To the Asta Tinggi Sumenep Kings of Cemetery ~ walkwithme entry

firstsufa (42)in #walkwithme • 6 years ago

Paddy rice fields and Payudan hills

Good afternoon steemian...

Today I made an unplanned trip. Alone I ride a motorcycle as far as 20 miles to the east. Under the cloudy weather and the shades of warm sunshine. Passing the lonely path between fields and corn fields is almost harvested.

The streets are quiet

I am not a reliable rider, with this road I even drive slowly. I enjoy the fresh air, the sky is cloudy but not cold. Here the temperature is warmer than my house.

Several times during the trip I stopped and took photos with my camera. I photographed the streets, children and street vendors, donation fundraising groups and elderly mothers carrying rice trays on plates over their heads.

Asking for donations

I met them about eight times. They sat in groups on the sidewalks and raised plastic cups. The result of this donation is used to renovate the house of worship. People threw money from their vehicles, but I did not see any worship houses nearby. Probably away from the highway and I do not know where it is. Could the donation be built? I also do not know.

The merchant of Tahu Bulat

The merchant of Tahu Bulat surrounded by little customers who are spending their money. Tahu bulat is a trendy food in our village. Sellers hawk their merchandise with a unique shout that also sucks.

The wind was blowing from the north, rushing from the ridge of Payudan. There is a mystical place in a cave hole on a hill. May be an old tomb that I have never visited and was curious to know what happened there. I turn the motorcycle north to challenge the breeze to the hill now. But only halfway, too quiet here. My instinct says there is a danger if I go ahead.

In places like this I'm sure robbers and swindlers are not just rumors. They are really exist and maybe here they meet, hide and share their booty.

My instinct signaled that there was a danger that might be lurking

I'm back to the main road, driving to the east. In the next 12 miles is also a mystical place, named of Asta Tinggi. The place is an old cemetery complex. In this place I found a crowded visitor. This is the burial complex of the Sumenep kings who died hundreds of years ago. The ancient kingdom whose influence has long disappeared from the history of the sovereignty of a small monarchy in Indonesia.

I see the parking area, there is a crowd here

So great are the kings of the past. Their power seemed eternal for hundreds of years after their death, burial and castle were kept busy every day, every hour, minute and second. By the Madurese from all over the world.

I do not have the power to throw them out of my picture frame

There is prettier, cooler with small trees. At the end of this hall was the main gate of the king's and the monarchy graves

There are three concrete gates throughout the complex. This is the greatest, buried bodies of the most meritorious figure to the kingdom.

Waiting for admission

Houndreds of visitor I meet in the cemetary is coming form far place. They had just arrived from a 200-mile journey and waited for their turn. They come from Situbondo, 12 hours away from this pilgrimage, come with a tour bus. The organizers of the complex did not immediately let anyone enter without the permission of the guards. Some of the group's leaders confronted the guards, listened to their briefings and paid a little money in accordance with the willingness of visitors.

I will not enter

I'm the only one person here who does not go through this ancient gate. This time I'm not interested in the image inside.

Inscription between tombstones. Built hundreds of years ago in a Roman-style pillars and a little carving of China

I like to say this is a fully European architecture, the most prominent is the dome. The guides who meet say this is an Islamic dome model, but I often find this as a European style.