A taste of traditional rural life in Yogyakarta

A taste of traditional rural life in Yogyakarta

Slamet Susanto, The Jakarta Post, Bantul

Are you tired of the glitter and bustle of city life? If you
would like to rejuvenate your body and soul in a traditional
rural atmosphere, try visiting Kampong Kebon Agung in
Yogyakarta's Bantul regency.

The village, located 17 kilometers south of Yogyakarta city,
offers rural tour packages complete with farm rituals and
paraphernalia at the Tani Museum.

Located in the village near the Imogiri royal mausoleum, the
farming museum displays various kinds of rare farming implements,
wsome dating back hundreds of years, arranged neatly in
showcases.

The objects can be seen while enjoying the natural rural
setting. Visitors can participate in farming activities, from
plowing the land, planting, and harvesting, all the while getting
covered in mud and enjoying the wide outdoors.

The first agricultural museum in Yogyakarta was established a
month ago at the initiative of local residents. All the exhibits
on display were donated by the residents themselves. Dozens of
farm tools are arrayed neatly under the traditional joglo-style
building owned by Subandi, 54, such as the jodang (a fruit
container used for the harvest ritual) that was made in 1921, a
1883 large earthenware bowl used to store unhusked rice, a 1927
luku (plow), a large metal vessel for steaming rice, a hoe and a
sickle.

Various cooking utensils like the anglo (charcoal stove),
dandang (rice or tiwul steamer), ceting bambu (bamboo rice bowl)
are also displayed, including the lesung and pipisan (mortar and
pestle for pounding herbs into traditional jamu concoctions).

Subandi said they had initially established the museum to
preserve farming equipment from across the archipelago, so that
they could be seen by future generations.

"We are trying to collect farm tools from across the nation to
be preserved in the museum," said Subandi.

Kampong Kebon Agung, inhabited by around 900 families, has
declared itself a tourist destination and has arranged farm
'adventure' packages for visitors.

"We provide all the nostalgia of living on a farm. We will
provide water buffaloes for those who want to plow the land and
also arrange for the wiwit (thanksgiving prayer and offerings)
traditional ritual for visitors," said Kristya Bintara, 37, the
pioneer who established Kampong Kebon Agung as a tourist village
in 2000.

Apart from its green and vast rice fields, the village has its
beautiful natural surroundings to offer. There is a lake for
canoeing on the western part of the village. Guests can also
enjoy moments at the Opak River, or visit the Imogiri royal tomb
in the cool breeze of the countryside.

Kristya said that they also provided tours around the village.
Hundreds of rented bicycles, which tourists can rent for Rp 5,000
per day, are on hand for them to go around the village and visit
the Imogiri mausoleum.

The former village chief said that the early stages of turning
the place into a tourist location was no easy matter. The hardest
part was convincing villagers, who often wanted instant results.

Kristya and several village figures had tediously campaigned
for a tourist village since 1997, and now most villagers were
aware of the concept and readily participated in the activities.

Kristya acknowledged that many local and foreign tourists had
stayed and participated in the adventures arranged by the village
since 2000.

In 2004, the village even played host to 70 school principals
from Jakarta who came to take part in a life-skills enhancement
program.

Each guest is only asked top pay Rp 45,000 per day, which
includes staying in a traditional residents' house, three meals
and bicycle rent.

Hundreds of students from Jakarta's No. 71 Senior High School
were seen enjoying their holiday at the village. "It's very
exciting, like applying skin lotion, but now with mud," said
Yunita, a sophomore at the No. 71 Senior High School in Jakarta
during a visit to Kebon Agung recently.