Taken at: Outer Baduy Area, Baduy Village, Leuwidamar District, Lebak Regency, Banten
A trip to Baduy was a trip that my sister and I had really wanted for a long time mostly because: we already had a quite tough semester in college both in our respective faculties, we missed our travels so much and we wanted to do a trip in which it was full of trekking and not combined with snorkeling at all.
Therefore, we chose to go to Baduy, Leuwidamar District, Lebak Regency, Banten. We had to ride the KRL Commuter Train to Rangkas Bitung Train Station from Tanah Abang Train Station for about 2 hours then from Rangkas Bitung Train Station, we still needed to go to Ciboleger by car for about 1.5 – 2 hours too with the condition of the road that was very bumpy.
Baduy in General
I personally knew Baduy (the people and the village) only from the History books and/or my History teachers back in Junior High and High School, so I was so ecstatic to visit one of the places that I knew so far only from something that I read or been taught of. For those of you who haven’t known or not really familiar with Baduy, Baduy people or Baduy tribe is one of the people groups that practices isolation from the outside world. The village where they live is called Baduy Village which consists of Baduy Luar (Outer Baduy) and Baduy Dalam (Inner Baduy). Basically, Baduy people resist foreign influence, modernization and want to preserve their ancient way of life without harming or even killing the nature.
Trekking to Cibeo, Inner Baduy
I didn’t read the itinerary that was given by the travel agent very thoroughly so I didn’t realize that the duration of the trekking from the starting point which was Ciboleger (it was already really close to the first village within the Outer Baduy area) to the finish line which was Cibeo (Cibeo is one of the 3 villages within the Inner Baduy area) was about 5 hours on foot, with the distance between Ciboleger to Cibeo Village was around 12-14 kilometers (7.45-8.69 miles).
The track in those 5 hours that I mentioned was insane (at least it was for me).
We started trekking around 1 o’clock in the afternoon and half an hour later I already felt so tired and wondered, “Oh dear God, it’s only still half an hour trekking and I’m already so tired then how could I finish this trekking thing which would be around 5 hours in total until I get to Cibeo?” Don’t get this wrong, I actually am the kind of person who really likes trekking especially jungle trekking but I didn’t know (or didn’t research deeply before) that the trekking to get to Cibeo was really different with the trekking that I used to do when I went to Tanjung Puting National Park, Ujung Kulon National Park and Sangiang Island. The trekking to get to Cibeo really requires a good stamina and physical strength, even my sister said that if the travel agent put a level to it, the level of this trip should have been categorized with the “extreme” one. In the track that we trekked through to get to Cibeo, there were so many slopes but there were 2 slopes that were the hardest ones. The first one became the hardest because the distance between one rock to the other rock (we should trek/hike on top of those rocks) were really far away so imagine if you guys have to climb on the stairs in which the steps between each other are so far away so the burdens are concentrated in your knees. Then, the second one became the hardest too because the slopes were very high (almost like endless), consisted of red soil so it was very slippery after the rain.
I nearly gave up in the first hardest slope even I said to my sister that I wanted to just lay down in one of the bamboo bench around there because I didn’t think I could continue to trek to Cibeo. But then my sister said that we were practically in the middle of nowhere in the jungle, there was no possibility I could just give up, lay down and stay a night there. So we decided to take a rest for some minutes and trekked again together with the other travellers behind us.
The track actually didn’t only consist of slopes, there were flat and downward trails too but the hardest ones were those 2 slopes I mentioned above and Baduy itself was located in the foothill of Kendeng Mountains so the track was in this kind of particular order: slopes, downward trails, flat trails, slopes again, then downward trails and flat trails later over and over until we got to Cibeo. Downward or flat trails sounded much better than the slopes but actually, they were just so slippery and more dangerous than the slopes. Moreover, my sister and I didn’t buy any trekking pole while the other travellers in our group already bought trekking poles before we trekked from Ciboleger (there were so many kids selling those trekking poles around there and they were really cheap because it’s only IDR5000 (US$0.37)) for 2 trekking poles and we didn’t buy any because we didn’t think they would be such a necessary. Such idiots, ain’t we?
The interesting thing was that in the second slope, we asked every single one of Inner Baduy people that ran into us about how long it would still be to go to Cibeo and each one of them always answered one hour. We trekked a little bit more, asked again to the other Inner Baduy people and they would still answer one hour. One of the guys in our group became really annoyed and said “I think we have trekked and trekked and trekked and the earth even rotates, why it’s still 1 hour away from Cibeo?” One thing that we were really worried about was if we were still on the track while it’s dark because it was already 5 o’clock in the afternoon. It would be fine if we all brought flashlights, but the problem was some of our bags were brought by Kang Jali, one of the local tour guides from Inner Baduy and he was already really far away from our group since he trekked really fast.
Sorry, I kinda forget to tell you about Kang Jali and the other local tour guides from Inner Baduy. So before we started to trek, there were several Inner Baduy people (younger boys and adult guys) that hung around Ciboleger. These people would be our local tour guides and they would also offer to bring some of our backpacks. At first, I didn’t think I would need a service of one of them but then only about several steps from the starting point of the trek I realized that one of the straps of my backpack tore so my sister and I decided to hand over my backpack to Kang Jali, one of the local tour guides. Speaking of Kang Jali and the other local tour guides from Inner Baduy, they definitely didn’t sweat at all while trekking (even when we already drenched in our sweat) and had never slipped at once no matter how slippery the track was and they didn’t even wear any footwear!
Anyway, back to flashlight stuff, so since some of our bags were brought by Kang Jali, automatically we had no flashlight with us. If I’m not mistaken, in our little traveller group (8 of us together), only one of us that had the flashlight. It was still very risky if it’s already dark with the total of 8 persons and only 1 flashlight in hand. But, thank God we finally arrived in Cibeo around 6 o’clock before it was dark.
Baduy People (the Inner and Outer Baduy Ones)
There were several differences that we met or spotted both when we trekked to Cibeo, Inner Baduy through Outer Baduy and right when we already arrived in Cibeo itself. Inner Baduy people didn’t wear any footwear, only wore black or white clothes, the adult guys and the younger boys wore a piece of white cloth that they used as their headcover/headband. The usage of vehicle, utensils that contain chemical ingredients (e.g shampoo, soap, facial foam, etc.) and taking any photographs (both by DSLR/digital camera and phone camera) within the area of Inner Baduy were forbidden. Modern home appliances (e.g metal/stainless steel spoons, mattress, pillows, etc.) weren’t acknowledged by them, so when some of us went to buy some teas or coffees, the cups were very unique and traditional because they were made of woods. Foreigners weren’t allowed to go and visit Inner Baduy area. There were no electricity, internet and phone signal either around Inner Baduy area. However, Outer Baduy people were kind of different with the Inner Baduy ones. Basically they had broken and didn’t follow the Inner Baduy’s Customary Law anymore. Outer Baduy people were more familiar with the modernization, some of them already wore footwear and even modern clothing like t-shirts. It was fine to take some pictures with our cameras in the Outer Baduy area and foreigners were even allowed to go and visit any village within the Outer Baduy area.
Nonetheless, some of our local tour guides from Inner Baduy said to us that they had ever been to Jakarta. For example, Kang Jali, he had ever been to Jakarta for about 17 times before. However, they actually still clung to their principle that forbid the usage of any vehicle so if they wanted to go to Jakarta, they would do it by walking on foot. Can you guys imagine it? The distance from Ciboleger to Jakarta is around 132 kilometers and the distance from Cibeo to Ciboleger itself is around 12 kilometers so in total they had to walk around 154 kilometers on foot. That’s why they said if they wanted to go to Jakarta, it would take about 2.5 days for them to finally reach it.
So sick, indeed, but so cool too at the same time.
Trekking Back Home
Different with the track that we used to get to Cibeo through Ciboleger, the track that we used to trek back home from Cibeo was through Cangkuem/Cangkuam. This track was the most popular one to trek back home from Cibeo because it had this very popular icon called “Jembatan Akar” or Root Bridge. The distance was about 12-14 kilometers (same as the track from and to Ciboleger) with the duration of 5 hours trekking too.
My sister and I thought the track that we used to trek back home from Cibeo was not as challenging (re: insane) as the track the we used from Ciboleger to Cibeo since there were several slopes indeed but they weren’t as hard and as high as the slopes that we found when we trekked from Ciboleger to Cibeo. Yet, when we started trekking down to the Root Bridge it was full of downward trails that were so slippery, there were not any handles around the track while it was full of chasms surrounding it. It was just so dangerous if we didn’t pay attention it would be very easy for us to fall down into the chasms. My sister almost slipped several times right there. The thing is, both the downward trails to go to the Root Bridge and the slopes from the Root Bridge to go back up were equally exhausting, slippery and dangerous we needed to be extra careful when we trekked or hiked through that.
Not much happened after that, only my feet that were full of blisters I literally had to resist to wince every single time I stepped. Definitely such wonderful souvenirs from an extraordinary trip!
Tips and Tricks
Here are some of the tips and tricks I would like to share to you guys if you want to visit Baduy later. These are based on my personal experience, so these would definitely suit me but I can’t assure anyone it would suit all of you who read this since every single person is different. Let these be some information for you guys and I hope these will help :)
1. Prepare your physical strength and stamina by doing the routine physical exercise at home or at the gym (e.g walking, running, jogging, etc.) minimal a week before your departure, so you won’t be shocked as I was when you’re already there.
2. Wear comfortable trekking sandals or hiking boots only as your footwear and bring or buy a trekking pole when you’re still at Ciboleger to avoid you from falling or slipping on the super slippery tracks right there.
3. Bring your backpack as light as possible it may be because you will not need a lot of clothes since you will still sweat a lot while and after you trek and you will not take a bath at all (or much) either when you’re there. Other than that, too-heavy backpack will only limit your move and burden your steps.
4. Don’t hesitate to ask for the local tour guide to bring your backpack if you already feel so exhausted on the track, they will always say you can pay them at any rate that you want but usually we pay around IDR30000 per trekking, so in total you will only spend around IDR70000. It sounds quite expensive, but you will understand later that it’s actually very worth it.
5. Bring jacket or sweater or other warm clothes to wear for sleep because it will be really cold in midnight since Baduy is located in the foothill of Kendeng Mountains (at that time I only brought and wore Pashmina and Sarong on top of my clothes and I was definitely freezing!).
6. Bring enough water, raincoat and flashlight – believe me these stuff will definitely help.
7. If you’re a foreigner and really want to try to trek to Baduy, you can still go to the Outer Baduy. My advice is: try to pick a village that’s the farthest one from Ciboleger but still in the Outer Baduy area. That way you don’t violate any rules or principles in Baduy, still will be welcomed by the Baduy people, can take photos as much as you want and have a chance to try the trekking itself.
8. Pick a starting point or finish line that suits you the best. There are 3 tracks to get to Cibeo, Inner Baduy and from Cibeo, Inner Baduy to trek back home. First one, the Ciboleger track with the distance from Ciboleger to Cibeo, Inner Baduy around 12-14 kilometers (7.45-8.69 miles) and the duration of trekking about 5 hours. Second one, the Cijahe track which is the shortest track to get to Cibeo, Inner Baduy because the duration of trekking will only be about 1.5 hours. But please note that if you guys decide to use the Cijahe track, you guys will not trek through the Outer Baduy area since it will be really close already to the border of the Inner Baduy area, therefore you guys will not be able to take any (or much) photos when you guys trek. Then the third one, the Cangkuam/Cangkuem track with the distance and duration of trekking more or less is same with the Ciboleger track but the only difference is there’s this iconic thing called “Jembatan Akar” or Root Bridge.
I think that’s all that I can share about my trip to Baduy. It was definitely the most challenging trip I have ever had but I am so grateful to be given such an opportunity to go there. I wish you guys enjoy this story and the trips and tricks would really help you in the end.
Save money, travel plenty and be happy. ¡Vamos!
December 27th, 2017
Annisa Erou
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Special thanks to:
1. Wina, my sister who was very patient and supportive along the way. Willing and wanted to wait for me even though I trekked very slowly and almost gave up in the middle of nowhere in the jungle. Thank you so much. Toast to the upcoming trips we’ll be going in the near future!
2. Kang Jali that was so strong to bring my backpack that was incredibly heavy and very kind-hearted to help me to walk through the super slippery trails I believed I would fall down if he wasn’t there helping me out. Thank you so much. I wish we could meet again one day, Kang!
3. Mas Acung, Mas Khairul, Mas Barry, Mbak Firda, Mbak Resty and Abang that accompanied my sister and I to trek from the first hardest slope, the second hardest slope then witnessed how I fell on one of the super slippery tracks and saw our bread fell down to the chasms. How memorable. If you guys weren’t there, Wina and I would definitely be the real definition of Bocah Ilang. Thank you so much. See you in the next trip!
Thank you so much to you guys too that have been willing to read my babbles about this trip!
