Cave Tubing in Goa Pindul, Yogyakarta

I woke up with a start. When my eyes started to focus on the things around me, I noticed the sudden maleness feeling of the room I just spent the night in. The faded jeans and checker-box shirts hanging on the wall, posters of rock bands plastered on one part of the wall and the smell...

...then it hit me. I'm in a house full of men! Hahaha!

I grabbed my toiletries and rushed to the bathroom situated outside the house. My guy friends were strewn all over the floor of the living room, still very much asleep. So I quietly tiptoed over them. Haha. Just to get out of the door to the bathroom outside.

Rise and shine everybody! Let's go cave tubing!

Helga managed to rent an 8-seater van for the cost of 250k rupiahs per day for the trip. And Fauzan, our couchsurfing host decided to join us as he shamefully admitted that as a Yogyakarta local, he has never been to Goa Pindul before! *shocked* We had some cakes and 3-in-1 drinks in Fauzan's house before starting the journey.

Our driver was a stout kind of a man who talked and sang a lot (I should know, because I was sitting in front with him). I couldn't figure out his age but maybe he was nearing his 50's. Nonetheless, he had loud rock music blaring from his car's radio. Haha. Youthful soul, eh uncle? The ride from Yogyakarta's town to Goa Pindul located at Desa Bejiharjo in Wonosari  was a long one. Almost two hours! I really didn't know what to expect but I knew it would involve going into water and have brought extra pair of clothes for that.

The signboard above the ticketing and waiting area of Goa Pindul.

There were a lot of locals already waiting for their turns to start cave tubing. It seemed we were late and will be waiting along with all the rest. Hehe. Pak supir parked his van in an allocated parking area and the boys decided to change into their swimming wear... inside the van,

I didn't bother. I was going into the water with the clothes I had on. Hijab and all.

Fauzan (our host) looking on as people were loaded into open trucks to do some water rafting at Sungai Oya.

Desa Wisata Bejiharjo had three main activities in the area. They were Cave Tubing in Goa Pindul, Caving Goa Glatik and then Rafting Sungai Oya. I didn't see any foreign tourists at this place so it was basically swarmed by local tourists only.

I suddenly felt lucky to be with these guys.

I felt..... ermm... LOCAL. hahaha!

Rp 30,000 per head. That's dirt cheap!! Equivalent to RM10 !

The area has some bathing and changing rooms available for a price which Rp2,000 per usage. They also sell soap, shampoo and bathing clothes for those who came unprepared. A small mushollah (praying facility) was also provided. 

We had to wait for awhile for our turn and every one seemed excited that they decided not to eat first. Little do they know, my stomach was already doing the "krucukkk.. krucukkk" sound. T__T

Clockwise from upper left : My guy companions that day (Helga, Fahmi, Singgih and Fauzan), the big signage slab, Singgih trying to keep his electronic devices dry by putting it into a plastic, and the signage in front of the ticketing booth.

When suddenly, "Mbak Helga" name was called by the operators, we quickly came to the counter to retrieve our life jackets and black tubes!

And off we go with tubes on our backs, walking into the unknown to the place where the starting point of tubing will happen. We walked and walked through mud and small meadows to reach the place below. Mind you, we only had slippers on during this ordeal. So it was a slippery ordeal indeed.

Pictures from above : The starting point where we'll enter the water, the guys with their tubes (hehe) and the picture below is where our tubing ends once we get out of that hole in the wall!

You know, the most funniest thing happened once we hit the water. It started RAINING!! And heavily too!

So as a guide with a torchlight guided us through the calm waters into the hole in the wall (read: cave), we actually could hear the loud rain pelts from outside! 

The tubes we were sitting on were lined up in long rows. Each row had their turns into the dark cave with one guide. I couldn't understand much of what the guide was saying as he was speaking in thick Indonesian language. haha. But I enjoyed the freaking experience floating in the dark cave while holding hands of the guys from both sides of me (ehem, darurat). 

Then at one point, the cave opened into a wide area with a big hole above! Rain was pouring in on us and this is when the guys got crazy. No picture were taken as it was raining heavily! 

They jumped off from their tubes and started climbing the high hedge (in the cave) and starting JUMPING into the water! I wanted to join them but I had a non water proof camera in my pockets and I couldn't risk the damage. The link between the tubes were broken and I was floating aimlessly in the dark. Hahaha.

Thankfully Singgih swam over to me and helped drag me in my tube towards the light outside. And then to the rocky shore. *my hero! sobs* It was still raining heavily when I reached ashore and also still raining as I head back alone to the ticketing area. Singgih swam back to join the other guys. But I didn't wait that long. hehe.

Afterwards we had Bakso at the shop across the street. Fahmi just happened to get shirtless during this time and people around us was actually gawking at him. Well, he did have a very toned body of that of Taylor Lautner. Lulz. But with shirtless him sitting next to me in the shop and hot, delicious bakso in front of me... bakso eventually won me over! =P

And so ends my very first cave tubing experience! Next stop is......... (next blogpost)

Note: Other blogposts on Goa Pindul made by Indonesians can be read here and here.