Monday, June 6, 2016

Liang Petang & Liang Bukal (Caves)



Liang Petang and Liang Bukal are two natural caves in Moyo Hulu District, Ai Renung Village. The distance between two caves are not that far from each other so it’s great to spend a day off exploring both caves or even visiting the ancient tomb, Sarchopagus, which is still in the same area.



Moyo District itself is like 30 minutes driving from Sumbawa Besar, we can go there by motorbike or public transportation like Bemo, which is always waiting for passengers in front of Seketeng Market (one of traditional markets in Sumbawa Besar) so there is no fixed time when they’re leaving, depeds on those ladies at the market when they finish shopping :P. I took this Bemo once to go to the caves and i can’t really remember how much i paid for that, i think around Rp. 10.000 (± USD 1). But of course by motorbike is so much easier because you can get closer to the caves while Bemo will just take you on the main road near the footpath to the caves. If you wanna take another public transportation from the main road to near the cave (like Ojek) or guide then you can just talk about that with local people around, not sure how much tho since i never used any guide, but i met many nice people before who gave me free rides, free guides and even treated me dinner \\(^o^)//



From the main road and follow the footpath, after walking for like 1 km then you will find two ways footpaths and if you wanna go to Liang Petang and Liang Bukal then you gotta take the left way but if you wanna go to Sarchopagus then take the right way but since this article is about the caves then let’s take the left way. Keep walking for like 2-3 km then you will find another 2 ways, if you just go straight then you arrive at the gate of Liang Bukal, an investor already took over this place and i’m not even sure if people go there to see the cave, but only relax at the river instead. I went to Liang Bukal few times but last time i went there it was already pretty difficult to find a way, it was like people didn’t realy go there anymore. I never go there to see the new look of it but i guess the investor just made some kind of recreation place with the background of cave. Btw it is pretty easy to find Liang Bukal, and if you take the left way then walk for 300 meters then you will find a river, cross the river then keep walking for like 1 km, i’m pretty sure they have signs (on rocks or trees) so just follow the signs and you will find the cave. 1st and 2nd time i went there i didn’t find it till the 3rd times i met some kids who took me there and finally found it.


Liang Petang is bigger than Liang Bukal, darker, and more bats, it was really a lot of bats. The stalagmites and Stalagtites are beautiful. Based on people’s story it says that there was a girl statue inside and a shape of dead body on the wall of stalagmites but maybe because i have serious problem with imagination so i can’t really see the shape -_-. But btw just be nice to those bats and they won’t attack you. Once i went there a villager told me that if i meet a snake inside please don’t be scared and show some respect cause he is the guard of the cave, and i was like “okay”, but then i did really meet a snake and i told that to another villager and he was like ”‘why didn’t you catch the snake? It’s good for medicine”.........eh!



Inside Liang Petang there are some rooms that you can enter but the bats sh*ts drove me crazy cause at that time i didn’t wear any gloves or helmet or any other protectors so ewwwwww. Once i entered it with a friend and we tried to turn off our lights and it was so freaking dark and i felt like in a horror movie and those bats sound made the situation got worse. But i gotta admit that it was one of the fun trips i’ve done, met some nice people, met snake, got lost few times, and found a small waterfall near Liang Bukal and i named it Lady Jia Waterfall no matter what its real name is \\(^o^)//.

But btw it’s better for visitors especially if it’s their 1st time going there to use a local guide just to be more safe and remember don’t write your names (or any words) on the caves walls (i did once and i regret it so much till now). So be a smart traveler and don’t forget to share your trip  experience :)


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