NOTHING BUT THE SUN
Our hosts, of course, had planned ahead, arranging for (two!) wake-up calls to ensure we were up by 4am. Much appreciated hot coffee – the shower last night wasn’t hot enough – and snacks waited in the elegant hotel’s lobby. There’s a certain colonial charm to this 75-key hotel, located in Magelang, Central Java, with its radiant whiteness, soaring ceilings and quiet ambience. It has a bucolic setting, amidst the working paddy fields of Kretek village, with the legendary Menoreh Hills in the backdrop. One of the hotel’s greatest attractions is its proximity to Borobudur Temple, which is minutes away.
The world’s largest Buddhist temple consists of nine stacked platforms – six of which are square and three circular – topped by a central dome. Built in the 9th century during the Sailendra Dynasty, Borobudur is decorated with 2,672 relief panels and 504 Buddha statues, while the central dome is surrounded by 72 Buddha statues, each seated inside a perforated stupa. An estimated 55,000 cubic metres of andesite stones were used to construct this Mahayana Buddhist temple, which remains a pilgrimage site to this day. While Indonesia’s most popular tourist attraction is instantly familiar, it is far more impressive in person, so to speak. No photograph can truly capture the immensity of Borobudur, the very scale of it, rising up in the middle of the vast plains that surround it.
From the top of Borobudur, the countryside spreads out in every direction and, while I did expect a large crowd gathered at the east side, the numbers waiting for the sun to rise took me by surprise. The sky was already brightening in the distance and, as the sun crept up over the hills, the morning mists began to part, the light unveiling what was previously just darkness. There is something primeval about the sunrise experience at Borobudur – just as it had been for the pilgrims all those hundreds of years ago, the reprieve of night, inevitably, turning into day remains an enduringly reassuring one.
Darkness and light in Goa Jomblang.
INTO THE DARKNESS
Soulfully comforted, we head back to the hotel for breakfast before climbing into the waiting cars and setting the course for Goa Jomblang, nearly 100km away in the Gunungkidal Regency, Yogyakarta. We headed out this time in the GLC 200 AMG Line, the mid-size SUV, which was still plenty comfortable for four. For the most part, the road to Goa Jomblang was a smooth one, traffic notwithstanding, allowing us to put the GLC 200 through its refined paces. The four in-line engine, with a displacement of 1,991cc, hits the century mark in 8.7 seconds. Powerful when needed, it is the vehicle’s agility and responsiveness that truly impressed, turning and twisting with little fuss, and displaying a nimble that is surprising for a car of this size. The last 200m of the three-hour drive was, literally, a dirt track, and the GLC 200 lapped it up, absorbing every bounce and bump to ensure we weren’t jolted out of our seats.
Goa Jomblang is part of a cave system under Gunung Kidal. Getting to the cave itself calls for rappelling down a 50m deep sinkhole that was formed after the collapse of 15-20 million-year-old limestone from subsistence. As you’re actually lowered down a rope – the local residents turn out en masse to do the heavy lifting – no rock climbing experience is necessary, although the drop is steep enough to induce palpitations. Then, it’s a short trail to the cave mouth, followed by a slippery and muddy 250m tunnel that decants into the cave. Sunlight streams through the 90m high cave roof, forming a single pillar of light that illuminates the carved limestone that decorates the otherwise pitchblack cave, an instance of Mother Nature at its startlingly best. Then, it was back through the dark and mud, a thorough rinse down and lunch, and back into the cars – we were off to the beach.
ENTER SANDMAN
It took us nearly 90 minutes of driving to get to Parangtritis beach, located on the southern coast of Java island. The 50km journey, again, brought out the best of the GLC 200, with the relative lack of traffic allowing us to really push the car. Nothing, it seemed, could faze it as we sped into blind corners or careened down steep slopes. It remained steady and calm throughout, despite our propensity to open up the throttle at Super Sport Mode and hit breakneck speeds.
Parangtritis is one of the most popular beaches in the area and is famous for its Gumuk Pasir, the volcanic black sand dunes that you sandboard on. The idea is fairly simple – trek up the dunes with a waxed board, pick a slope that appeals to your adventurous side and slide down without hurting yourself too much. Of course, the execution is far more complex, which was why some of us ended up completely covered with sand, which proved impossible to dislodge without being hosed down. Still, there were refreshments – fresh coconuts bearing the imprimatur of Mercedes-Benz – that made it all better.
The GLC 200 has a nimbleness that belies its size.
STREET WISE
The final day of Hungry for Adventure 2019 took us into the heart of Yogyakarta, the sole Indonesian city still ruled by a monarchy. A centre for classical Javanese fine arts and culture, it is also an education hub, with dozens of schools and universities, including the prestigious Gadjah Mada University. We had two destinations in the city, a visit to silversmith HS Silver at Kota Gede and lunch at Bale Raos in Alun-Alun Yogyakarta within the kraton (palace) walls. It being a Saturday, though, the city centre teemed with traffic, both vehicular and foot, posing an ‘adventure’ of a different sort. Outside the kraton walls, the lack of pavements meant pedestrians competed with cars for space on the narrow roads, while motorcycles darted through any gap they could find. It was, I thought, perfect conditions for the GLA 200 to show off.
My favourite among all of Mercedes-Benz’s G-Class models, the compact-sized GLA 200 is nippy and alert, and an all-round good-natured drive. Low-slung, it’s sporty with plenty of power on tap from its 1,595cc four in-line engine. The 7G-DCT Automatic Transmission is silky smooth going up or down, quickly find the right gear as circumstances dictate. Within Yogyakarta, it was perfect, giving the motorcycles a run for their money with its agility in exploiting the smallest space. It was the car I was truly sorry to relinquish, which proved Mercedes-Benz right: the different G-Class SUVs reflect the active lifestyle of any individual. It took a few tries, but I did find the one perfect for my kind of adventure in the end.
