After mid-term test, my friends and I
went on a trip to Harapan Island. Which is one of hundreds of islands chattered
across The 1,000 Islands archipelago, located near capital city, Jakarta.
We used a travel service agent (Sakura Travel) to
arrange our 2D1N trip, it costed 360,000/person for 10 people in one group (includes everything from the round-trip boat, snorkeling gear, meals, homestay). We
went on Saturday by boat in Muara Angke harbour in North Jakarta.
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| the wooden boat that taking us to Harapan Island |
The ambience
wasn’t really good at the harbour, the road was tarnish from torrential rain last night, fishy
smells from the traditional market, and crowds of people. Because that day was
a national holiday, no wonder lots of people were also going to Thousand Island
for vacation.
The boat was over loaded with people I guess, because we didn’t get
the seat nor the life vest. So we just sat on the floor near the captain’s
room. And if you're wondering, there's an emergency toilet here (not the fancy one ofc) just in case...
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| Here we were just sit around |
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| The captain's room |
The boat was finally moving off after
half an hour delay. (We're supposed to leave at 7:00 a.m). The journey to Harapan Island took about 3 hours. The weather was really nice and sunny. In the
meantime I just enjoyed the view. The first hour I noticed plenty of rubbish
floating on the ocean, so sad. But as the boat went further, the water got
cleaner and more blue.
The wave wasn’t so big that time, so we were doing just
fine. I also saw some other beautiful islands and some fishermens on their boat
catching fish. There’s nothing I could do for the rest of the journey, other
than chatting with friends, play with my phone or try to sleep (which I found
hard because a kid next to me kept kicking my body for unknown reason).
3 hours later we arrived at the Harapan
Island’s dock, as we went out, a lot of locals were taking pictures of us using
their cellphone. Which I found a bit strange and awkward, but still smile
anyway. After met with our guide from the travel agency, Pak Ari led us to our
home stay.
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| The main gate. Don't get deceived, it wasn't this quiet actually |
As soon as we arrived at the homestay, the lunch was delivered to our home. I didn't take any pictures of the meals, but it mostly seafoods (fish, squid, prawn) and also soup. They tasted really good and the amount of foods served were exact as the number of us.
The homestay itslef was pretty decent with 3
rooms equipped with air conditioner and 2 bathrooms on the outside with squat toilet. They’re clean, except the
bed sheet was a bit sandy. Incidentally, there were 2 unfunctioned TVs, so they
are only there as a display.
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| My room with two other friends |
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| snapchat of our homestay |
There were about 2,000 people visiting Harapan
Island at the moment, our tour guide said. Which is amazing!
The neighborhood was fine, there’s school, posyandu, village office, and also cemetery in the island. The locals are mostly working as fishermen, tour gide and the women are cooking meals for the tourists for allowances. Some of them also open a warung (small shop) that sell snacks and any other essentials. And there's no ATM in this island, so make sure you bring enough cash.
The neighborhood was fine, there’s school, posyandu, village office, and also cemetery in the island. The locals are mostly working as fishermen, tour gide and the women are cooking meals for the tourists for allowances. Some of them also open a warung (small shop) that sell snacks and any other essentials. And there's no ATM in this island, so make sure you bring enough cash.
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| Narrow road (alley) at Harapan Island |
We got on a traditional boat and ready
for snorkeling and island-hopping journey. Our first stop was Macan Island (Tiger Island).
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| on the traditional boat, ready to go! |
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| Had a great time snorkeling |
Then we moved to Gugus Perak, where the
water is shallow (calf-deep). My feet was in so much pain to step on the dead
reef.
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| The dead reef |
The journey continued to Perak Island, not to snorkel but just to chill
out. I spent time exploring the beach, I love beach so much! While my other
friends were exploring some sort of jungle in that island and they found a very
unique spot to take pictures.
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| Beach in Perak Island |
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| My friends discovered this in the jungle |
Our last destination that day was Bulat
Island (Round island, because some people believe that the island looked round
from above). We went there to see sunset, but I was so hungry so I have to
queued in a one and only and crowded stall to order pop mie. Thus, I kinda missed
the sunset.. But I still managed to capture one in my phone as I walked by.
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| Beautiful sunset |
I couldn’t
explore Bulat Island because we only given little time there, which most of it
I spent queueing in the stall and eating my noodle.
Around 6:00 p.m we came back to Harapan
Island, it was almost dark and a bit scary because the wave was getting a lil
bit bigger and it was so cold.
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| On a boat back to Harapan Island |
We arrived home feeling really tired and
just wanna go to bed, but still got one more activity which was Barbeque time!
At 9:00 pm Pak Ari knocked at the door to pick us up, I dragged myself out to a
big yard full of people, where the barbeque party was held. It’s either we were
very tired or already full ‘cause we had dinner earlier, the barbeque which was
consist of squid and a big fish, served with a bowl of ketchup, tasted just
strange.. so we stop eating it and gave it to couple of cats. (FYI, There are
plenty of cats around this Island).
In the morning, I woke up around 6:30 and
we all missed the sunrise but had no problem with it at all. There’s this funny
story when we kept demanding Pak Ari to give us our welcome drink. Well, it’s
very reasonable request because the itinerary said that we’ll get the welcome
drink as we arrived yesterday, and we paid for it already. But Pak Ari just
kept mumbling and tried to change the subject. But we didn’t give up and kept
reminding him about that ‘welcome drink’. I think he got a bit upset so in the
morning he gave us a pot of warm sweet tea as our ‘welcome drink’. We laughed,
because that’s not a typical of welcome drink at all, but still drink it
anyway.. But we never get the proper welcome drink (I’m thinking about fresh
coconut water, you know). Whatever.
After breakfast we got in a traditional
boat again, ready to explore another island!
We headed to Genteng Island which
apparently has these very beautiful coral reefs! We spent lots of time here to
take pictures with different style. LOL.
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| Group pictures! missing one member, cz she took the photograph |
This island was quiet, and there are some
kind of abandoned resorts or inns or something. One thing to remember is to
apply anti-mosquito lotions before going here. One of my friend got plenty of
small bumps around her thigh, legs, and arms due to that bloody mosquitos bite.
We played with the hammocks and some sort
of swings in there too, a friend of mine even climbed the tree for the sake of
her photo being taken, which is cool.
The beach isn’t that spacious, but it’s
very clean and just peaceful.
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| Calm beach, just love the atmosphere here |
After that we sailed back to Harapan
Island to see the marine biotas which is located near our homestay!
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| The entrance |
What to see in here? You can see these
super cute baby turtles or the adult one
You can also see their eggs, people here
are taking care of them really well
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| Where they keep the trutles' eggs |
And lastly you can see some fishes that
are cultivated in here, you can even feed them
There’s also plenty of mangroves planted here, so nice..
We rushed to our home stay to cleaned up
and packed because we’re ready to go home. Before get in to the same ship that
took us here, I bought some cilung first. So cilung is a unique snack of
Harapan Island.
It’s actually a mix of two quail eggs
cooked and brushed with some kind of jelly and rolled with a stick (llike
satay) and dipped into a can of abon before it’s ready. It tastes much like
traditional snack from Betawi, kerak telor. But this one is more sticky and you
eat it with a stick, not in a plate with spoon like you used to eat kerak
telor. The seller asked me, would I like it spicy or savory. Which is a bit
strange, because how come it’s not savory? So i ordered savory and spicy. The
price is Rp 5,000/stick.
There’re other street foods here, the
mainstream ones such as ice cream, cilok, toast, and coconut water.
When everyone had finished buying their snacks, we walked fast to the boat which was once again over loaded with people! It was totally full and that boat was the only one, so we really didn't have any other choices.
We forced to get inside the boat and saw people already took their spot, some even lying asleep. So we had to awkwardly tip-toe walking and I was busy said "Sorry... excuse me..." to people who are staring at us all the way. I felt so uncomfortable that time. We looked around to find some spaces, but the fact that it was already full. So there's no chance for us to sit together, ten of us. So we were separated. I finally found a space with three of my friends on top of a machine i guess, covered with some kind of board. That machine made my butt was in pain, because i could feel the heat.
We were so upset with a group of boys and girls that made a small circle and playing card, while some of my friends still looking for a space to sit. But those people really didn't care a bit, they're still playing card and laughing as in nothing happened and nobody was staring at them angrily. So my friend just forced to sit near them and push them subtly, but they still ignoring my friend. Errr.
So, yeah the journey back home wasn't so nice, I tried to sleep but I couldn't because it was so hot, I sweat a lot and my butt hurt, and also some people were smoking and I hated it. But Thank God, the journey back to Muara Angke felt quicker than the departure.
Arrived in Muara Angke we booked a bemo (I guess) to a road near BayWalk and we got in a Kopami 02 to Kota Station. From there I took TransJakarta to my home, while other friends were using train.
-The End-
