Teluk Ijo, Banyuwangi |
Who would’ve thought that Banyuwangi is now one of the best tourism destinations in Indonesia?
It was just a city you cross when you want
to go to Bali from Java Island and now, people actually stop by to visit some
of its wonderful beach destinations. I was on touring with a few friends to
Banyuwangi and one of our itinerary lists is Rajegwesi beach. We heard a lot
about the beach and it took about 2 hours drive from our hotel at Kalibaru.
There is not much to see in Pantai Rajegwesi excepts some fishermen’s boats and not-so-pretty beach. However, it turns out that from Rajegwesi, we got to do a boat trip to Teluk Ijo (literally means the Green Bay).
This was my very first time to cross the water using fisherman’s boat and with a limited amount of safety kits. Our tour guide bargain the price with the boat owner and we managed to get in the boat – the 5 of us. Each boat is supposed to carry only 4 passengers. Thus, I was actually skeptical and not sure if it was due to safety or the money. It costs Rp. 35,000,- for a return trip.
It's kinda hard to take pics without resulting blury images. The boat's shaking and so are my hands! |
It’s a deal. A young man, who happened to
be the owner of the boat I hopped into, asked me to get in the boat.
I asked him, “How about my vest?”
He replied, “Get in first, I’ll hand (the
vest) you later.”
What went in my mind, “What?!”
What I actually said, “Oh, okay.”
It took awhile for me to get my left foot inside that never-calmed-rushed-by-the-waves boat! It only gave a small space for 5 people and finally I sat on the humble seatings made from wood panels. The young man handed me my vest and in between the panic, the struggle to sit still when the waves hit my boat, I put on the vest.
Look at how I 'smartly' put on my vest. The blue stripes are my backpack's |
The belt was ripped and I couldn’t fasten
it. I asked the man who happened to sit behind me. We were separated by the
boat machine so I needed to scream when talking to him.
“I can’t fasten my belt, do you have any
other (vest)?”
“I don’t have. It’s okay, Miss. The vest is
fine.”
Okay, so it was like an accessory rather
than a safety kit.
We crossed the water and I can hear myself
screaming whenever the boat was hit by the waves. Thank God the machine made a loud noise so no one actually heard me screaming. I even wonder would they knew if I fell from the boat with the noise so loud? *Just wondering.
After 20 minutes of constant heart
attacks, we finally arrived to Teluk Ijo. It is a small beach, a private one,
with turquoise water and white sands. The reefs make a beautiful background
that makes it an even prettier place. We took some pictures there before we
headed back to Rajegwesi for another 20 minutes.
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