19/12/2009 Sore asses and a free shower

Now we can’t move after 10 hours of potholes on the bike yesterday so today will be a quiet day. We got on Skype to say hello to the Lonergans at their family Christmas celebration. We felt that our asses had revived a little and so we went for a short ride up the coast taking in the breathtaking views as we went (check out the photos!) We ended up following a little sign that said ‘Waterfall’ just past Gondang. Seven km of potholed dirt road later we came across a beautiful village in the middle of nowhere. Found another sign and after 2km (some of this I had to walk as the terrain ws so bad!) we came through the rice fields to discover some local school kids camping near the entry to the waterfall hike. A local guide was there waiting to take tourists to the big ‘shower’ waterfall that was Gangga falls. We deliberated for a few moments as it all looked a bit dodgy but then we followed the young guide (he was only about 12 and much fitter than us!) along the steep path down the mountain; stepped carefully along the riverbed; did a bit of precarious rock climbing and then stripped down to our swimmers for the final leg through the river and up a rickety ladder to a natural pool and the amazing waterfall. The water falls 80m into a natural pool and normally you swim into it (around 500m) but it has been so dry here (just like Wagga) that 2 of the 3 waterfalls weren’t flowing and the river was dry. The banks of the river showed that when the river was flowing it would have been deep and fast so we were nervously hoping that the black clouds overhead would blow away!! The shower was amazing (check out the vidoclip on u-tube) but the hike back up the mountain was hard work and really challenged our fitness levels. They had a guest book and they only get a couple of tourists a week who take up the challenge so it was pretty special. There are lots of waterfalls on the island but going there by bus and taking a snapshot would not have been the same as our experience. The old guy who lived there also gave us a tip on a local Warrung (restaurant or food stall) back in Gondang so as we were starving by now we went back and braved the local village food which wasn’t too bad. At $2 for 2 people what can I say – I was sick later on but can’t say if it was the food or the Bintang and we are getting used to feeling sick here anyway.