By telling us your country of residence we are able to provide you with the most relevant travel insurance information.
Please note that not all content is translated or available to residents of all countries. Contact us for full details.
Shares
We arrived on-site at 9 am, under the clear sky and bright sunlight. Under the program named Writingthon, the participants brought to Cangkuang Site in Garut District to explore more about its uniqueness. We crossed the lake over to reach the site area by traditional raft made with bamboo. The paddle age range is over 30 years old– yet they still smile as telling that they were happy to meet new people who were interested in the local heritage in their living place. Approximately 10 minutes, we touchdown on the other side of the lake. Our tour guide already waited. "Hi, Good morning all! My name is Zaki Munawar and I'll show you our village pride!" He welcomed us with a wide grin. We are asked to walk in one line since the road is small. Along the road before the entrance zone, there are many souvenir sellers. Things they sold such as batik, dodol (local foods), also handmade craft. We finally arrived at Kampung Pulo, the traditional village inside Cangkuang Site. This village established by Embah Dalem Arief Muhammad. Kampung Pulo only has 7 buildings that are 6 houses and 1 mushala (building to pray). One house can only be inhabited by 1 household. Mr. Zaki explained, the system was born based on the value of trust in there. They maintained this ideology by continuing to pass on the house to their eldest daughter. It was very mind-blowing, I unconsciously raised my right hand, "Then, how about the sons' fate?" "Both sons and girls (who are not the eldest) will later have to live outside this village." He answered. "They will usually live in one community out there.” After we finished in the housing area, we moved to the top of the hill to see Cangkuang Temple. This temple built next to the Muslim cemetery. “This is Embah Dalem’s cemetery. As you all can see, this situation portrays our nation’s ideology Bhinneka Tunggal Ika or Unity in Diversity.” “We should prioritize tolerance over anything to live peacefully as Indonesian. We have a lot of ethnicities. That what’s made us unique and we should be proud of it.” All of us hear him in silence. He continued to explain the history of the temple. “So, you’ll be getting free time here. You can explore everything for 15 minutes.” I contemplated for a minute before I built my courage, I walked closer to the guide. “Sir, may I ask you something?” “Sure, go ahead.” “What is the biggest challenge you face while maintaining this place?” "Hm…” He stays silent for a while,” the cost– in the past the income isn’t enough to cover maintenance cost. So, we risk opening this area for tourists full day.” "But now, after we got many kinds of funding we only open this area until 3 / 4 AM with consideration of our own villager privacy. This village is their home after all” “What makes you stay here?” I go straight with my point. He smiled at me. “I love Indonesia, our country has a lot of potentials that haven’t been exposed to the world. I enjoy my job as a tour guide, to let people know about our pride like what I said. I’m trying to make a contribution though it wasn’t that much.” The clock already showed 10:30 AM. The participants including me prepared to go to our lunch venue. As we go down, I feel attracted to something. “Why there's a lot of paper decoration hanging above us?” Mr. Zaki laughed as he said. “People nowadays tend to like something that can make their photos colorful to be posted on their social media” I also laughed. I hope people not only view this place as a tourism object, but also the cultural conservation area.