Visiting the Queen

For a change, I have decided to introduce some photos into this blog as I write an After-Action Review of this morning's semi-crazy attempt to see the southern coast of Jogja. Steep in mysticism, Parangtritis beach is the "doorway" to the underwater palace of Ratu Loro Kidul, or Queen of the South Seas. I shan't elaborate too much on this, you can google it ;-) Now, on to the report proper.

Set off point: Novotel Hotel along Jalan Jenderal Sudirman.
Destination: Pantai Parangtritis on the southern coastline of Yogyakarta

The ride: The bicycle was alright. Horribly expensive if you compare to renting from elsewhere, but I wanted some reliability considering the distances involved. As you can see, it at least has suspension on the front forks... not that I think it made a very big difference! The lack of suspension at the rear reminded my butt constantly as I rode over the uneven roads leading out of the city.


Taken while resting at Km13, Jl Parangtritis


The time: 0600 (the earliest I could depart) proved to be a good choice as I avoided much of the traffic. It also provided some good photo opportunities with the rising sun and the farmers coming out to work in their wet rice fields. Weather also remained relatively cool during this leg. At a relatively leisurely pace, 2.5 hours later I touched sand. The return leg commenced at 0930, with the blazing hot sun overhead and the very gentle climb, some rather long breaks, and some detours down the side-roads, I made it back in 3.5 hours. Total journeying time: 7 hours.


Made it! :)


The route: The "published" 29km distance to Parangtritis was not entirely wrong... but inaccurate since they purely mentioned the length of the road which led there (Jalan Parangtritis). For my case, it was an additional 4km or so from Novotel before I was at the start of Jalan Parangtritis. The signboards above the shophouses along the way provided good information as I covered the route, since the addresses posted there included the Km marking (e.g. Jalan Parangtritis Km 13, No. xxx). Getting there was pretty straight forward, stick to the main road heading south without making any turns, and there you are. Total distance covered (including some detours down side-roads to take a look): +/- 70km


The last 100m of Jl Brigjen Katamso before the start of Jl Parangtritis


Sights along the way: Plenty of rice fields, some small-scale timber processing, shops and houses. Most of these would probably look their best at the "golden hours" of the day (which explains the lack of photos on the return-leg). The weather was a little uncooperative with low visibility, if not one could catch a view of Gunung Sewu (the thousand mountains) which form a large part of the south-eastern regency.


Sun rising over a plot of sawah


The beach: If you're thinking nice resort like beaches, think again. Stretching a few km in length and around 300-400m at its widest, it is by no means small, but nice golden sand with swimmable waters is far from what it is. The guidebooks describe it as bleak and desolate, and I would have to say the description is not too far off from reality. Nonetheless, there were plenty of people around just playing on the beach or on the edge of the water (despite huge signs warning of the strong undertow). To the eastern end of the beach, a cliff protrudes out prominently over the sea as the strong waves hammer into it, looking at the wet portions of the beach, it would appear that at high-tide, the water advances right up to the edge where the cliff begins. I should imagine sunsets to be gorgeous from here, perhaps not so much for sunrises as the cliff obscures much of the skyline to the east.


Pantai Parangtritis


Personal thoughts: Having not seen Parangtritis before and also having never attempted such a ride, it was not a bad experience overall. While the "touristy" attraction level of the place is certainly low, I would figure I will make visits again there in future, if only for the sake of cycling that distance and to breathe the clear air tinged with the smell of the sea, just like how it is in the coastal regions of Singapore, oh how I miss it. There is some potential for a very nice shot involving the cliff and the waves that I could possibly try if I bring the right gear along. Next trip I will probably try a different route heading down to Parangtritis, going through Imogiri and a number of other smaller townships instead of the main road. The G9 performed remarkably well, though it seemed to make alot of the mist-obscured regions of the photo turn out purple... a polariser might be of some help here.

Other photos can be found here.