JP/17/BREW

JP/17/BREW

Sleman launches new tourist resort in Gamplong

Slamet Susanto The Jakarta Post/Sleman, Yogyakarta

The usually quiet riverine village of Gamplong, some 40 kilometers southwest of Yogyakarta, looked completely different last Monday evening.

This ordinary hamlet was adorned with decorations to welcome guests, as the old-style village prepared to hold a traditional festival.

On both sides of the narrow, dusty road heading to the village, kerosene-fueled lamps, locally known as senthir, had been hung.

In their traditional Javanese costumes, the villagers gathered under the full moon and solemnly chanted the religious hadrah shalawat (invocation songs). The rhythmic beat of a terbang (tambourine-like instrument) accompanied the chant.

Sleman Regent Ibnu Subiyanto and the head of the regency's agricultural and forestry office, Achmad Yulianto, were present, along with dozens of representatives of local travel and tourist agencies.

Gamplong, located on the banks of Progo River in the western part of Sleman regency, was being officially inaugurated as a tourist village on Monday. The village will now also be known as the Pantai (pantai means beach) Cemplon tourist resort.

"Gamplong deserves to be named a tourist village. It has everything that a tourist resort needs, including a handicraft center, old traditions, historical elements and beautiful views," Ibnu Subiyanto said in his speech.

However, more than a few people were left wondering about the village's new name. Gamplong lies along Progo River, on the border between Sleman and Kulonprogo regencies, far from the sea.

A local elder, Dharto Sudiono, 65, said the name was picked to commemorate an event that occurred in the 1940s, when a major landslide and flood hit the village.

"About one and a half kilometers of the eastern riverbank slide down, forming an oval cavity along the riverbank. It looked like a cemplon (a traditional cake made of fried cassava dough with coconut sugar inside), so people called the place Pantai Cemplon," Dharto said.

Pantai Cemplon does have the potential to become a tourist destination. In the face of modernization, the quaint village has been able to preserve its old traditions. Every full moon, for instance, residents gather around the village square for a discussion and to chant hadrah shalawat while beating their terbang. The ritual is called tirakatan.

"It has been our tradition for years. We keep it because it is useful for maintaining harmony and bringing the villagers closer together," Dharto said.

Home to some 900 families, Pantai Cemplon, is also considerably green. It offers everything that a tourist needs for a bit of self-contemplation and relaxation among the soothing quiet of nature.

One of the local natural attractions is the small lake known as Sendang Karangnongko, whose clear water is believed to have the supernatural power to rejuvenate women.

"What you need to do to get the supernatural power of the lake is wash your face with water from it every morning," said Dharto, a retired civil servant.

The village, too, is rich in plants and trees such as mahogany, acacia and turi (sesbania). From one of the village's higher clusters of houses, people can enjoy the beautiful scenery of the region, including the meandering Progo River.

Gamplong was also once a renowned handicraft center of traditional woven cloth, and was as well the place where national hero Pangeran Diponegoro once took shelter while escaping the colonial Dutch army, Dwi Atmo Wibowo, 51, said.

Dwi Atmo said the management of Gamplong as a tourist village would be carried out through a newly established association, Dewigama, comprising representatives of the village's five clusters. The association will develop and maintain the village's tourist attractions, including the natural sights, the traditions, the history and the craft center.

"It is also through the association that we will discuss how to maintain and develop all our potential, as well as how to market them to tourists," Dwi Atmo said.

Speaking at the ceremony, Sleman Regent Ibnu said the new status given to Gamplong would hopefully improve the welfare of residents, as tourist visits would have a multiple effect economically.

"The handicraft center will reemerge, and so will other economic sectors," Ibnu said.

He said the local government would do its best to help improve the tourist business in the village, including providing support facilities and infrastructure for the local community.

"But most of all, we have to promote the village and inform travel and tourist agencies about it," said Ibnu.

Thanks to promotion efforts, a group of some 200 tourists are scheduled to visit the new tourist resort of Pantai Cemplon in Gamplong village next week.