Travel Notes
Day 2 began at Grajagan,
a small fishing village on the coast about 50 km south of Banyuwangi
and not far from Sadengan, where we had been on the previous
day. Grajagan is located at the western end of a large bay, which
sweeps around in a gentle curve to Cape Purwo some 20 km away,
forming the south western shoreline of the Blambangan Peninsula.
The village is enclosed by steep cliffs, from where there are
spectacular views across the bay. The small, sheltered harbour
is full of activity, with colourful fishing boats, or prahu,
constantly coming and going. Aside from fishing, the boat crews
earn an extra income by ferrying passengers to other parts of
the bay which are inaccessible by road. In fact, Grajagan is
the end of the line for anything other than motorcycles or strong,
four wheel drive vehicles and the journey on foot to Cape Purwo
takes a full day at least.
Our plan was to hire a boat and travel across the bay to Plengkung
which, as all keen surfers know, has the world's best left hand
waves and, as a 'surf camp', is arguably number one on the globe.
The journey took two and a half hours across a heavy swell. As
we moved further and further from the shore we were able to appreciate
fully the beauty of the coastline as well as witness the sweeping
curve of the bay. To the north, on the horizon, the gigantic
peaks of (from the west) Raung, Suket, Pendil and Merapi came
into view. As the boat chugged slowly towards our destination,
scattering flying fish and disturbing the occasional spouting
whale, the fine white lines of surf breaking on the reef to the
south east became more distinct. Expectations rose.
Banteng
at sadengan, and sunset at plengkung
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