Deal With Disappointment When Travel Not Goes As Expected | WOX TRAVEL CONTEST | WEEK 4
Pada hari itu, saya bersama komunitas Makassar Landscaper berencana untuk mengexplore lokasi wisata air terjun di daerah Gowa, Sulawesi Selatan. Daerah yang menyimpan puluhan bahkan ratusan air terjun yang belum ter-explore dan dikelola dengan baik. Tujuan kami hari itu adalah air terjun leang Paniki. Air terjun yang terletak di kaki perbukitan dengan sungai dan hamparan sawah di lembahnya.
Kami memasuki sebuah Desa yang kami tidak tau namanya, untungnya pemandu kami paham berbahasa daerah sehingga rombongan kami di sambut dan di arahkan menuju lokasi air terjun. Sialnya saat itu sedang ada perbaikan jalan dari Jembatan Desa sampai ke Pintu Hutan menuju air terjun, sehingga kami harus memarkirkan kendaraan kami cukup jauh.
Kami melanjutkan perjalanan mengikuti arahan warga desa, awalnya kami berpikir jaraknya tidak terlalu jauh dari tempat kami memarkir kendaraan, ternyata jaraknya sekitar 4 km dengan medan yang menanjak. Di tambah dengan jalanan berdebu membuat kami sering berhenti berjalan sekedar menarik nafas. Rasanya saat itu saya ingin menyerah. Membiarkan kawan-kawan melanjutkan perjalanan dan saya menunggu di mobil saja.
Saya mencoba menguatkan diri saya untuk terus melangkah. Untungnya saya berhasil menyusul kawan-kawan yang sedari tadi langkahnya mulai melambat juga.
Kami Tiba di pintu hutan, jalanan berganti tanah, kami sedikit bersemangat karena mengira air terjun tersebut sudah dekat. Ternyata harapan kami terlalu tinggi, karena perjalanan masih berlanjut lagi sekitar 5 KM menuruni bukit, kemudian naik lagi, sampai kami berhenti menghitung sudah berapa kali kami naik turun jalan berbukit. Suara air terjun memang sudah terdengar namun masih belum menampakkan dirinya.
Ketika akhirnya tiba di air terjun utama, saya dan beberapa teman saya sedikit kecewa, karena air terjun utama tidak menawarkan opsi komposisi yang cukup banyak. Selain itu terdapat sebuah bendungan kecil dengan banyak pipa-pipa yang digunakan warga desa untuk mengalirkan air, membuat air terjun ini tampak seperti buatan manusia, tidak lagi alami.
Saya berusaha tetap optimis, namun saya kesulitan melangkah di jalanan berlumut untuk mencari komposisi yang pas, sampai akhirnya saya menyerah. Bukan saya saja, Ade, teman fotografer saya juga sama dia lebih memilih mengambil gambar dari atas. Kesialan ternyata tidak berhenti disitu saja, ternyata saat perjalanan tadi saya sempat mengambil gambar, saya lupa mematikan kamera sehingga battery kamera saya sudah "sekarat". Saya menghemat baterai dengan mengambil gambar seperlunya saja.
Kami memutuskan untuk kembali pulang, namun dalam perjalanan turun kami melihat ada 2 air terjun kecil yang cukup indah untuk kami abadikan. Namun yang lebih menarik perhatian saya adalah air terjun ketiga yang berada dibawahnya. Saya mengambil banyak gambar dan komposisi di air terjun ketiga ini.
Berikut adalah hasilnya.
Tidak banyak foto perjalanan yang bisa saya bagikan selain hasil foto landscape diatas namun dalam perjalanan ini Saya membuat Short Video perjalanan kami ke Leang Paniki. Please Find the Video Below.
Dari perjalanan ini saya belajar untuk menurunkan ekspektasi setiap pergi ke suatu lokasi yang baru, kadang bukan lokasi akhir dari tujuan kita yang membuat kita bersemangat dalam melakukan perjalanan, namun pengalaman yang kita jumpai dan rasakan sepanjang perjalanan yang membuat kita ketagihan untuk terus melakukan Travelling.
English Version
On that day, I, along with the Makassar Landscaper community, planned to explore the waterfall locations in the Gowa region, South Sulawesi. The area holds dozens, even hundreds, of waterfalls that have yet to be explored and properly managed. Our destination that day was Leang Paniki waterfall, nestled at the foot of the hills with a river and rice fields in its valley.
We entered a village whose name we didn't know; fortunately, our guide understood the local language, so our group was welcomed and directed to the waterfall location. Unfortunately, at that time, there was road repair from the village bridge to the Forest Gate leading to the waterfall, so we had to park our vehicles quite far away.
We continued our journey following the directions of the villagers. Initially, we thought the distance wouldn't be too far from where we parked our vehicles, but it turned out to be about 4 km with a steep terrain. Combined with dusty roads, we often stopped just to catch our breath. At that moment, I felt like giving up—letting my friends continue the journey while I waited in the car.
I tried to muster the strength to keep going. Luckily, I managed to catch up with my friends whose steps had been slowing down.
We reached the forest gate, the road changed to dirt, and we were a bit excited, thinking the waterfall was close. Our hopes were too high, though, as the journey continued for another 5 km downhill, then uphill again. We lost count of how many hills we had ascended and descended. We could hear the sound of the waterfall, but it still hadn't come into view.
When we finally arrived at the main waterfall, me and some of my friends were a bit disappointed because the main waterfall didn't offer many composition options. Moreover, there was a small dam with many pipes used by villagers to channel water, making this waterfall seem man-made, no longer natural.
I tried to stay optimistic, but I struggled to navigate the mossy paths to find the right composition until I eventually gave up. It wasn't just me; Ade, my photographer friend, also chose to take pictures from above. Unfortunately, the misfortune didn't stop there. During the journey, I had taken some photos and forgot to turn off the camera, so my camera battery was "dying". I had to conserve battery by taking only necessary pictures.
We decided to head back home, but on the way down, we saw two small waterfalls that were beautiful enough for us to capture. However, what caught my attention more was the third waterfall beneath them. I took many pictures and compositions of this third waterfall. Here are the results.
Not many travel photos I can share besides the landscape photos above, but during this journey, I created a short video of our trip to Leang Paniki. Please find the video below.
From this journey, I learned to lower my expectations every time I go to a new location. Sometimes, it's not the final destination that excites us about traveling, but the experiences we encounter and feel throughout the journey that make us addicted to continuing our traveling and exploring.
Thank You For Reading My Post and Thank You For All Curators for the Endless Support, Until Next Time, Peace✌️ and Love ❤️ from Indonesia
Here I Am Explore and Expose The Exotic, Regards @mytravelandscape
| Travel Story| Thought| Tutorial| YouTube
Makassar 10 Desember 2023
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