rocks, prison islands, and the kind of humidity that sticks to your bones: surviving cilacap

alright, let’s get one thing straight: cilacap isn’t the kind of place you accidentally end up. you either come here because you’re obsessed with surfing, lost a bet, or-like me-thought it’d be funny to chase rumors about a dutch fortress sitting next to a maximum-security prison island. spoiler: it’s real.

i just checked my weather app and it’s 28.72°C but feels like 35.72°C because humidity here is basically a wet hug from a stranger. hope you like that kind of thing.

the beaches? sure, they’re pretty. teluk penyu has sand so gold it’d make a pirate jealous, but don’t even think about swimming unless you’ve got a death wish. someone told me a tourist once tried to paddle out there and came back looking like they’d been through a washing machine cycle. the waves aren’t messing around. neither are the cliffs at karang bolong, which i’m pretty sure are just rocks that got tired of the ocean and decided to climb upward.

the real star is nusa kambangan. yeah, the prison island. you can’t actually go into the prison (unless you commit a crime, i guess?), but you can hike through forests so thick you’ll forget you’re 1km away from convicted felons. someone told me there’s a secret path to a beach where guards occasionally let you swim if you bribe them with cigarettes. can’t confirm, but i did find a suspiciously empty pack of marlboros near the trailhead. if you get bored of dodging giant waves and questionable decisions, bandung’s 225km west and jogja’s 180km east. ‘short drive’ is relative when the roads here are held together by prayers and potholes.

food? eat the lanthing. it’s like someone took shrimp, deep-fried it into oblivion, and said ‘this is fine.’ satay ambal tastes like charcoal and nostalgia. also, the dutch fort benteng pendem is cool if you’re into crumbling colonial guilt and sea views. the locals? mostly just trying to survive the humidity, same as you. oh, and if you think you’re hiking to pangandaran for a day trip-stop. the ‘40km’ on the map is a lie. it’s 4 hours of dirt roads and existential dread. bring snacks.

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