May 14th 2017
It was Sunday and it was our last day in Kupang. We decided to visit two last places before heading back to Jakarta. We got ready in the very morning. Our destinations that day were Oenesu Waterfall and Tablolong Beach. Oenesu was located not far from the city and Messi helped me again with GPS. It was quite complicated when we drove in the city but after that, the view was so nice. Trees were everywhere and the breeze was very fresh. It was quite quiet tho, wherever we passed any neighborhood. Then we later learned that most of the people went to the church for Sunday morning mass.
We drove about 30 mins until we finally reached Oenesu Waterfall site. It was super quiet, REALLY! When we entered the parking lot, there were just 3 people: two in ticketing and one was sweeping the ground. Honestly, I was having goosebumps knowing that there were no other visitors but us. However, we acted cool and ‘hey, this is the time when we can enjoy the nature, just us, no crowds like at other famous places’, I told to myself. And yeah indeed! That was very nice to enjoy nature privately!
We trekked down a few steps to reach the bench where we put our clothes and from that view, the waterfall looked so majestic. It has 4 tiers that it looked like a giant chocolate fountain, well I don’t mean the color. Messi took some long-exposure pictures without tripod and I copied her technique lol. I love the result!
Done taking pictures, we quickly played with the water. We crossed a big tier and walked to the highest. Anyway, there were SO MANY millipedes, we found about 11 as we walked on the ground. I was scared of them and so was Messi >.< But luckily we found a safe spot to put our bags, right beside the highest tier of waterfall. Oenesu waterfall was very fun to explore! I could land my feet anywhere and lied myself down anywhere! Right below the tallest waterfall there was a ‘pond’ which called me to swim. I put on my goggle but I was scared lol! As I said in my post earlier that I am not a water-element girl and since Messi couldn’t swim, I was afraid no one could help me, lol! We just had fun laying down, felt the water passing us. It was relaxing, calming, fresh, and I felt peaceful. I looked up to the sky, well, almost no sky actually, the trees were so big and they covered it but whatever, I felt so grateful. I was in love with mother nature and Indonesia; I started singing national anthem and songs. I powered up my voice and burst in tears, not sure if Messi saw that, she was enjoying with her own style. Messi joined me in the water and we talked to each other for some time.
We enjoyed it peacefully quite long, maybe for almost an hour when I realized I lost my swim goggle! I was like wtf, it was new and expensive and I didn’t have budget to buy new one afterward. I walked down to the lower tiers and tried searching for it then I saw a man far down there, squatted by the stream and I shouted to him, asking if he saw a swim goggle. He didn’t seem hear us yet he came over and greeted us. He was small, looked old and seemed to be friendly enough, those were my first judgement about him. He couldn’t speak Bahasa Indonesia very well but he explained he didn’t see my property so yeahh, let’s just let it go. I am sure I asked his name but I forgot, so let’s just call him Mr. X.
Although Mr. X couldn’t speak Bahasa Indonesia very well, he seemed excited enough to talk with us. He carried a long blade and he explained that he has been living near there for a long time and he took care of the place. He told us several stories about how people should behave at Oenesu Waterfall. He told us that sexual conduct is not appropriate there yet there were always romantic couples did that. He also told about a tall and dark-skinned man who always peek from far and hunt for girls. Since his Bahasa wasn’t really clear, I thought he was talking about ghost or goblin or whatever! My goosebumps felt much stronger and I looked around, it was still quiet. Where are the hell the others? It was Sunday and people normally come to famous tourism spot to hangout huh?? My instinct gave me alert yet I still wanted to dig more information. He kept talking about that man and described how that guy love to see women in wet clothes, just like me and Messi. I guess Mr. X was good in impersonating when he stared at our bodies. At that time I realized that we were totally soaked! He continued telling us how he saved the women. Mr. X claimed he hit the guy three times already and while he was explaining that, he pointing the blade into the air and we were very scared. He told us not to worry because we got him around and he would protect us.
Messi and I love watching movies and there are countless movies that show a ‘friend’ is actually your enemy. Playing hero. As if Messi could read my mind, we ended the conversation right away. I tried to be good, didn’t show that I was scared to death. I pretended to keep being friendly to him and always starting conversations with him. We asked for a moment to take our belongings and when we were away from him, Messi and I assured each other that we should get the hell outta there quickly. Well, just say I am a bad friend, I walked quickly and took the first in the line and Messi was behind me, followed by Mr. X. LOL!! Sorry Messi! But damn, a moment after that Messi took my spot and I eventually walked in the middle! (Messi later admitted that she also had the same motive and she wanted to keep her safe, just like me, damn you Messi! lol). Well, I couldn’t even laugh at that time; the fact that I was right in front of Mr. X and he could swing the blade to me at anytime made me felt restless. I walked like a crab then, I didn’t give my back to him so that I could monitor his movement. I kept talking to him while walking to the bench where we put our outer clothes. I asked how many children he had. He answered he wasn’t married. I laughed pitifully. I suggested him to find a good woman in the neighborhood. He also asked me back to help him find the woman. Woman from Jakarta is nice, he said. Like me and Messi, he said. I wanted to cry!
We successfully took our clothes and I quickly said good bye. I asked Messi to quickly give our BIG bread –forget about breakfast!– to avoid him asking anything. He received that with smile and later he asked for money. I asked Messi to give him 20k and he accepted it with smile again, maybe because of the bread since he told us earlier that people usually gave him 50k. We said goodbye again and HE ASKED AGAIN! He asked for our phone numbers and OMG, OF COURSE I CAN’T GIVE IT TO YOU, BRO! I refused, he asked again, I refused again while walking up to the exit xD. We wanted to get some help from people but omg there was nobody outside in the parking lot, even the fence was closed! I asked Messi to open it while I was turning the scooter on and we finally escaped quickly. Not long after that, we passed a house with many people. I stopped and explained the situation. I just wanted to know if the tall guy existed (there must be rumor tho!) but they said no. So then we didn’t know which one was true; was Mr. X true, or was he just making up a story.
Even though we have left Oenesu Waterfull far behind, I still drove fast lol! YES I WAS SO SCARED! But not long after that Messi and I laughed together, it was fun tho!! We headed to the Tablolong Beach and felt calmer. The road was very beautiful that I can’t show you. We tried to take pictures but I don’t think they resemble well.
The real situation was moreeee beautiful. So green and sometimes when we passed open area and the sea was visible. So blue! When we arrived at the gate, the officer warned us to keep an eye to our belongings. Many thieves, he said. I prayed so hard so nothing bad would happen to us. We were a few hours away until we went back home. The beach was still far from the gate and the road was very bumpy, and it was quiet too. Fortunately we got there safely, I parked the scooter super near the hut LOL! No stealing, thief! It was Om Stev’s not mine. We took pictures and actually I was so tempted to swim. I couldn’t find a clear sea water where I could see corals near the seaside in Lembata. Even color of the water in Kolbano beach was so dense. No shallow sea water like in Tablolong. Sadly, we had to quickly move because our flight time was coming. I want to go to Tablolong Beach first if I come to Kupang again!
We finally got back home safely and returning the scooter to Om Stev. Messi told him to pick us up to the airport at 2pm. I asked her if it was better if we could leave at 1.30pm. Messi said no rush, we got still more time until take off. Well, okay then.
We showered and lazily laying down in bed until I saw our flight details. It was shown that our take off would be 2.50 pm. It was already 2 and we suddenly panicked!! Om Stev were nowhere to be seen! We split the duty. Messi was in charge in checking out and I was looking for Om Stev. Om Stev was still searching for another ojek but he couldn’t find any. We then decided to cengtri; three people in a scooter and we asked him to drive like a bullet because we were running out of time. He tried so hard, really! I used the scooter in the previous day and I felt the brake was quite hard to handle, not working really well. Om Stev looked very hard to drive us with that hilly road. Om Stev, I woof you T^T
Well yeah, we finally made it and safely landed in Jakarta around 7 PM.
I am looking forward for another adventure. By the time I write this, still haven’t gotten any chance to do this kind of fun again. Soon, maybe. Alone will be fine, with Messi, will be more fun I think 😉 I am grateful to be trusted to live my life this way. This year is hard for me in some aspects but when I look back to the past nine months, I am glad, I collect memories in a very beautiful way.
P.S.
I dedicated this post for my adventurous friend, Messi, whom just celebrated her birthday mid September. You know I love you and I can’t wait to explore the world with you again. Stay healthy and happy until then!
