Tumpak Sewu Waterfall
In the beginning…
A holiday on Saturday was good news for us! Because we would spend two days on holiday *yippie*. In those two days, we could go farther away. We’ve planned on going to Malang for a long time ago because we’ve wanted to visit Tumpak Sewu Waterfall. This waterfall characteristic is its water flow widened like a curtain, so that it is often called as East Java’s Niagara Waterfall.
It was started from my fault because I didn’t search for the information thoroughly. And, our driver said that the terrain was extreme! *speechless*. However, we still went there because of the beautiful scenery. And that was how our long story began… 😀
Arriving at Tumpak Sewu Waterfall
It took about two hours from Malang to Tumpak Sewu waterfall by car. Arriving there, we were confused by the entrance. From Malang, we reached the “Coban Sewu” entrance and then the “Tumpak Sewu” entrance, but then we chose the “Tumpak Sewu” entrance. The entries were the same, but each showed a beautiful scenery from a different point of view. From the counter, we walked down between a group of snake fruit trees. This way down was steep until the rest area. There were several stalls around and motorcycle taxis, which could take us back to the parking lot.
In the rest area, we saw this waterfall from above, and of course, the view was very memorable! So, we insisted on going down, although we were afraid 😀 . We were grateful because we met some friendly and kind people there. The coconut seller told us to be careful because it rained yesterday, so the track was slippery.
The adventure began!
We went down step by step through the ground stairs, iron stairs, and bamboo ladders. Some of them had been completed by bamboo handrails, iron handrails, and ropes. Those handrails made it easier for me to climb. When we nearly reached the bottom, we walked through a small but heavy waterfall. You still have to be careful even if the rocks weren’t too slippery. Why were the rocks not slippery? Because water flew over the rocks, so they weren’t mossy.
Our enthusiasm was truly tested until we reached the bottom! My fear of heights almost made me give up. Besides that, I was exhausted because of the various distances between the steps, which tested our leg muscles’ strength. However, we were still happy because we could greet, encourage, and joke with other visitors.
Finally…
When we were getting down, we had to choose whether to go left (Tetes Cave) or right (The waterfall). Before that, you should know if there were two exit routes (at first, we didn’t know that). The first route was the earlier way, which was steep but also the nearest route. Otherwise, you could take the second route, which has a better terrain, but it was further. And, It was the same way to the Tetes Cave.
We walked on the rocks through the riverside and headed to the Tetes Cave. On the way to the cave, we found a small yet beautiful waterfall. Since we didn’t bring some spare clothes, we decided to go back, so that we won’t get wet (we still wanted to go to the waterfall 😀 ).
This is it!
We would walk through the riverside again and crossed a small iron bridge to reach the waterfall. You should be careful when you got closer to the waterfall because there were many mossy stones, and the ground was muddier so that it was very slippery. Then…finally we arrived in front of the “giant water curtain,” which was so wonderful. It was like a slice of Heaven, which we could enjoy in this world..amazing!
However, the wind blew pretty hard towards us so that the pictures that I took were covered by water droplets since I forgot to wipe my camera, and therefore I didn’t have lovely photos. But these incidents made me realized that, when you just got busy taking pictures, you would never enjoy the beauty of nature. Enjoy it, and you could be grateful for our God’s Greatness 😀
Panic Attack!!
The water droplets slowly started to make us wet. Then we got back to the top, through that earlier route. And suddenly, my brother fainted on the way to the top, so I started to panic because I had never encountered a fainted person. But, I was very grateful because we received lots of help from other visitors and the people around us. They sought help, lent him a jacket, helped him to come to his sense, and all of their support, which I couldn’t mention one by one. I was very grateful to Our God that He didn’t leave me alone. So much help from others made our trip this time was so worth it.
A lesson from this trip was to never have an empty stomach on a trip 😉 . My brother fainted because he was hungry *laugh*. Although the terrain was extreme and slippery, this place was strongly recommended for someone who loves adventure! And the scenery was amazing too.
Don’t forget to browse for complete information, so you can enjoy your trip well (unlike me 😉 ). Are you ready to go Tumpak Sewu waterfall? Let’s go! 😀 (AUGUST 2019)
