Showing posts with label Culture. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Culture. Show all posts

Tuesday, May 30, 2017

Itinerary untuk 2 Hari 1 Malam di Teluk Dalam (Girls and Budget Friendly)

May 30, 2017 0 Comments
Seperti yang aku ceritain di postingan aku sebelumnya (baca: Kaki Kami Panjang, Katanya!), aku, Peggy dan Raisa baru aja jalan-jalan seru ke Teluk Dalam, girls only👩👯👢!!!
Buat yang penasaran kami kemana aja, penginapan, transportasi dan budgetnya, berikut infonya!

Day 1
Kami berangkat dari Gunungsitoli pukul 09.00 WIB dengan menumpang travel trayek Gunungsitoli-Teluk Dalam. Ongkos per orangnya Rp 70.000,- dan waktu tempuhnya sekitar 2,5 jam.

Begitu sampai di pasar Teluk Dalam, kami makan siang dan kemudian merental 2 motor bebek di Toko Roti Helena, biayanya Rp 120.000,-/motor/24 jam. Kami masih perlu merental motor untuk memudahkan pergerakan dan karena jarak antara pasar Teluk Dalam dan tempat kami menginap di Sorake masih sekitar 12 km lagi. 

Kami check in di Hotel Barriga Feliz sekitar pukul 15.00 WIB dan memesan 1 kamar untuk kami bertiga. Sewa kamar kami pada saat itu Rp 450.000,-/malam dengan fasilitas, 3 ranjang, ac, kipas angin, tv dan kamar mandi dalem.

Setelah check in dan unpack barang-barang, kami langsung motoran ke Pantai Lagundri (Harus Damai). Kami memilih buat mainnya ke pantai ini karena pantainya luas dan lebih friendly buat pengunjung yang sekedar mau main-main di pantai dan belajar surfing (baca juga: Surfing for First Timers and Where to Stay in Nias Island)

Malemnya kami makan di hotel dan memesan makanan dengan harga Rp 80.000,- untuk 3 orang. Makanannya lumayan enaklah, berasa masakan rumah.

Day 2
Paginya kami nyantai-nyantai dulu di terasnya kamar hotel. Terasnya langsung ngadep taman dan laut. Cantik...😘😚 

Setelah mataharinya udah agak naik, kami motoran trus mendaki ke Desa Hiliamaeta. Sambil motoran, kita liat pemandangan yang cantik banget, pantai, pohon-pohon kelapa, jalanan yang sepi, rumah-rumah kecil yang tersusun rapi dan angin semilir. Syahdu bangeeeettt 🏖🌴🌴!!!
Pemandangan dari halaman Desa Hiliamaeta. Langsung ngadep ke laut loohh...
Halaman Desa Hiliamaeta, rumah adat berjejer rapi dari ujung ke ujung.
Menjelang makan siang kami kembali ke hotel, packing trus foto-foto dulu di taman hotel. Pemandangan di hotel tuh terlalu cantik untuk dilewatkan haha...
Pukul 14.00 WIB kami check out, balikin motor, trus naik travel lagi ke Gunungsitoli.. 

Rincian biaya di atas bisa nambah bisa berkurang juga yaa..tergantung kebutuhan. Aku share pengalaman aja dan mudah-mudahan membantu.

Cheers,
Dian
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Monday, April 4, 2016

Surfing and Stone Jumping in Teluk Dalam

April 04, 2016 7 Comments
It’s been 6 months since I moved back to Nias Island and I haven’t set foot in Teluk Dalam, yet. It’s a little weird since Teluk Dalam is just 2 hours drive from Gunungsitoli and my big family are all there. And after months of wishing to visit Teluk Dalam again, finally my officemates and I decided to spend Saturday there. How exciting! 

How to Get There

Teluk Dalam is the capital city of South Nias Regency. It’s well known for some tourism spots that are so interesting, both the culture and the nature. It takes only 2-3 hours drive from Binaka Airport or Gunungsitoli to Teluk Dalam. For first timer, it’s not difficult to find rented cars or public transportation to get there, you can easily find it either at the airport, seaport or bus station. Rented cars are usually around Rp 400.000,- to Rp 600.000,- per day including driver and if you’re traveling alone, you can use public transportation and it’s only Rp 50.000,- each person.

Getting to Teluk Dalam was not a hard work at all. The road was smooth and it bends along the sea shore on the left side and forest on the right side . The best time to start the trip to Teluk Dalam is just exactly before dawn so that you can still witness sunrise at Laowomaru Beach. The beach is located in a foothill which is covered with so many vegetations such as coconut and pine trees. There’s a cave inside of the hill namely Laowomaru Cave (Gua Laowomaru), this cave is famous for its myth. There’s not much to see as we passed the outskirt of Gunungsitoli, there were only houses on both side of the road. Beautiful scenery came to view again as we got closer to Teluk Dalam. Then the real tour began.

Genasi

Genasi is usually a pitstop for those who are in the middle of the trip from Gunungsitoli to Teluk Dalam. It’s located in a foothill where you can see a picturesque scenery of the sea. There’s no sandy beach, people can only admire the beauty of Genasi from the huts on the street side up above the sea level. The water is so crystal clear on a sunny day, people can see right to the bottom of the sea. It’s also so calm, not wavy at all so, the view from above is more like a lake than a sea. After spending a moment, letting ourselves mesmerized by the great scenery of Genasi, we continued driving to Teluk Dalam. The road was a bit bumpy from there to downtown. 


Lagundri and Sorake Beach

Lagundri and Sorake Beach is two tourism sites located next to each other. Lagundri Beach is a great place to play and lay around with friends or family since the beach is vast and the sand is white and soft. The wave is also not too big, so it’s relatively safe to play in the water. Coconut trees and other vegetations make the area so shady and windy. Since this place is located in a bay, the land bends along the sea shore, thus people can see the other side of the land especially the highlands. 





Sorake Beach is a paradise for surfers. As we entered the area of this beach, we found many motels or bed and breakfast on the left and right side of the street. It’s like entering a tourist village. Each motel usually provides surfer boards for rent, so for those who want to try surfing but don’t have the surfer board, worry not :) The beach is a little rocky and the wave is big so people need to go a little further from the sea shore to really enjoy the water without getting hurt by the coral. So, I don’t recommend new beginners and people who can’t swim to play around in here, surfers only. I got an information from locals that every June-July, they hold an international surfing event and there are cruises from Bahama that bring tourists from America, so there will be traditional ceremony in order to welcome them. About the cruises, I don’t know if the information was valid but for those who want to see the big event and the culture of South Nias exhibited, June-July should be the perfect time.

Stone Jumping (Lompat Batu) at Bawomataluo

Have you ever seen this picture? 


Yup it’s a picture of stone jumping on a copy of Rp 1000,- money which is not in the currency anymore. This picture was taken at Bawomataluo, the biggest village in Teluk Dalam. In ancient time, every man in Teluk Dalam had  to be able to jump over a 2 meter height and 90 cm width stone. They wouldn’t be admitted as an adult and strong man before jumping over that stone. Nowadays, they don’t use it as an indicator anymore,  it is merely a traditional attraction shown only on special occasion such as traditional ceremony, wedding and to welcome guests. On the day we visited Bawomataluo was not a busy day. There were only eight of us as guests. This gave us more time and space to wander around the village (we didn’t though :P) and went inside the biggest tradiotional house in Bawomataluo. 





Nias traditional houses are built on stilts and this is underneath the big house of Bawomataluo. Can you imagine how big is the house?
Baloho Resort

Baloho is a resort located in a beach around 1 km from downtown. This tourism site consists of hotel, restaurant, swimming pool, play ground for kids and karaoke. This resort is great for family or office gathering since this place provides all the facilities for that and the view is also so beautiful. Altough the location is in a beach, visitors are not allowed to swim in the sea, that’s what the swimming pool is for. If you want to swim in the sea, you might need to go a little further away from this resort. Feel free to wander and have picnic at the beach but the negative side is, there’s no place to buy some food or drink in the area other than the restaurant so you might need to prepare some food supplies beforehand. 



Final Thought

Teluk Dalam is a very nice place to spend weekend or holiday. The scenery is wonderfull, both the beaches and the highlands. The transportation mode is not difficult to find and many motels and homestay to stay the night. The people are also so nice especially the ones we met in Bawomataluo, they really knew what to do to make us feel welcome. Besides speaking their mother tongue, they speak Bahasa Indonesia and English as well. There was one thing that really impressed us while visiting Bawomataluo, the kids were so great at taking photos. We hesitated at first giving our gadgets to them and ask them to take photos of us, but the results really surprised us. They did know the perfect angles to make us look good. Lol.

The internet connection is also way better that the connection we have in Gunungsitoli, this is totally a must for those who work during holiday, love to share their holiday on social media and do anything through the internet.  

But I had a little concern, once we entered the tourism sites, other than the motels or the resort, it was  quite hard to find shops that sell food and drinks. This is a little unfortunate for visitors who don’t stay at the motel. Gifts and souvenirs shops could be added as well. Not only shops selling sculptures and other souvenirs that really represent Teluk Dalam, but visitors can also use shops selling travel essentials such as hats, sandals, bags, sunglasses, etc. Besides giving livelihood to the locals, this also will attract more tourists and make the trip much more fun, enjoyable and comfortable.

The last but not least, I really enjoy every visit to Teluk Dalam either to see my family or for a trip and the view I mentioned above is always and will always be my own opinion. Thanks for reading and Yaahowu :)
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Friday, March 25, 2016

Bali Getaway: First Impression and Final Thought

March 25, 2016 0 Comments

First met at Diklat Prajabatan one year ago, Akbar, Putut, Sefty, Reza, Umam, Sam and I have been friends till now and though we are now in different cities, we still keep in touch. We are so far separated, I should say. From the west to east part of Indonesia. I am in Gunungsitoli (North Sumatera), Sefty, Reza, Umam and Sam are in Jakarta (Java), Putut is in Tobelo (Halmahera) and Akbar is in Manokwari (Papua).
It was a pretty long and tiring journey from Gunungsitoli to Bali since I had to get on 3 different flights (Binaka-Kualanamu-Cengkareng-Ngurah Rai). But the minute I saw my friends and stepped foot at Ngurah Rai Airpot, all the effort finally paid off. The atmosphere of Ngurah Rai in the afternoon was so reminiscing, calming and busy at the same time. 
For the first three days, there were only the six of us, Sam could't make it and got substituted by Safii and Akbar wasn't supposed to join us for the vacation but then surprisingly booked the ticket for the third day of our stay in Bali. Yeayy...


The itinerary we made the next days was more like an adventure for us since we were all first timers in Bali and we didn't have locals or tour guide with us. Only relying on google maps and rented motorcycles, we did make our ways all over Bali. Getting lost in Bali was such a nice experience since you're never gonna be lost in Bali. Besides the street signs that led us to the places we head to, the people are so sociable and kind, we could always ask them for directions. 




If someone asks me, how do you describe Bali? I would say Bali is magical.  It's a mixture of every kind of tropical natural beauty you can ever imagine, the exotic beaches, the beautiful rice terraces and villages, the lake and the mountains, and the last but not least, the sacred and magical temples. A great combination of cultur, traditions and urban life. I did write about the destinations we visited while in Bali in my previous post.  So, I'm definitely gonna come back here again one day. 



Enough talking about the beauty of Bali, this trip we had together was not only to have fun and run from our boring work routine. It was more like a reunion for us. Several months not seeing each other and be separated in cities that span all across the country, so many things happened to each of us. Almost all of us were going through a breakup and still in 'recovery'. It's so funny that we were like jomblo club having a holiday together, running from real life. Yup, I use the word jomblo not because we were that desperate, but it was the only word that really suffice to make fun of us. Though some of us were still crying over the breakup but going all the way down to Bali was really helpfull to cheerup the broken hearts. What a sweet sweet escape :)



Now we're back in our places and move on with our lives. We talk in whatsapp group all the time  and it feels so good to know that they're in so much better place right now. It's hardly one month since our trip to Bali and I'm already missing going somewhere else with them :)
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Location: Bali, Indonesia

Thursday, March 24, 2016

Bali Getaway with Sukaasuka

March 24, 2016 6 Comments
As I have mentioned before, my friends and I went on a 5 days 4 nights trip together. We had been planning this trip long before and never believed that this would ever happen until finally we landed at Ngurah Rai Airport. We stayed at CT1 Bed and Breakfast motel at Kuta, only 10 minutes drive from the airport.We visited 2-5 tourists spots a day on the tour, no tour guide at all, only us and google map. What a packed adventure but it was so fun and exciting. To accomodate our tour, we rented 4 motorbikes. It was only Rp 50.000,- per day per bike and below is the itinerary we made during our visit to Bali.

Day 1
Met my friends at Soekarno-Hatta Airport, flew to Bali in the afternoon and met Putut at the airport (He took his flight from Manado). Before heading to the motel, we had dinner and wandered around the airport. We could feel the holiday vibe in the air. Arrived at the motel, then we headed to Krishna, a 24 hours souvenir and gift shop in Kuta. We bought some souvenirs for family and friends on day 1 in case we wouldn't be able to do it later.
Day 2
On the second day, we woke up early then headed towards Pura Besakih. It is the biggest Hindu Temple in Bali. Along the way from Kuta to Pura Besakih, we could see the local doing their prayer routine and preparing for Nyepi. The time we visited Bali was a couple of days before Nyepi, so we could see Penjor (Nyepi decorations) installed in every corner of the city, traditional music intruments played all day long and the Ogoh-ogoh (effigies made by the locals to symbolize the beasts). Oooh..how lovely and reminiscing Bali is!


 After visiting Pura Besakih, we rode to Kintamani to see Batur Lake and catched sunset at Tanah Lot. 


Sunset at Tanah Lot was so picturesque and mesmerizing. The sky was like burning and then sunk into the ocean. The temple, the prayer recited and the ambience made sunset at Tanah Lot was like a very sacred moment for me. 


Day 3
On day 3, we catched sunrise at Nusa Dua Beach. We did make some wrong turns since the beach was kind of hidden by the hotels. But we were lucky, we still made it till sunrise. The next destination for the day was Teluk Benoa but it didn't meet our expectation so after a few minutes there, we headed towards Pandawa Beach. Pandawa Beach is a new tourist sites, so the road was still so rough and there were so many constructions going on along the way. But as we got closer to the beach, this spot suddenly became my favourite. 

 
We ended our journey for the day by visiting Padang-Padang Beach and hung out at a cafe at Blue Point Beach. This two beaches are located in caves, we had to went down some stairs descending to the beach. 

Day 4
Enough with beaches, we went to Garuda Wisnu Kencana and Pura Ulun Danu Bratan, Bedugul on the fourth day. Garuda Wisnu Kencana is a cultural park devoted to Vishnu and the mythical bird who was also his companion, Garuda. Our trip to Bedugul was the most interesting and chalanging trip, the rain was pouring so heavily that we had to stop several times before decided to just run into the rain and fight the cold air. But as we arrived at Bedugul and saw the temple in the middle of the lake surrounded by the majestic mountain on an misty day, all the effort finally paid off.

Day 5
Day 5 was a lazy day. Our flight to Jakarta was at 11.30 am and then I took the flight to Medan in the afternoon, Putut's to Jogja at 2 pm and Akbar's to Makassar at 4 pm and then got connected to Manokwari. There was not enough time to do anything so we just stayed at the motel before flying back to our places.
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Wednesday, February 24, 2016

Museum Pusaka Nias Part I: The Ancestors' Inheritance

February 24, 2016 6 Comments
If you are a traveler who only have one day to visit the Nias Island , I would recommend the Nias Heritage Museum a.k.a Museum Pusaka Nias as a tourist destination in representing this island . This place combines elements of natural beauty with a wealth of Nias culture.  In this museum people are not only to visit the cultural museums and libraries alone ,but also  the zoo, the park and the beach. Interesting, right?
Due to the many functions of this museum , thus I will share the story of my visit to this museum in two articles , namely the Museum Pusaka Nias Part I: The Ancestor’s Inheritance and Museum Pusaka Nias Part II: Beach, Park and Playground.
Pict by The Jakarta Post.
Not only inside the hall, the collections are also exhibited ouside. This is a stone chair.
A traditional house of Nias that is also used as a hall for rent.
What's inside
The exhibition hall is made up of several pavilions (4 if I'm not mistaken), which exhibits many art, cultural and historical collections of the ancestor of Nias people. Among the various collections contained in the museum, I found artifacts, traditional clothing and houses, jewelries and symbols that indicate a person's status in the past. There are also household and kitchen utensil such as knifes, axes, and banquet tools. Those collections were made of various types of material such as ceramics, wood, stone, metal, etc. In the middle of the museum, there's an open space to display various megaliths such as stone statues, stone tombs and kings throne. 
 

How to get there

This museum is addresed on Jl. Yos Sudarso No. 134 A, Gunungsitoli, Nias, North Sumatera. It is located in a very strategic area and can be reached by various modes of transportation. Located about 2 km form downtown, 500 meters from the port of Gunungsitoli and about 20 km from Binaka Airport, the visitors usually use cars, becak motor (pedicab pulled by a motorbike), bicycles or motorbike to get here. Unlike in the big city, Gunungsitoli still does not have a means of public transportation, so that motorcycling is still the most popular way to reach every corner of the town. To get into this touris area, visitors must pay tickets Rp 2000,- per person, Rp 5000,- for motorcycle and car (they have different rate for car, but I am really sorry that I can't give that information now. I'll find out, anyway). With this ticket, visitors can enter the area of the zoo, parks, several areas of Nias traditional houses and the beach. As for entering the museum/exhibiton hall, again, visitors have to pay Rp 3000,- for children and Rp 5000,- for adults.

Final Thought
I really enjoyed my visit at Museum Pusaka Nias. Each of the pavilions were 
beautifully designed to exhibit all the collections. Not only that, I also enjoyed
reading the story behind each collection written in an information card below the
display and the companion of the kind curators. This place has all the amenities
that you need to learn a few things about Nias Island and the people in the past.
But I was a little disappointed since we are not allowed to take any photo inside the
exhibiton hall, neither the collection nor the information card. There’s only one
room where we can take photos. This room displays some miniatures of Nias
traditional houses, wooden kings throne and also the story of how this museum
was established.  
 
These are some photos that tells the story of how this museum was established.
But for people who just want to take some selfie and fun photos with friends and
family, this room is enough.
 
 
 
I really enjoyed every visit to this museum and the views expressed in this article
are my own opinion without any bad intention.
 
Ps.
For you who want to know more about this museum, the history and the collections, you should check out / http://www.museum-nias.org/
 
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