Tumpak Sewu: The Valley of a Thousand Waterfalls

Out of the three main destinations that we were heading to in my second trip to the East Java, the Tumpak Sewu waterfalls were the place that I was very much looking forward to, simply because I did not go there during my first visit. In fact, I didn’t know the existence of such a place back then so it really was a big miss-out. 

So fresh from our climb to Kawah Ijen, it would be another 5 hours drive before we arrived at a hotel near to the waterfalls. Going from one place to another had required long hours of ride, which was why a comfortable vehicle is very much a plus point. I remember during my first trip to East Java when we went full public transport – transiting from one bus to another – to the extent that we even had live chicken at the back of our seats while riding on a local bus from Bondowoso to Kawah Ijen. Those are definitely the days. 

The hotel that we stayed in looked more like a modern chalet, from where we could see the beaming Mount Semeru in the far distance. We walked our way from the hotel, right to the waterfalls, which required some hiking adventures. Going down to the waterfall was not the toughest part, apart from the need of a good pair of shoes that you can either rent or buy from the hotel or any of the hawkers along the way. I was told that there are a few entry points to the waterfalls, each has its own trail. We were told that the rights to collect the entrance fees to the waterfalls had been a subject of debate among the few villages that share the borders where the waterfalls are located. Dissatisfaction is rife, which is why the villages had set up their own entry points so that they could get their own share of what is now one of the most popular tourist destinations in Indonesia. 

And I could see why. Looking from a viewing platform that they had set up for visitors to see the spread of waterfalls from a distance, the waterfalls were nothing like any other waterfalls that I had ever seen anywhere else. Plunging off the edge of a wide cliff, with the Mount Semeru can visibly seen towering in the background, it really was a view to die for. As if we were not wowed enough by it all, going down to the waterfalls was another surreal experience. We were right there, at the bottom of the valley surrounded by edges of cliffs and there it was, the roaring Tampuk Sewu waterfalls plunging hundreds of feet from over the wide spread of cliff to the bottom of the valley, providing such a mesmerising nature landscape that is hardly matched by any other place that I had been to before. 

And I really thought that was all there was to see at Tampuk Sewu, until we hiked our way back to the hotel on a different route from the first trail that we went to the waterfalls from. The trail had required us to hike along the river, going deeper into the valley, and that was when I found out that was much more to Tumpak Sewu than the waterfalls that we had seen before. In fact, we had come to find out that Tumpak Semu consisted of hundreds if not thousands of waterfalls, all gushing down from the cliffs all along the river valley, even intermingling with each other at some spots, again creating such a natural landscape that is hardly seen anywhere else but at Tumpak Sewu. 

Hiking back up was definitely the hardest part. I mean, Tumpak Sewu is the kind of place that serves you with a relatively easy (but slippery) access to all its beauty only to slap your ass with punishment on your way out. We were not yet fully recovered from our hike up to Kawah Ijen, so it was quite a struggle when we had to do another hike. 

But seriously, the nature wonders that we came upon on the way back was totally out of this world. The walkways and stairs that we walked on took us across more waterfalls, cascading down the slopes from wherever they were coming from up there, sparkling against the morning sunlight and creating such a magical surrounding. 

And that magical surrounding was still very much in our heads when were later on our way off to our next destination – Bromo. We could hardly stop talking about it.