Backdate: Yogyakarta & Dieng trip Apr 2018 Day 4

12/4/18 Thurs: Took away our breakfast with fruits from Yabbiekayu and we left for Jomblang cave at 7+am. Once we reach, we went to get queue numbers and our tickets (IDR 450K per pax), as they limit a certain number of visitors to the cave per day. We had to choose a pair of boots to wear inside the cave, and then put on our safety helmets and harness as we walked towards the entrance of the cave. *Quite a number of Singaporeans there it seems.*

Three of us were all prepared as we bought our own “headlights” beforehand, as reviews mentioned that the cave was very dark… and glad we did that as at some point of time, you can’t even see your own fingers while your feet tried hard to pull their way through in the muddy and sticky grounds. *Yes there was once when my leg came out yet the boot was still stuck inside, so had to trouble WL to help me pull it a bit I think.*

WL paired up with another Singaporean Malay boy so as to be lowered down to the entrance of the cave in twos via rope and pulley. It was a bit terrifying looking down honestly, but I felt excited at the thought of trying it haha. For every pair that went down and up, besides staff near the point of drop, there were like 20+ men, young and old, standing some distance away with the ropes and hoisting us, ensuring visitors safety all the way. The sun was burning, but they looked like they could find fun in their work, and though I don’t know how much they earn from these few hours under the sun, we definitely ought to thank each and every staff from the bottom of our heart.

I felt safe throughout going down and being lifted up the cave entrance. It’s about 20 to 30 seconds of journey steadily one way, and one could admire the greenery and walls of the cave surrounding us. We waited for everyone to reach the bottom, before the staff signalled for us to gather and walk into the cave. There were some steps down towards the cave, and I could feel the cold gush of air near the entrance. It was slippery, and we had to hold on to available railings (some just ropes), so yup we proceeded with caution.

I can’t remember for how long it took us to walk into the furthest end of the cave, but it was dark for sure, and there weren’t steps or stones for us to step on at some parts, so we literally had to sink our boots into the mud (hence, wear a pair of long pants, basically clothes you wouldn’t mind dirtying, as the washing afterwards would take you a few rounds…) and try to balance ourselves as we cross. *One staff fell, Jess slipped and fell once too I think, and I almost did too.*

Finally, we came to the spot where there was a huge block of limestone at one corner, while the waterfall splashes nearby. It was at the edge, so if one looked down, you can see streams of water below us too. 

Then, we walked over to another corner where it was famous online with tourist taking “insta-worthy” photos…

So dark la~ lol. You can only capture our silhouettes, but yes we tried to pose too. Truthfully, we were quite tired after the walk in, but seeing the inside of cave before your eyes was still pretty amazing. But yes, we have to trace back the same path out again into the light. *I’m glad we didn’t fall or dirtied ourselves badly inside!*

After we were being hoisted up, we went to change into a new pair of clothes, and then had lunch which was included in the package. Adit waited for us to finish eating, and then drove us to Timang Beach woohoo!

We had to transfer to a shuttle jeep (IDR 350K per jeep) halfway through, as the road towards Timang Beach was too narrow for a normal car to drive in. *The journey in did reminded us of our Mt Merapi jeep tour a little haha.*

After about 10 minutes or so, we arrived at the place opposite Pulau Timang haha. Visitors have to cross via a bridge or the Gondola (IDR 200K per pax), which was made famous by Running Man, to reach the isolated gigantic rock in the middle of the sea.

All 3 of us chose to take the Gondola to and fro (nope we did not have the choice to take different mode of transport back and forth). One could see the waves ramming onto the rocks every now and then, and sometimes the splash got so high it could literally drench anyone on the Gondola. Jess took the front seat, while I got into the back one… she was shrieking lol! A few locals helped with the facilitation of the Gondola, and we slided down pretty fast towards the centre woo~ phew it was only that few hundred metres across!

We didn’t expect to spend a long time there but I thought we did. We were first only taking photos by ourselves and doing jump shots, then locals around there gave us drinking water and opted to help us take pretty photos by the edge of the cliff! *Jess was pretty scared of the edges, hence she didn't join us two in some of the shots.*

We walked down to the lower edge, as well as the back of the place to take more photos too. *Yes I could feel the “sprinkle” of the waves a few times!*

Needless to say, we were all “lobsters” once again~ 

But thanks to Jess, whom researched about the seafood restaurant (more like a eatery imo, and again made famous by Running Man lol~), we got to eat 1kg of yummy lobsters once our jeep got back to the meeting point where Adit was at.

It was early evening, so there weren’t customers around. We went into the kitchen, and thanks to Adit whom acted as interpreter for us, we decided to have our lobsters done in two ways: with local chilli and steamed. 

The whole set for three of us (with drinks) was only IDR 550K~ and the lobster was so delicious! 

Think we went straight to Malioboro, the 24 hours shopping street after that. Tried Ronde, their ginger soup dessert. The place was filled with many locals and tourists, lots of street food, pasar malam and even some musical performances.

We were feeling hungry and decided to walk to House of Raminten for supper. Got lost for a bit but soon found our way there thanks to Google maps. *Saw a hair salon cum café along the way~ never knew this two could be “under one roof”!* Queued for a while, before we were escorted upstairs. It was a breezy night, and I enjoyed my seat next to the open air… pretty relaxing. 

Their Teh susu and stir-fried noodles were not bad. Costed us IDR 58K for the shared supper.