quite murky at that time, so that we couldn’t see the coral reefs clearly. Compared to Gatra beach, Tiga Warna waves are relatively smaller, because there is a little island called Sempu not far in front of the beach. That’s mean the waves from Indian Ocean can be muffled into smaller.

Unfortunately the playing time at Tiga Warna beach was limited for 2 hours only, because there were other tourist groups waiting for their turn. The visitors are limited just for 100 people per day. After that, we walked down the path heading back to Gatra beach. But, before we were really back, we stopped by to Watu Pecah beach which is still in line with Gatra. Watu Pecah beach is a little bit different compared to Gatra or Tiga Warna, although it’s still in the same region. According to its name (watu pecah=crushed rock), there are a lot of scattered/crushed rocks around the beach, which make it’s not suitable for swimming. So we just spent a little time there only for taking some pictures.

Returning to Gatra beach, the sky had been starting to be overcast so we had to pack up the tent and our stuff immediately. Soon when we were walking towards motorcycles parking area (near the entrance gate), the heavy rain was just begun. As a result, we had to trudge on the muddy pathway which cause one of my sandals was broken. But apart from that, thankfully there was no missing item when the officer rechecking our garbage at the checkpoint, so that we could return happily to Malang. And the rest of the day was spent with chilling in Brex’s house.

Next morning, the atmosphere of Brex’s house became more lively because the coming of Ferdinand and Teguh from Play_on Parkour Malang. After having breakfast together, we decided to go to Jenon springs which could be reached about 15 minutes from Brex’s house. But Brex and his family didn’t join us because of taking care of his daughter Nadira, who still felt tired from the previous day camp.

The cold of Jenon water didn’t make our happiness playing there became less. Beside swimming and flip training, we also held a challenge to jump into the pool from a 5 or 6 metres height tree branch, so much tense but also really fun. Near the midday, we all finished this swimming session and returned to Brex.

About 2.30 PM; Andreas, Zico, Megga, and I finally said goodbye to Brex and his family, then we continued to Malang souvenir shopping center. From there we headed to Malang train station for dropping Zico and Megga, because the train to Bandung would leave at 4 PM. The sky was starting to get cloudy, but luckily it hadn’t rained yet at the time we arrived. Just when Andreas and I went back to Surabaya, the heavy rain started to fall in the middle of the trip.

Although only in a few days, but it was a memorable adventure for us. When else we could camp on the beach and had an outdoor sleeping... Can’t wait for the next adventure!