(Semoga bukan) Goodbye Raja Ampat

Before I dive at Great Barrier Reef I gotta dive at Raja Ampat first
Well, kalau pemerintah jadi menjual, maaf, menyewakan Raja Ampat ke Four Season dan/atau Hilton, kayanya lebih mungkin saya ke Great Barrier Reef duluan, bakalan considerably cheaper kayanya :(.

Waktu saya baca tentang rencana pemerintah ini saya langsung shock. Rasanya lenyap sudah impian saya untuk mengunjungi daerah yang indah ini. Betapa tidak, saat ini saja saya masih susah payah menabung karena harga tiket yang cukup mahal, apalagi bila itu dijadikan kawasan resort tertutup yang harganya lebih tak terjangkau lagi. Saya cinta Indonesia, tapi kalau harus mengeluarkan beberapa ribu USD hanya untuk mengunjungi daerah Indonesia (yang juga dikelola asing) kayanya nggak deh.

Saya benar-benar bertanya dalam hati, apa yang kau cari wahai Pemerintah Indonesia? Sebegitu defisitnya kah kita sampai harus menyewakan daerah strategis? Buktinya gaji anggota pemerintah plus tunjangan kanan kiri sedemikian besarnya kok. Ga punya dana untuk bangun infrastruktur di daerah Papua? Bangun aja gedung DPR/MPR yang baru disana. Dengan uang sekian triliun plus fasilitas ala resor justru bisa dapat tambahan baru kan, itu juga baru adil namanya, ga cuma di Jakarta aja nongkrongnya.

Salah satu alasan yg pasti akan dikemukakan adalah: "Investor asing diperlukan karena pemerintah tak mampu berinvestasi. Dengan adanya pariwisata maka SDM sekitar juga akan terserap dan daerah akan bisa berkembang". Sekarang saya ingin bertanya, apa yang didapat dari penambangan Freeport dan Newmont? Apa yang didapat dari ratusan, ribuan villa dan hotel di Bali? Almost nothing. Pucuk pimpinan tetaplah orang asing, bukan orang kita. Mereka lebih senang mengambil pegawai siap pakai dari daerah lain daripada SDM lokal yang masih harus ditraining. Kita diusir dari daerah kita sendiri.

Contoh pasti di Bali, walau secara resmi pantai Nusa Dua adalah milik publik, kita hampir pasti diusir satpam hotel daerah situ kalau keluyuran kesana. Contoh lain, bangunan-bangunan yang dibangun tanpa mengindahkan aturan adat yang berlaku, bahkan melanggar batas kesucian daerah (bayangkan ada villa yang dibangun persis disamping Masjid Demak atau Katedral, penuh dengan orang2 berbikini dan musik keras. Ga menyenangkan kan?). Atau hilangnya rasa solidaritas antar masyarakat karena menganggap turis asing lebih berarti, lebih berduit (saya seriiiiiing sekali mendapat diskriminasi seperti ini). Jangan sampai hal ini terjadi di daerah lain yang masih "bersih" (baca:polos).

Saya ga benci Pariwisata. Bidang pekerjaan saya pun tergantung sepenuhnya dari klien asing. Yang saya benci adalah pariwisata yang tidak terkontrol, yang hanya mementingkan nilai materi yang didapat dan melupakan hak-hak kita selaku pemilik negeri ini. Indonesia negara besar, lokasi kita yang strategis, penduduk kita yang banyak, dan kekayaan alam kita yang tampak tak terbatas membuat kita (sebenarnya) sangat diperhitungkan dunia. Kita memiliki hak tawar yang amat sangat besar. Jangan sampai hanya orang (asing) yang berduit yang sanggup menikmati keindahan Indonesia, namun juga masyarakat Indonesia sendiri.

Apakah ini melulu tentang senang-senang dan jalan-jalan? Tentu tidak. Kepastian bahwa masyarakat Indonesia masih dapat menikmati daerah-daerah di negerinya sendiri, dan juga ketersediaan sarana yang terjangkau akan mempersatukan Indonesia. Bagaimana kita bisa peduli akan saudara-saudara di Mentawai kalau tiket pesawat kesana lebih mahal dari tiket ke Thailand? Bagaimana kita bisa kenal dekat dengan saudara-saudara kita di Wakatobi kalau biaya travel ke sana lebih mahal dari travel ke Singapore? Bagaimana saudara-saudara kita bisa mengerti bahwa Jakarta bukan hanya seperti di Sinetron kalau butuh berhari-hari jalan kaki untuk sampai di lapangan udara? Itu pun belum tentu tiket nya terbeli.

Indonesia bukan hanya Jakarta, Jawa, Bali, atau Sumatera. Indonesia adalah juga Celebes, Borneo, Papua, dan ribuan gugusan pulau lainnya. Saat Sumpah Pemuda pendahulu kita berikrar: "Kami Putra dan Putri Indonesia mengaku bertanah air satu, tanah air Indonesia". So yeah, anda dan saya adalah orang Indonesia. Anda memiliki hak untuk dapat melihat Bali, tanah "seribu pura" dan bukannya tanah "seribu villa". Saya memiliki hak untuk dapat melihat Raja Ampat atau daerah lainnya secara langsung, bukan hanya dalam khayalan karena tak terjangkau. Sudah saatnya pemerintah mengerti akan hak kita. We are Indonesian. Indonesia is ours.


Special thanks untuk @palingindonesia, @getlostisgood, @backpackseru, @infojogja, @letsgotobali dan berbagai media lainnya yang telah setia mempromosikan keindahan Indonesia. Mari terus berusaha agar keindahan Indonesia bisa tetap terjangkau oleh orang-orang Indonesia.

Wafer UBM (Wafer Kampung!)

My Favorite! I can't believe when I found this in Bali! (okay, I actually first found this on my friend's work station hehehe)
This wafer is a personal favorite when I was just a little girl not so long ago. Trust me, it's not THAT long. It's sweet and nice, but I love it most for its sentimental value. I can still remember how I used to buy this from small warungs (grocery shops) when I come home from elementary school. I hardly found these wafers anymore since I enter Junior HIgh School, and I already forgot about it ever since, at least until the blessed encounter in Bali (okay Mrs. T, okay... Blessed encounter on your desk LOL).


See the writing below? It was produced in Sidoarjo, East Java, Indonesia. It's only 50 cent (with current IDR/USD currency rate) and you got 10 packs of small wafer, each packs contain 2 slice of wafer. Thank God I don't have to buy it at Sidoarjo, just need to stroll down a few houses to buy it in a warung near my office.


Open up and yum yum yum!

Old Bali at Sanur Pejeng, Ubud

Did I tell you I was having a blast on a relative's wedding reception at Sanur Pejeng? I did. and the trip there sure worth the time as well! Sanur Pejeng is located in Ubud, already near to Tampak Siring area. It is said that it is called Sanur Pejeng because they were originally come from Sanur area (yeah, that Sanur with gorgeous sunrise near Denpasar). Correct me though if I'm wrong though, I can be such a dunce with details :). One thing for sure, their love for art was amazing, just see the wedding offering below!



The road that we took was the road to Ubud area. Sukawati, celuk, passing all those beautiful rice fields and old (or should i say ancient) houses and Banjars and many Pura. On the way, the road become more and more narrower and also winding, so if you
get carsick easily you might want to bring some refreshment. However, the view was become more and more lush and greener on the way, so it really compensate the winding road. When we reach their Grya (main house) it was like transported back to the old Bali, with no tourist or hawker or even any signs of modern civilization (yes, I meant those pulsa dealer, PlayStation rental or worse, Cafe and bars).



You can see the moss over the rocks and structures, the thick green forest beyond and the soft sounds of the river below. Some would say I'm mentally ill and absorb too much in tourist-mode. It is , after all, just another deserted Balinese village. Well I lived my life in Jakarta, and travels around the world by means of books, news and literature, and yes, I didn't found any big cities interesting (except for the food). Big (and so-called modern) cities are like coming from cookie cutter or one of mass Chinese product. The "modern" style leaves one so cold and it's really doesn't feel nice to see nor touch. I'm a city girl through and through, but traces of old civilization has always been my secret love. This village is a gem.

Back to Topic, the first picture above was the entrance of their praying place (Merajan). The little statue on the right was a Bali Style Ganesha (I think. See below). I can't resist myself to swept my hands over the soft moss and the cold rock of the statue, thus the nice ladies who were in charge to help on the wedding consequently staring at me with odd look hehehe. Sorry ma'am, it won't happen again.



The trees were also awesome. The one that you saw below is actually a Champaka tree. The tree can grow extremely big, however they did a fabulous job on trimming it so it is still alive but not too big. Among others are Frangipani (of course!), Sandat/Ylang-ylang, Bougainvillea and several others which I don't know the names.



The feast was excellent. period :)
The wedding was nice as well. It is always so great to be with family, sharing stories and gossip (yup, I'm officially a girl). And soon enough, it's time to return home.

The road that we took back to Denpasar was different from the road we took to get there. Fine by me, I'm not driving and get to view the wonderful scenery to my heart's content :). Among other things, I saw a great Pura called Pura Pengukur-ukuran. I was so excited to see it and told my mum it's gotta be a really old Pura. I was right, it was made in year 1194. There are other pura as well in the area. Too bad I'm not at liberty to stop and visit them one by one :(

It was a great trip all together. I would recommend you to visit this beautiful village yourself, but unfortunately there aren't any lodging that I saw there (though I did see a couple of foreign tourist walk backpacking with their guide. Not sure where they stay.)But then again, with lodging and stuff it'd get polluted wouldn't it. If you happen to visit this area, make sure NOT to leave traces that damage the purity of it (over tipping, over whining, over anything!). Enjoy!