BADUY TRIP 18-19 MARCH 2023

 

BADUY TRIP 18-19 MARCH 2023

It was another open trip with explorer team, and also a tough one, the hike was ok, but my cold was very bad, it made everything hard, hard to sleep, hard breath and hard to stay focus, and I was afraid I would run out of tissue, the runny nose never stopped.

The trip started at 9 am at Rangkasbitung station, we were 10 with 3 guides. From Rangkasbitung station we continued with a small bus. After 2 hours, we arrived at Ciboleger Terminal. It was a very quiet terminal, less people, maybe because it’s almost fasting month. There is a minimarket and food stall. You can see Baduy people too, they occasionally go out from their village to buy some food. 

Ciboleger Terminal ,the Sun was so bright and hot! And not everyone were ready for a photoshoot 😅

After we had lunch, we hiked 200 m to the entrance of Outer Baduy. And continued hiking for 3-4 km to the bamboo bridge. We stopped at the river to rest our feet. Along the road we passed 7 Hamlets (Kadu Ketug 1, Cipondoh, Kadu Ketug 3, Legok Jeruk (new hamlet), Balingbing, Marengo, Gajeboh), these hamlets are located close to each other. There are 64 hamlets in Outer Baduy, and 3 hamlets in Inner baduy.  

The entrance of Outer Baduy and our whole team. 

“Baduy” is not a place or a tribe’s name.  it is a nickname that been given by outsider because there are Mount Baduy and Cibaduy River nearby Kanekes Village, the place where they live. Actually, they prefer to be called Urang Kanekes, the Outer Baduy people is called Urang Panamping, the Inner Baduy is called Urang Tangtu. Baduy people is part of Sunda tribe and speak Sundanese. 

The bamboo bridge. 

  

We crossed the bridge and went down to the river to rest and had a little fun with the water.

Usually we will explore Outer Baduy and Inner Baduy, but due to the “Kawalu Month” (forbidden month), outsiders can only reach Outer Baduy, Inner Baduy only accept 3 guess during these months, the one that related to government, their friends and people for spiritual purpose (usually they will meet Puun, Chief of the village ). In a year they have 3 Kawalu months and the date always changes. But for foreigners, they can’t go to Inner Baduy for the whole year. Inner Baduy only accepts Indonesian. Usually in the open trip, all of us will go to Inner Baduy and foreigner will stay in Outer Baduy with the local. So if you are a foreigner, asks first before you join the trip, otherwise you will be left alone there.

At night we stayed in villagers’ houses in Marengo Hamlet, and they provided us dinner, very yummy (I ate too much). And in the morning, they start their activity around 6, they get up very early, 4 am and start working again. 

Marengo Hamlet

At eight before leaving Marengo Hamlet (they looked so cute with the korean flower pose😁). Some of us didn’t join the hike, they will go back to Ciboleger terminal and continue to Rangkasbitung Station. Meanwhile, we will pass another 5 hamlets, one lake, one bridge and end up at Nagayati Village.

On the way to the root bridge, we passed a “Saung”, a house in the middle of the field, we can see the process of making palm sugar.

   

The sap will be collected into the bamboo (left pic). 

After that they cook it (right pic).

   

And pour it into the molds (left pic).  

And they weave the leaves becomes a basket to put the palm sugar (right pic).

This is the final product. Baduy’s palm sugar is pure, it will melt in your mouth, super yummy!

Ayah and Dangdang Ageung Lake. Before we went to root bridge, we stopped at the Dangdang Ageung Lake to take photos. 

       

A very fascinating bridge. Root bridge.

From the root bridge we hiked for 2 km and you can choose to ride the motorbike or walk, the distance is 2km, the motorbike is 20,000 IDR.  And that’s the last destination, Cakuem Hamlet, this is already outside of the Outer Baduy. The bus was ready to send us back to Rangkasbitung station, and we came back to Jakarta by train. That the end of our trip.

The most challenging part in Baduy is doing private things, Baduy people do all their private things in the river, actually there is no toilet, the toilets are built for tourists not for them, but it only serves the purposes for taking a bath and peeing, not pooing so you have to do it in the river, I suggest you to use “sarung” 😁.

Although the distance only 4 km, inner baduy is very strict compare to outer Baduy. Let’s see the differences:

Inner Baduy

Outer Baduy

can only walk by foot   Can not go to the doctor, they have their own doctor to cure the villagers Can not choose their partner in marriage. Can only wear white and black clothes. There is only one room in the house and it is divided by a very short wood plank (maybe less than 10 cm) into bedroom, dining room etc There is no porch, the hosts accept guests inside their house. (sorry no pics, we didn’t go to Inner Baduy, just use your imagination😅)

Can take any vehicle ride (car, bus motorbike, public transportation), but can not possess them. Can go to the doctor and do the labor at hospital.  Can choose their partner in marriage. Can wear colorful clothes. The house is divided into rooms (bedroom and kitchen) The house has porch to accept the guests and villagers sell clothes, souvenirs, snacks, beverages on their porch

The similar things about them :

They are not Muslim, they hold another believe similar to Muslim, it is called Sunda Wiwitan

The Inner Baduy is the center of the cultural activities, the Outer baduy follows the inner baduy activities.

Their philosophy is "Lojor teu menang dipotong, pendek teu menang disambung" (in Sundanese), meaning everything that already there (in Baduy) can not be changed.

They can’t dig or cut any trees, so the houses are adjusted to the terrain. 

They plant the rice once a year.

There is no school, the sons will learn from their father, the daughters will learn from their mother.

There is no difference between male and female, they all share the same workload. They both work in the field from morning to late afternoon. Women carried logs on the way home after working the whole day. (pic)

There is no weekend or weekdays, all days are the same, working day.

The deceased will be considered gone after 7 days of their death.

Babies will be given name and a bracelet (Kapuru) after 7 days born.

All houses have the same size 6x12 m.

They are not allowed to eat goat’s meat, they only eat chicken if there is a special event such as wedding or another cultural ceremonies.

If there are 2 families that live in a house, they will need to separate their fireplace for cooking in the house. And the basis for the fireplace is called Parako, made from wood, but they never had a fire disaster. They mix it with soil, leaves, and wood ash.

     

The roofs are made from Kirai leaves, they need to be repaired every 4-5 years. Everything in Baduy is according to the rules, if they want to build or repair a house or bridge or anything, they need to do it on certain date and certain length of time, so everyone repair their house at the same time.

    

Leuit or rice barn, each family has their own rice field and for them rice is sacred, because they believe rice is the source of life, they believe in Goddess Sri, The Goddess of Rice.  The rice that stored in the rice barn is for daily meal and cultural ceremonies, if they don’t have enough rice, they can buy it outside but the one for the cultural ceremonies must be from their rice fields. The entrance is through that hole. 

   

After they harvest the paddy rice, they tie and hang it, to let them dry.

This is Saung Lisung, a place to separate paddy from its grain. Each hamlet has their own Saung Lisung. The length is also the same, 6-7m.

Beside rice, Baduy people also plant durian, smelly bean, aromatic ginger, ngapi nut etc . They also sell honey, they take it from the forest, so it’s pure.

     

Bubu made from bamboo, for catching fish, the fish will be trapped inside.

There are many details that can’t be explained in here, otherwise it will become an encyclopedia  with 500 pages. If you want to know more, join the trip and learn more about Baduy.

Thanks to everyone that joined this trip, we stayed together till our last destination (rangkasbitung station). I will you miss your laugh. Hopefully we can meet again.

Special thanks to Mr Opik (+62 878 7204 6627) as our guide show shared so much information about Baduy and also Rian and Hanri who helped us to take so many photos during the trip. And also Baduy people that accepted us as guest, Ayah, Hendry, twins and other kids who followed us from the beginning till the end of the trip.  If you want to have private trip, you can contact him, but for foreigners, you need a translator from Bahasa to your language.

Behind the scene.

    

Mr Opik in Baduy clothes and baduy kids (left pic). Rian, our photographer, carrying that heavy camera along the trip (right pic). Thanks for your hard work.

     

Ayah and his cute son (left pic), sorry because of me you had to run and ran out of your breath. Hendry in pose in root bridge (right pic), a young Baduy who is always smiling and calm. Btw, he has Instagram (a surprising fact).

     

Can you guess why the twins had the same expression? (left pic). Sari (girl on the right) looked bored, talented as a businesswoman.

3 warriors of indomie, the trip was only 2 days, yet they ate 3 meals of Indomie. What a loyal fans! I called them warriors because after hiking, they need to replenish their energy by eating indomie.😆

                

Rome, a talkative and cheerful guy (left pic), practicing to be a model in the river bank, available for audition and photoshoot. Paris (right pic), a young guy who has a bracelet with “undefeatable” writing on it. He always stays calm and cool. A strong character. 

  

Eva (left pic), guarding the bridge. A cheerful lady who is very patient and kind. 

A lovely couple, Mrs Maya and her husband (right pic). Honestly, I envied them😊

  

What were you lamenting for, Peter? Your life? (left pic). 

Kobi, running to ... Indomaret (right pic).

After hiking for 11 km 😅...wakey wakey not finish yet 2 km left.

It’s unforgettable trip and when I learnt about how Baduy people’s life, it makes me think that we are spoiled by technology yet we complained a lot. Compare to them, they have simple life and respect the nature around them but we destroy our environment with our selfishness. We should appreciate and respect more, be grateful for what we have in our life. Their simple way of life give us a valuable lesson. Goodbye Urang Kanekes.