Afternoon at Pangandaran Beach, Indonesia

Sunset over western side, Pangandaran Beach, Indonesia
Pangandaran beach, Java, Indonesia





White sand beach, Pangandaran, Indonesia





Bamboo cafe, Pangandaran Indonesia (note GJ drinking beer!)



Becak ride through Pangandaran



Main beach@ Pangandaran.



White Sand Beach at Pangandaran.




Monkeys and Deers on the beach

Afternoon at Pangandaran Beach

We woke the kids at about 4pm and set off to the Western beach. We caught a Becak over, its like a rickshaw bike and we had the usual girls against boys race-the girls won! The main beach has soft black sand which felt good between your toes but looked like mud. The sun was starting to go down and the life guards were clearing the water so we haggled furiously and caught a boat around the point to the white sand beach. The boat trip ended up costing us 20 000rp return (3 min journey) but the first price was 50 000RP, but as I didn’t have the right change I only had to pay 16 000RP ($2.20).
We only had about 30 minutes on the beach, but it was worth it. This beach had rough white sand and was very pebbly and filled with rock pools and coral. The sun was setting across the water and the colours were amazing. While we were walking along the beach we saw a monkey and then a deer! GJ and I laughed at how quickly kids become blasé; the kids were pleased to see the animals but weren’t shocked- they have seen so many amazing things and are just used to it. I am sure (hope!!!!) when they are adults they will look back and think WOW what a childhood!
The main beach at Pangandaran was filled with colour- flags and boats and people. There was rows and rows of market stalls behind the sand and families screaming up and down the road on hired small bikes and trikes as well as the usual motor bikes, cars and becaks.
We had dinner at the same café as lunch: Bamboo Café, very good and reasonable priced.
GJ had by now realized why he doesn’t drink beer….one glass at lunch gave him a throbbing head ache and the grumps- how unusual LOL, LOL
We were looking at a stall selling Batik caftans when the sales person came over and told me the “good” price-350 000RP; she didn’t look at all bashful when I pointed out the price tag of 40 000rp and said ”kenarpa, empat puluh ribu? $4.80 verses $50.…..
This discrepancy in price was also evident in the Becak rides, we paid 20 000RP for 2 bikes for a 6 minute journey, locals pay 5000rp per hour……..
As usual, I was on first name basis with the son in law of the owner plus the hotels manager, I am turning into my mother……..and we were invited to the central area for special drinks at 8.30pm.
We had our first glass of Bajigur, a hot coconut style drink, very delicious- it tasted like a hot tropical beach. It was accompanied by roast sweet potatoes and hot peanuts in its shell. This was another instance of being in paradise, chatting on the beach front with a wonderful surf breeze with visible stars (no stars in Jakarta too much pollution).
We have organized special rates for our next visit…..Yes we will definitely be coming back!

all the photos can be found here