“If you never try you will never know”

So, guys! Our destination this time was Luweng Ombo which was located on Gunung Kidul.  Yeah! Gunung Kidul is one of places in Yogyakarta which is known have a lot of caves underground. It was a little bit cloudy when we start our journey from Gelanggang UGM but it wasn’t dampening our spirit to explore this cave since it was unusual exploration. So, this cave was totally new for MAPAGAMA. No one of us had been going there, we were completely blind about it. We found this cave several months ago when we were practicing surface survey. We observed it by seeing the characteristic of the land which had possibility to have a cave below. Luckily, we found four caves around and we decided to go back to explore them in the other days, and there we go! Luweng Ombo became the first target last Friday.

After riding for about two and half hours, we arrived at the location. In a little while we built camp and started to cook because it was already dark. We cooked very special menu; ayam bakar! It was a joyful night by the way as we went for camping and had ‘ayam bakar’ for our dinner with hungry friends and used leaves as the plates, sat in a circle near the camp fire while Reggae keeps flowing. After finishing our dinner, we laid down whilst looking up into the dark sky with a thousand blink dreamy stars. What a perfect night! Next morning, after had our break, the exploration began. Those who would explore the cave were Bekti, Jul, Kukuh, and Adhi while my two other friends, Fahmi, Viema and I, the supporting team, were stand by out of the cave.

here we are !

After the anchor was made near the entrance which was the diameter more then 50 meters, the first person or known as rigging man started off going down. He brought 80 meters static rope with him because we estimated the depth of the cave was not more than that but actually it was. So, Jul who acted as the rigging mancame back to the entrance and altered by Kukuh, the second man who would add the length of the rope so that it would be able to reach the floor of the cave. One by one the cavers started off going down. It took 15 – 20 minutes for each person to get the cave’s floor. Since the entrance was wide enough, I could see the floor which was full of vegetation in the middle but like soft brown cake in the edge. Besides, I could see a lot of white stalactites were hanging on the entrance wall.

They were like sharp chunks ice in the fridge. Awesome!

the entrance of Luweng Ombo

When all of the cavers had reached the floor, they started to walk along the edge until they were disappearing. After waiting in the entrance for a couple hours, we decided to pack the camp and everything because we had planned to go to a beach which was 1 hour from there after the cavers finished the exploration.

from the deep of the cave

the amazing scene !

After three hours since the exploration began, we heard a faint yell saying “rope free” from the camp! It indicated that one of the team had to come back to the entrance. 30 minutes later, the second man arrived and followed by the third and the last. It took longer time to reach up the entrance, almost took double extra time. “There was no long passage below, it just like a bottle which was widening in the bottom!” said one of them. “We only found bats and spiders, really big spiders” the other added. In fact, the cave was not like what we imagined. However, at least we had tried to explore a new place and it was a gain for us. Likewise, it could become our new spot for training new members next year. So, there is nothing useless. We were really exhausted and sleepy when we left the spot. Yet it changed become cheerfulness when we saw a brown banner with white writing: “Welcome to Kerakal Beach”. Excitedly, we took off the stuff from our shoulder and jumped to the white sand. The wind beach caressed our ragged face. The wave teased us to play with them. It was a truly sexy brain refresher before facing maddening final exam. (Incem)


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