Being one with nature in Caping Park
I feel so excited for today’s agenda as we are about to explore the wonders of Banyumas region. I wake-up from time to time to check the clock that I have enough time to prepare before our guide will arrive. Even if I only have few hours of sleep, I still feel energized by the thought of being able to witness the beauty of nature. I naturalist guy who love everything that nature has to offer. Mas Kahfi was our guide for today. He is such a comic guys whom we can easily get along with. He give interesting information as we travel towards our first destination for this day. After few minutes of drive, we arrived to our destination. Surprisingly, it is just right next to the gate of Al Irsyad Boarding school. We arrived so early that the place is still close. We went first to a traditional market in front of it and roam around to kill the time until the place will open. After few minutes of roaming aroung their traditional market, the place is now open for any guests who wants to explore the park. The park name is Caping Park. When we went inside, we saw several spots where we can take good photos. There were also some animals to which we can freely touch. We normally stop from time to time to take some pictures. The stop that we had is a exhilarating glass bridge. While walking on the glass bridge, you really see what is underneath of it. All of us braved the challenge on stepping on the bridge and we took several photos on it. We had so much fun experiencing all the instagramable sites the park has to offer.
A cold mountain breeze and strawberries
After our stroll at Caping Park, we went to Purbalingga to experience strawberry picking. It was an hour ride away from Baturraden. We passed by some narrow passage that is only good for one vehicle only and steep roads that give your heart a faster beat. Nestled at the side of a mountain with an altitude of more than 1000 meters above sea level is the Kebun strawberry farm of Purbalingga. Before we went to the strawberry plantation, we ate lunch first to feed our hungry stomach. I ate grilled chicken with sambal and fresh vegetables. Of course mendoan is also part of the meal with real whole chili on it. Mas Kahfi informed us that the best way to eat mendoan is to it the chili first before taking a bite of the mendoan. At first I was hesitant to try since I am not used to eat chili although I love spicy food but I got swayed and tried it. He was actually true because when I ate it that way, it adds more flavor to mendoan. After a sumptuous and adventurous meal, we went to the strawberry farm. Going towards the farm, you will see a lot of huge cabbages and lettuce that were also planted on a plot. There were also a lot of pine trees that give cool vibes and a very cold weather. Along the road were stalls selling grapes and freshly picked strawberries. We went inside a farm with our basket and scissors getting ready to harvest ripe strawberries. I can’t help myself but to eat some of the berries I harvested. I am not really a strawberry person, but I like the sweetness of the fresh strawberries I harvested. After done harvesting it was time for us to go home and we ended the day with a big smile on our faces due to a very wonderful trip we had.