1000 steps to Grojogan Sewu

Last Monday I got a chance to visit Tawangmangu, Karanganyar, Central Java. This place can be reached in an hour by driving a car from Surakarta. There is no public transportation option to reach this place, so I suggest you to rent a car to reach this place.

What is the interesting thing to see in this place?

Well, people usually come to Tawangmangu to see the Grojogan Sewu Waterfall, or should I say Sewu Waterfall, because literally 'grojogan' is the Javanese terms for 'waterfall' while 'sewu' means 'a thousand'. It was named 'Sewu (Thousand)' because to reach this place you need to step on more than a thousand stairs (or 1250 stairs as written on its exit gate)

What else?

Here, you can also see monkeys, a lot of, a long the way to the waterfall. But you need to careful, because the monkeys are a bit aggressive, especially if they noticed that you bring food and/or beverages (except for mineral water). 

In the middle of the area there is also a swimming pool. 

There is also flying fox that you can ride, if you wish, children are also allowed to ride it, all in a relative cheap price Rp 11000 (less then a dollar!) 

How if I did't want to use the stairs?

There are horses at the front gate if you think you didn't want to use the stairs. The price for a horse rent is Rp 100000, quite expensive though. But, I suggest you to use the stairs, because for me that is the most interesting part of this tourism site.

What to eat?

There are not many choices in this area, but there are food stalls, or can I say small restaurants, that sell rabbit satay and chicken satay. 

More suggestion?

You may check the strawberries field not far from this area. You may also pick the fruits by your own, then you can pay for kg of the fruits you have picked.

Or you may also visit Telaga Sarangan (Sarangan Lake) in Magetan, East Java, like I did, it can be reached in less then an hour driving.  The view from Tawangmangu to Sarangan is refreshing because we need to go across the Lawu Mountain to reach it. At Telaga Sarangan, you may ride the horse or the speed boat around the lake, all at RP 60000. Another interesting thing here is the market which is quite crowded but content to look around.