The world is like a shadow among cool flowing water, walking between footsteps as if to lead us to a different realm.
That morning this foot stepped towards a tourist location, it looks so crowded with this one destination. CITUMANG, one of the tourist sites that is now popular in Pangandaran, behind its natural beauty with one of its phenomenal Container Lodgings, this location has a side behind the mirror of water that is so clear.
The first time we will pass the entrance counter, the tickets are quite affordable, you can see the left and right walls, which are so exotic and charming, the tour guide is so friendly, invites us in and explains some of the routes we are taking, first we will be invited to go into the cave, which is said to be this cave is a source of springs and the water is channeled to the PDAM in two sub-districts, namely Pangandaran and Parigi and the water never recedes even though even in a long dry season, the water is so clear that we will feel at home there, there is also a pond with small fish we can but there, our feet will feel ticklish when small fish graze our feet with gusto eating dead skin cells between our skin.
In the rest area in front of the cave we will be invited to warm up first so that the muscles don’t cramp when swimming and praying together, we will be presented with the challenge of jumping from a height of 15 meters up the roots on the right side of the mouth of the cave, after jumping we will enter the cave it’s so dark, but don’t worry, the tour guide will quickly accompany you to enter the cave while bringing along the lights and the great thing is that they can become photographers documenting holidays in the cave while swimming to accompany and look after us.
Citumang Cave
After entering the cave we will be invited to jump from a waterfall as high as 5 meters from the surface of the river and can dive into the waterfall, behind the waterfall there is a cave that is so exotic as if we are in a different world behind a waterfall. Not only that, on the right side of the waterfall there is a tourist attraction where tourists can jump on a cliff and jump into the river, it’s really fun.
After being satisfied with playing in the water, we will continue to swim and the most exciting thing is that we make a human train hand in hand with each other through small rapids to the second waterfall with a height of 3 meters. We will also be invited to jump and swim down the river. In the middle of the trip we will also be invited to jump from a tree with a height of 12 meters from the river surface only when we are tired enough to see and shout at our friends who are jumping so that the turns are exciting, of course. After we got tired of jumping from the tree, we would go down the river again to the water dam that was made in the Dutch era, where we would make a circular pattern while holding hands and shouting.
The last route we will take along the BES water, which is the waterway from the dam to the residents’ housing while building a human train. After arriving at the end of the tourist route, you can rinse in the bathroom and toilet that have been provided. Our tour guide will swiftly provide typical culinary dishes that are so delicious, namely Nasi Liwet with Chicken or Grilled Fish with chili sauce and fresh vegetables, isn’t it exciting?
But behind the mirror of water that is so clear in Citumang there are several customary rules that may not be violated, including:
Not allowed to swim during menstruation, why can’t it be said that the residents in the part of the river after the waterfall are a nation of White Crocodiles where the nation does not like it if the water is dirty by people who are menstruating because they are in an impure state, and the second reason for the prohibition of swimming for those with menstruation is because people who are menstruating for them smell like Ripe Jackfruit which smells so sweet that it attracts their people to tease and enjoy every blood that drips in their river water which in the end when they break a shiver they will return home in a fever and like they have a cold .
Drinking liquor at the location, one day a tourist died while drunk after drinking liquor in the Citumang river and became a hot topic of conversation, therefore this incident was associated with mystical things so that there was a story that the caretaker of the Citumang River was not happy if the place was polluted by people who were drunk and committed adultery in the Citumang river to the point of killing “Whoever pollutes my river, I will not hesitate to drown them to become a lesson so that humans do not want to pollute the Citumang river by drinking. liquor and fornication with their filthy thoughts.”
Talking dirty and rude, this third prohibition is appropriate for us as Easterners to guard our words because we live side by side with the world and other dimensions we must respect each other, not challenge or speak dirty because if we violate it we ourselves will suffer the consequences.
These three prohibitions are just a MYTH, or there are several FACTS that all happen by the will of the almighty, we as humans can enjoy everything but respect the environment around you not only having fun because of desire and lust but because of the desire to worship nature to get closer to the creator by getting closer to his creation, namely the Beauty of Citumang Nature created by God while smiling.
Happy Traveling and Weekend.