Lonely Planet Indonesia

by Lonely Planet

  Staff are friendly, but can find it difficult to cope during busy periods. Meals are served, and there’s ping-pong. It’s at Sempol, 13km before Pos Paltuding on the Bondowoso side.

  Pos PaltudingHUT$

  (r 125,000Rp)

  The PHKA post at the start of the Kawah Ijen hike has a bare, chilly cottage with basic rooms fit for a monk. There’s no hot water and blankets are not provided.

  Ijen ResortHOTEL$$$

  (%0815 5810 4576, 0815 5810 4577; www.ijendiscovery.com; Dusun Randuagung; r/ste from US$148/238; aWs)

  This top-end resort is the only luxury lodge in the Ijen region and has magnificent views over rice terraces and the foothills of the volcano. Rooms have some style, with stone or timber floors, open-air bathrooms and attractive furnishings. There's an expensive restaurant that serves local and Western food, and tours and transport can be fixed.

  The resort is about 25 minutes above Banyuwangi on the road up to Ijen.

  Jiwa JawaFUSION$$

  (Java Banana; %021-751 0338; java-banana.com; mains 65,000-195,000Rp)

  Set off the road up to Ijen from Banyuwangi, this restaurant is a stunner, with a massive ground-floor gallery and an outdoor amphitheatre with spectacular volcano views. The menu is ambitious. Expect mains such as parrotfish in Mediterranean ragu, grilled unagi (eel) with a miso beurre blanc, and a nori-crusted rack of lamb.

  Lodge rooms were under constuction at research time and were expected to be open by 2016.

  8Getting There & Away

  It is possible to travel nearly all the way to Kawah Ijen by public transport, but most visitors charter transport. Both access roads are badly potholed and slow going.

  From Bondowoso

  From Wonosari, 8km from Bondowoso towards Situbondo, a rough, potholed road runs via Sukosari and Sempol to Pos Paltuding. It's normally passable in any high-clearance vehicle, but sometimes a 4WD is necessary. Sign in at the coffee-plantation checkpoints (around 5000Rp) on the way. Hotels in Bondowoso can arrange day tours to Ijen for around 750,000Rp.

  By public transport, several angkot run from Bondowoso to Sempol (25,000Rp, 2½ hours), most in the late morning, but there's a final one at 3pm. If passengers want to continue on to Pos Paltuding drivers will sometimes do so, though foreigners are regularly overcharged on this route. Otherwise, ojek in Sempol charge around 30,000Rp one way. At Pos Paltuding, there are usually a few drivers to take you back.

  From Banyuwangi

  The Banyuwangi–Ijen road was in good condition at research time, though it has been known to be impossibly rutted in the past. Check locally for current conditions before setting off. There’s no public transport all the way from Banyuwangi to Pos Paltuding, which is a sparsely populated region.

  Jeep-style cars (650,000Rp per vehicle) can be arranged through the Banyuwangi tourist office. Chartering an ojek from Banyuwangi to Ijen is possible for around 200,000Rp (including a wait of four hours). Ojek drivers hang around the ferry terminal in Ketapang and Banyuwangi bus station, or ask at your guesthouse.

  Heading back down the mountain, ojek charge around 75,000Rp to 100,000Rp for a one-way ride to Banyuwangi from Pos Paltuding.

  Jember

  %0331 / Pop 332,000

  Jember is a large city and service centre for the surrounding coffee, cacao, rubber, cotton and tobacco plantations. It’s relatively clean, with a futuristic mosque (it looks like a flying saucer) by its alun-alun, but there’s no reason to linger. If you plan to go to Meru Betiri, you could drop by the Meru Betiri National Park Office (%0331-335535; www.merubetiri.com; Jl Sriwidjaya 53; h8am-3pm Sun-Fri), which has accommodation details and background information on the park.

  Jember has an excess of transport terminals. The main one, Tawung Alun (or Terminal Jember), 6km west of town, has buses to Banyuwangi (27,000Rp, three hours) and Kalibaru (12,000Rp, one hour), and economy buses to Denpasar, Solo and Yogyakarta. Angkot run from here to Terminal Arjesa, which serves Bondowoso (10,000Rp, 45 minutes). There are also subterminals to the east (for Banyuwangi) and south (for Watu Ulo).

  Jember is also located on the Surabaya–Banyuwangi train line; the station is in the town centre.

  Kalibaru

  %0333 / Pop 5000

  The picturesque road from Jember to Banyuwangi winds around the foothills of Gunung Raung, through rainforest, and up to the small hill town of Kalibaru (428m).

  The village itself is not much to look at, but it has a benign climate and a remarkable array of excellent midrange accommodation. It’s a good base for visiting the nearby plantations around Glenmore, to the east, or the smaller, more easily visited plots of coffee and cloves to the north of Kalibaru train station.

  The area has many plantations, but Kebun Kandeng Lembu (admission 30,000Rp; h9am-noon Mon-Thu & Sat, 8.30am-noon Fri), 5km south of Glenmore, is one of the most scenic. Guides can be hired (100,000Rp) for group tours to see rubber tapping and processing, as well as cacao and coffee plantations.

  TTours

  Margo Utomo Resort offers several tours. English-speaking guides will show you around the estate, which is totally organic and has a butterfly park; peppercorn, cinnamon and nutmeg trees; and vanilla and cacao plants. Jeep trips to surrounding villages are on offer, and take in a waterfall and cacao factory. Excursions to Pantai Sukamade (Turtle Beach) and Alas Purwo are also possible.

  4Sleeping & Eating

  There are warungs in town for cheap eats. Restaurants can be found at some of the area hotels.

  Kalibaru CottagesBUNGALOW$$

  (%0333-897333; www.kalibarucottages.com; r incl breakfast 390,000-620,000Rp; as)

  A large, well-run resort boasting expansive, manicured grounds with a T-shaped pool that’s fringed by palm trees. Faux-traditional cottages are spacious, though the restaurant is a bit pricey. It’s 4km west of town on the Jember road.

  Margo Utomo ResortHOTEL$$

  (%0333-897700; www.margoutomo.com; Jl Lapangan 10; r incl breakfast 575,000Rp; is)

  This classy former plantation enjoys a resplendent garden, bursting with shrubs and flowers (all neatly labelled). Its cottages are a bit pricey considering their simplicity, but they are tasteful and have charm. All have ceiling fans. Follow the path and you'll find a 20m pool at the rear of the grounds. There is also a restaurant.

  It's popular with Dutch tour groups from June to August, when prices rise; you should book well ahead.

  8Getting There & Away

  Buses running between Jember (12,000Rp, one hour) and Banyuwangi (22,000Rp, two hours) can drop you near the hotels. The train station is in the village centre; Kalibaru is on the main Banyuwangi–Jember–Probolinggo–Surabaya train line.

  Meru Betiri National Park

  The Meru Betiri National Park, covering 580 sq km between Jember and Banyuwangi districts, is an area of magnificent coastal rainforest and abundant wildlife, making it one of Java’s finest parks. It’s famous as one of the last refuges of the Java tiger, now almost certainly extinct. Meru Betiri is very difficult to access (often impossible in the rainy season), which keeps the number of visitors to a trickle.

  The future of the park is under threat on several fronts. Illegal loggers, farmers and hunters encroach on its territory. Mining companies, and illegal miners, are also eyeing up the park after significant gold deposits were found here.

  1Sights & Activities

  The park’s major attraction is the protected turtle beach at Sukamade, one of Indonesia’s most important turtle-spawning grounds, where several species come ashore to lay their eggs. You've a good chance of seeing a turtle here; green turtles and olive ridleys are the most common. Giant leatherbacks used to be seen between December and February, but sightings are rare these days. Mess Pantai arranges night turtle-watching trips (150,000Rp per person) and gathers eggs that are hatched inland so that wild pigs do not dig them up.

  Wildlife, found mostly in the mountain forests, includes leopards, wild boars, monkeys, banteng, black giant squirrels, civets, reticulated pythons
(the world’s longest snake) and Javanese eagles. You're sure to see a lot of monkeys, monitor lizards and hornbills – maybe even the rhinoceros hornbill, which emits a bark-like honk.

  Trails are limited in the park and a guide (100,000Rp) is usually necessary. There are good coastal walks but sadly there's quite a bit of trash around, on the beach and inland.

  Rajegwesi, at the entrance to the park, is on a large bay with a sweeping beach and a fishing village. Past the park entrance the road climbs, giving expansive views over spectacular Teluk Hijau (Green Bay), with its cliffs and white-sand beach. A trail leads 1km from the road down to Teluk Hijau, or it is about a one-hour walk east from Mess Pantai.

  4Sleeping

  There are guesthouses on the Sukamade plantation and in Rajegwesi, but these are some distance from the beach.

  Mess PantaiBUNGALOW$

  (%033-133 5535; r without/with bathroom 150,000/250,000Rp)

  Set in the forest about 700m behind Pantai Sukamade, Mess Pantai is a basic but wonderfully located place to stay in the park, with simple, comfortable cottages. Instant noodles are usually the only food available (around 8000Rp), so it’s best to stock up in Sarongan and bring your own supplies – staff will prepare it for you.

  There’s limited electricity and no mobile phone coverage here, but there is bottled water for sale.

  8Information

  The park is wet for much of the year as the coastal mountains trap the rain. Visit in the dry season from April to October, because the road into the park fords a river, which easily floods. Even in the dry season you may have to wade across the river and walk into the park.

  The park’s office in Jember has plenty of information; entrance to the park costs 150,000Rp.

  8Getting There & Away

  Meru Betiri can be a tough place to reach, even by 4WD. Roads are rough and you have to ford rivers in some places. The most direct way to Sukamade from Banyuwangi or Jember is to first take a bus to Jajag, then a minibus to Pesanggaran (12,000Rp, one hour), where you'll probably have to change and get in another to Sarongan (10,000Rp, around one hour), a small town with warungs and stores where you can stock up on supplies. Watch out for the Sarongan transport mafia who will try to get you to charter a 4WD. Ojek to Sukamade (around 120,000Rp) can be arranged here, but generally only in the dry season; during the wet season the rivers are impassable. Otherwise, you'll have to get a truck ('taxi' in these parts), as they don't run to a fixed schedule. This should cost 30,000Rp, though foreigners are routinely overcharged. The truck has no problem with swollen rivers unless there is severe flooding.

  Readers have told us they've made it all the way to Sukamade on motorcycle in the dry season; however, a dirt bike is preferable.

  Alas Purwo National Park

  Occupying the whole of the remote Blambangan Peninsula on the southeastern tip of Java, Alas Purwo has spectacular beaches, good opportunities for wildlife-spotting, and savannah, mangrove and lowland monsoon forests. Apart from day trippers and surfers, the park gets few visitors. Facilities are limited.

  Alas Purwo means First Forest in Javanese: according to legend, this is where the earth first emerged from the ocean. Many soul-searchers and mystics flock here during the month of Suro, which marks the Javanese New Year. These pilgrims meditate in caves and pray to Nyai Loro Kidul. Pura Giri Selokah, a Hindu temple in the park, also attracts pilgrims, especially during Pagerwesi, the Hindu New Year.

  The huge surf at Plengkung, on the isolated southeastern tip of the peninsula, forms one of the best left-handed waves in the world, breaking over a shallow reef in perfect barrels. Surfers have dubbed it G-Land. It’s best between April and September.

  1Sights & Activities

  A relatively flat limestone peninsula, with rolling hills that reach a peak of only 322m, Alas Purwo is dominated by lowland coastal forest. It's studded with stunning stands of mahoagony but few trails to explore it. As a result, vast expanses of the eastern park are untrammelled, even by park staff, which is why big cats have survived here for so long.

  You can use Trianggulasi as a base for some interesting short walks. The white-sand beach here is beautiful, but swimming is usually dangerous thanks to swirling rip tides.

  SadenganWILDLIFE RESERVE

  Down a spur that branches from the main road just after the Hindu temple, Sadengan grazing ground has the largest herd of banteng (wild cattle) in Java. Some of the larger bulls have birds on their back, and lovely herons often glide into the frame. Kijang (deer) and peacocks can also be seen here from the viewing tower. This beautiful meadow, backed by rolling, forested hills, is a 2km walk from Trianggulasi.

  Alas Purwo also has a small population of ajag (Asiatic wild dogs), jungle fowl, leaf monkeys, muntjac deer, sambar deer and a few leopards. Some rangers even swear they've seen tigers here, which is almost certainly untrue. Or is it? Either way, they can arrange interesting (but often fruitless) nocturnal leopard-spotting expeditions for around 100,000Rp.

  NgagelanBEACH

  The turtle hatchery at Ngagelan is set in a protected, fenced-off plot behind the beach, where rangers who have collected the eggs keep them piled and dated under the brown sand, shielding them from birds and other predators. The beach itself, where four species of turtles nest – including greens and leatherbacks – is wide, majestic and 18km long. You can see the light brown sand arc along the coast all the way to G-Land.

  You can't swim here though, as the rip tide is all-powerful. Turtles emerge from the sea under the cover of night, and after they lay their eggs the rangers gather them and place them in the hatchery where they will gestate for 50 days before hatching and seeking the sea. To get here it's a 6km drive from Rowobendo through lowland forest along a rough road, or a 7km walk along the beach at low tide from Trianggulasi. A ranger will gladly show you around, but he won't speak much English.

  Gua Istana & Gua PadepokanCAVE

  From Pancur, a trail heads 2km inland through some good forest to Gua Istana, a small cave, and another 2km further on to Gua Padepokan.

  G-LandSURFING

  (Plengkung)

  From Pancur, it's a 10km walk (two hours) around Teluk Grajagan to the fine beach at Plengkung, or G-Land, one of Asia’s premier surfing spots and home to three seasonal surf camps. There are several world-class breaks here, most barrelling over a razor-sharp, shallow reef – this is mostly experts-only surf territory, though there are also some beginner waves over a sandbar bottom.

  When it's firing, there can be 100 people in the water, which can feel overwhelming, but the mob usually strings out to manageable numbers as heads seek waves that suit their skill set. The surf camps offer transport to the waves from a small marina that's easy to find in the shallows. Swimmers can swim east along the reef from here, though low tide is quite low, so you may need to pick your way among the reef when you come in.

  The two main surf camps are set about 500m apart in different coves. Bobby's has the more dramatic setting and offers pagodas and hammocks on the beach. Joyo's has a long bench on a rocky outcrop, along with lounges oriented toward the waves and the sunset beyond. Oh yes, those sunsets are absolutely magical!

  You are in a raw and wild part of the world now. There are leopards often caught on game cameras, and one ranger swears he saw a tiger with her cub recently. The jungled coastline certainly looks like something out of Jurassic Park. No wonder G-Land is the stuff of surf legend.

  TTours

  There are three surf camps at Plengkung: Bobby's, Joyo's and Raymond's (%036-175 0320; www.g-landsurfcamp.com). The surfing packages usually include boat transfers from Bali, accommodation and meals. Though it is possible to make your way here under your own steam, it's important to book ahead to make sure the camps have room for you. There is no other place to stay. Joyo's also offers fishing trips (half-day US$60) thanks to resident surfer and fisherman Mick Burke, who has lived here for 11 seasons and takes folks 2km offshore to his favourite fishing spots, searching for amberjack, Spanish mackerel
and dogtooth tuna. He and his guests rarely return empty-handed. When you show up with your fish, the camp chefs will cook it up for no extra charge and your fellow guests will shower you with praise. Maybe.

  Surfers take note: Mick has been riding these waves (quite well) for over a decade, and if the line-up is completely packed and you care to motor away from the crowds to unheard-of waves, he knows exactly where to go and can get you there for US$100 a head. Though the fee seems quite high, you will see a whole new stretch of coastline and be riding with just a handful of fellow surfers, which is a welcome relief on crowded days.

  4Sleeping & Eating

  From Trianggulasi, the nearest warung (meals 10,000Rp) is at Pancur, where there are also simple rooms (100,000Rp per person). National park campsites are dusty and lack shelter from the wind and the road. We don't recommend them.

  The G-Land surf camps usually have three-night minimums, but if you arrive with your own transport you may be able to negotiate a single night or two. Call ahead.

  oG-Land Joyo’s Surf CampSURF CAMP$$$

  (%bookings in Bali 036-176 3166; www.g-land.com; 3-night packages from US$625; aW)

  Joyo's has steadily upped its game over the years. It has good-quality thatched wooden bungalows with a fan or air-conditioning, a large-screen TV for sports, pool tables, internet access and table tennis. There's free yoga, fishing trips, and the crew who run the place are a blast. The price drops dramatically if you make your way here under your own steam.