It was about time to get to the southern coast of Java....

The Indonesian island of Java is broken up into four regencies; West Java, Jakarta DKI, Central Java, and East Java. The massive metropolis that is Jakarta (In Western Java but not a part of the West Java state) can have up to  25-30 million people int the city during a business day. Surrounding cities such as Tangerang, Depok, Bogor and Bandung are also extremely crowded with traffic flowing in and out continuously at all times of the day and night. West Java and Jakarta DKI together are extremely densely populated, cars, buildings, and people fill the city and at times you have no idea you are so close to a plethora of natural wonders. Fortunately, I still am.

This last weekend I spent 8 hours on a bus from Jakarta to the end of West Java, near the beginning of Central Java to a small city on the southern coast called Pangandaran. Pangandaran is known for its natural beauty; beaches, national park, green canyon and valley. However, the rich Sundanese culture, surfing and of course relaxing on the beach make the place a true gem.

Less popular, smaller, and a bit more off the beaten track than the green canyon is the green valley. Some less than spectacular roads, a short hike, and of course asking people for directions, and you can find it about 25 km from Pangandaran. It is a beautiful jungle, unfortunately the river was still cleansing itself so it wasn't too appealing, however, of course I went in anyways.

I swam into this cave until I realized that it was just a very, dark scary place that I didn't really want to be in there anymore.

It's always nice to meet people at a bar and then have them offer to take you to a spectacular site such as the green canyon. Not too far from the Green valley you are able to arrive at a beautiful green river that runs through a canyon, hence 'The Green Canyon' The four of us hired a boat and took in the wonderful sights of the jungle, river, canyon, caves, and waterfalls.

It really does feel like you are in the middle of nowhere (though not really) when you are on the boat. All you see is green, occasionally some blue birds, and dark lizards, but more or less.

After about thirty minutes or so you enter this cave on the right and can swim in the river and relax.

As I was aimlessly wondering through the national park, a man popped up out of nowhere and offered to take me into this cave for a dollar. It sounded great to me. Stalactites and Stalagmites, the sounds of bats, and darkness was everywhere but then, we found....

This little guy! He looked like a guinea pig mixed with a porcupine, and he /she really didn't like the light from my camera so I quickly left the scene. Hope you're okay bro!

After a few days of drinking and waking up early to go on different adventures, I was quite pleased that there were beautiful beaches everywhere and I could just go nap.

I also made a youtube video of the holiday which is a lot better than just the photos, enjoy!



You can follow this link here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pv19Ge8gqc