A Descriptive Text
By
Hari Istihari
1304554
Curug Tujuh is
an exciting local tourist area on the northern part of Ciamis. It is located in Panjalu, Ciamis
Regency, 100 km from Bandung, the capital of West Java Indonesia exactly. Curug
Tujuh is a
group of seven waterfalls, one of the water attractions in
Ciamis Regency which offers natural beauty that will be unforgettable in your
life.
The source of the water
is from Cimantaja waterfall which according to the myth means King’s tears. It
is said that long time ago there was a king who was very concerned to see his
state of territory in drought. There was no water and the land went barren, so
people afflicted with prolonged misery. The King then meditated hoping rain to
go down on the land in order to recover the state of the country but his
efforts did not get a response from the Almighty so he felt sad and it made
shed his tears. Amazingly, the king’s tears continued to fall slowly turning
into a puddle of clear water and growing to be a stream of water that
eventually split and fell in seven cliffs. As a result, the country was
prosperous, there was no drought anymore. Then, people called it as ‘Curug Tujuh’. Curug in English means waterfall and tujuh means seven. So, now there are
seven wonderful waterfalls.
Located
approximately 35 miles toward north Ciamis City or 5 km from Panjalu district,
this tourism object is in Sandingtaman Village, Panjalu District, Ciamis
Regency, West Java, Indonesia. It can be
reached from the west of the Panjalu District or from Bandung through
Malangbong, Ciawi, and Rajapolah . While from the east of Ciamis Regency it
must be through Kawali District. The road conditions are generally paved and
passable for four-wheeled vehicles and two-wheeled vehicles either public or
private. After reaching the Sandingtaman village, it will be found a signpost
towards the waterfall, located to the right of way if you are from Panjalu or
Bandung. The distance to the entrance door to this ecotourism is about 20
minutes or less than 10 km from the main highway.
After buying a ticket
(the admission is Rp 5000/ppl or $ 0.58) and entering the door at the gate you
will directly encounter many rocky uphill with stairs shape. The slope of this
road reaches nearly 45 degrees. In every side of way, there are some directions.
For the firsttill
fifth waterfalls go to the right while the sixth and seventh waterfalls go to
the left. The visitors will be welcome by leafy pines and more than 300 kinds
of trees. Many various colorful of flowers typical of the mountain will totally
spoil our eyes, so
many kinds of birds which are twittering every time as well. You can look at down the hill;
there are lots of house residents and a rug green rice field. Do not feel alone
although it is almost on the peak of the mountain because there are so many
visitors and sellers.
Now, the
adventure starts. You will start from the first waterfall, from the directions
you have to walk about 5 minutes longer between the waterfall to one another,
except for first & second waterfall and fourth and fifth waterfall due to
its location adjacent. The first waterfall is the largest waterfall with a height
of nearly 120 meters,
a width of 15-20 feet,
and on the left side there is a flat rock. It seems like Angel waterfall in
Venezuela. The air all around is very cool. The green and lush trees adorn the
surrounding environment as if they were welcoming the visitors. Green moss
adorns the wall of the cliff.
If you look at this waterfall in a far distance, it is like a wave of silk.
All day, you can hear many kinds of birds chirping. The water splashing into
the river makes the atmosphere calm. You can taste how pure the water is.
To
get to the next waterfall you have to pass through the first waterfall so
surely you will feel the fresh water of that waterfall and you can also soak or
be massaged by dropping water if you want. It is said in one of these waterfalls that there is a waterfall that has
properties to cure various skin diseases. It is because the waterfall flows
from the crater of Mount Sawal which contains sulfur.
The
second waterfall is below the first waterfall. Although it is not too high, but it is wide enough. It looks like Niagara waterfall
in North America. The water flows into a very steep cliff, lots of vapor, and
you could not see the abyss, so that is why people call it the second Niagara.
Figure 4. The Second Waterfall
The
next adventure, you will visit the third to fifth waterfall. The first from those waterfalls that will be
encountered further by the visitor is fourth waterfall (Cibolang Waterfall). Probably a question is proposed, why is the third waterfall skipped? Actually,
it is not skipped, because the position
of the waterfall is linear from the
third
waterfall to the fifth
waterfall and the position
of the third waterfall is located on top of the forth waterfall, while the
fifth are below the fourth waterfall like the first and the second waterfall
which are nearby located.
Figure 5. The Third Waterfall
The
fourth waterfall (Cibolang Waterfall) has a height of about 30-50 meters with a
width of approximately 5 meters, however this waterfall has a characteristic
that is the waterfall has level degree of height although the height is short.
Furthermore the
fifth waterfall or the Cimantaja waterfall, located below the
fourth waterfall, called that supposedly it comes from the words Cimata
Raja
or King’s tears, similar to the position of the second waterfall which is under the first waterfall and it isnot visible. But the difference
here is there
are a lot of rocks and thick trees.
In this waterfall is also famous for the beautiful rainbow that ran in the
middle of the swift waterfall . According to the folktale, there
are seven fairies who are taking a bath when the rainbow is occured. So fabulous!
Figure
6. The Fourth Waterfall
According
to the folktale, there are seven fairies who are taking a bath in this water fall when the rainbow is occured.
Just
explore further, the sixth waterfall (the Cileutik waterfall) and the seventh
(Cibuluh waterfall) are in same
direction, have a height but not really high; it is only about 30 meters. For the condition of the road to get
there is very slippery and quite dangerous. It is advisable not to go there when the
visitors have less experienced. After traveling a few minutes down the path, we
come to the sixth waterfall shaped like letter S. The sixth waterfall is
located under the seventh waterfall. In the seventh waterfall there is a small
semicircular pond measuring 3 meters with greenish water.
Figure 7.
The Fifth Waterfall
The adventure still
goes on. It is not far from the sixth and seventh waterfall, there is a tourism
site called Railway Stone. So called like that because it formed a big stone like train cars and lined
up as many as 12 pieces backwards. Unfortunately for this location is quite
difficult to be reached because
the road conditions are still a red ground, and must be guided by local
inhabitants due to a
remote area.
Being hungry and hoping
to have a meal do not worry, because almost every waterfall, there are so many
food stalls as well as souvenir inns. But, it will be nice if the visitors bring their food
from their house and eat them while looking at the waterfall. Types of facilities
available include ticket booth, sign board, gatehouse, parking, toilets,
benches, information center, bins, walkways, mosque, camping area, shelters and
campfire area.
An amazing natural
charm serves as a vehicle for which the provision of facilities to enjoy the
truly natural, cool, green, beautiful, and make nature lovers will be lulled
due to this natural beauty.
When
you are tired with work activities,
youwill be impressed with the extraordinary nature, then you
enjoy in the nature there.
The
load seemed
to be lost and, make more enjoy and happy. The Seven waterfalls “CurugTujuh” is
the answer, a water tourism object and a place for doing some research in
Ciamis, precisely
in Panjalu Ciamis West
Java.
In
my view, the local government should pay attention to the local attractions in
which the expectation is to be more recognized by the public and even
internationally well-known. Repairing facilities and infrastructure of tourism
object are
necessary to obtain a more comfortable atmosphere in Curug Tujuh,
so that everything
will be unforgettable and the tourist will always hope to visit it back. So, are you interested in?
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