testmeat photoblog

after spending a month in yogyakarta, which i mainly filled with work and volcanoes, i took a trip out to east java and a place called malang. there were a few things i wanted to see in the area so first up i rented a bike and took a drive out to tumpak sewu waterfall. it was probably the longest journey i've take on a motorbike, over two hours each way not including strategic breaks for rain showers, however it was also the most powerful motorbike i've ever ridden so it was actually pretty comfortable. i came across pictures of the waterfall online which was enough to make me pin it to my map and then drive over to see it. if i'd have done a little more research i probably would have read that it's preferable to arrive in the morning and hiking down to the base of the falls is best done from the east side as the west has extremely dangerous tracks and ladders. so anyway i rocked up to the west side in the afternoon and descended over 100m on sketchy ladders and steep staircases, an experience not made any less stressful when my camera bag would constantly get jammed inbetween the metal rungs. once at the bottom you can turn left to get to the bottom of tumpak sewu falls, which were impressive although i imagine moreso with morning sun. however if you turn right, which mercifully not so many people did, you start walking into this jurassic park wildness towards goa tetes falls. i spent a lot more time on this side, which included a failed attempt to get to some caves which i concluded were only reachable if i submerged my shoes into the rushing water. when it was time to ascend i couldn't face the sketchy west route so i decided to come up the east side instead, which was certainly less scary, but i feel like i sweated too much to regard it as easy. i realised this safer route would also require me to trace around the entire top of the waterfall to return to my bike, so i was fully exhausted when i eventually made it back, which i calculated was an acceptable compromise for surviving the trek.

i've included a phone shot of the path down, which was taken fairly near the start of the descent... it was at this point when the metal steps transformed into metal rungs that i began to get concerned