Pacitan to Malang

Pacitan

The first part of the days driving (65km to Balong) was great, leading us along the banks of a small river through small hills and past tiny villages. We had to stop once for about 15 minutes because the road had been covered by a landslide, but otherwise the area was pretty much devoid of other vehicles.

In Balong we turned onto the road to Tulungagung via Trenggalek for another 75 km. This was also very nice, leading at first through rice paddies and later through the pass between the smaller seaside hills and Mt Willis.

In Tulungagung we ate at a Warung Padang (footstall) and then drove another 50 km to Wlingi. This bit was not very nice because of a lot of traffic and clouds hiding Mt Kelud which should have been visible during the last part of this section.

After Wlingi the road led us between the foothills of Mt Butak and Kesamben and Karangkates reservoirs. This was quite nice, even though we didn't see as much of the reservoirs as we would have expected by the pictures from the map.

After arriving in Kepanjen we turned North for the final 18 km to Malang, which were full of traffic and not very nice. In Malang we met Walter and Jenie, friends of ours, who recommended the hotel Splendid Inn.

After checking in there we had dinner in the famous old dutch restaurant Toko Oen, which is very close to the hotel.

Our friend Walter, whom we had met here during his holidays, is also a motorbike fan. He has a 750 Tenere which he drives around the desert in Saudi Arabia, where he lives and works at present.

He and his Indonesian wife Jenie showed us a beautiful beach south of Malang which was absolutely deserted.

The drive there was also very nice, first through teak plantings and later through real rainforest.

Pacitan is a small village on the southern coast of Java and one of the few locations where you can go for a swim.