The Lonely Paradise
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| Introducing Liang Beach to you |
It was said that the United Nations Development Programme once crowned a certain beach in Ambon as the most beautiful beach in Indonesia (read the news here). It was 1990, 24 years ago. This beach is famous by the name of Liang Beach. It also goes by other less famous name, the Hunimua Beach. Considering the title UNDP gave, I imagine that Liang beach now, 24 years later would be overcrowded by tourists, worse on holidays, packed with merchants here and there and would have lost all of its original beauty.
I knew when I arrived at the beach, I was so wrong. The white sand carpet still retains its color, clean and undisturbed. The turquoise water spoiling your eyes, that won't be tired of all the nature's beauty Ambon could offer to you. The clear blue sky framing the beach unto those pictures we usually see in postcards. It is breathtaking. Some hours later when I finally remember to look through those picturesque beaches could really exist.
As usual, you can take angkot here, look for the one with "Liang" written on top of it. Or you can also rent a car. I am aware that some websites referring to Trans Amboina that are supposed to start operating on 2010, serving routes to popular places. But the last time I was back in Ambon for approximately 10 days, there is no Trans Amboina in sight. I think it is no longer around, leaving us with the more traditional transportation means.
Once you get here, there is this famous spot for taking pictures at Liang Beach, a bridge to be exact, that takes you some meters away from the shores.
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| The famous bridge. The sensation you got when you stepped on the woods bare-foot... |
From this bridge, some brave and happy souls will run and jump right into the turquoise water, and I only regret why I did not do so. This beach is so very quiet, the exact place in my imagination of where I would go when I want to be away from the buzzing noises of the city, and immerse in a whole new level of "me-time". Like this is the perfect place to sit down, reading books, play guitar if you can, listening music or something. A place where poets and authors and composers probably could find a lot of inspirations by just sitting there.
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| Will you look at the water! WHY didn't I just... jump? |
I remember an article stated that Liang beach was crowned as the most beautiful beach in Indonesia because of the view of the undersea. So, you are supposed to be able to go snorkeling or maybe diving and see paradise down there. But then when I got there, there were two or three tourists like ourselves but no one else. No stalls, no snorkeling or diving gear rent centres, no nothing actually. It is just a sole quiet beach with an amazing view and colors but was rather lonely with no one there.
Maybe because it's always this quiet here with not so many people come around then the beach was able to retain its beauty since twenty-something years ago. But it was also kind of sad because I always think that beach was made to be enjoyed with... at least some other people?
Ambon is a place inhabited by groups of people who always enjoy each others' company, family, music, good food, jokes and pretty beaches. So I was wondering why is it, that this beach attracts just some curious tourist while she was actually displaying most graceful view one can ever ask from a beach. I personally think that in terms of the view, the landscapes and the colors of the beach, Liang beach is way more beautiful than Natsepa beach we dicussed earlier here. It has the shades of white and blue and light green (turqoise...?) and is said to be the longest white sand beach in Indonesia. But it was too quiet there, too quiet it feels like a lonely place to go. I can not deny the beauty, but I don't know either if a 40 km distance from Ambon city is the main reason why people don't come here that much. That, or maybe because Liang is not the safest beach to swim at. So unless you are up find a perfectly quiet hiding place, or unless you brought your very own snorkeling/diving gear, I'm afraid there's nothing much to do here.
But it was here, on this very silent beach, that for the first time I looked across the ocean and decided on something in my mind:
That I will go see the world, and tell stories about it.
That I realized I really love to go see different places in the world, discovering things I only see in books or TVs or probably can only imagine before. Letting my eyes see for itself, my hands touch for themselves; the sands of distant beaches, the view of the hidden islands. That traveling is an amazing way to learn about people, about other cultures and to see how people from different places live their life. To make a lot of new friends, to learn from them and to have certain motivation to go back see them again one day.
One way or another, I will definitely go explore the world.
One way or another, I will definitely go explore the world.
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