Fun Glamping at Coconut Beach Samboja

June is the end of the school year. For an education staff, the end of the school year can be a very busy time or vice versa, a time when you start to have free time.

Luckily for me, I got free time at the end of this school year. Unlike before, when I was still an administrative staff, this time the time available was much more free.

It was quite a pleasant coincidence, where the end of the school year coincided with the Eid al-Adha holiday. The right time to gather with family.

As far as I have observed, some family members have not really had a holiday. However, we all took the time to vacation together.

The tourist destination we visited this time was a beach. Not just a beach, this beach also has a place to stay in the form of a guest house and glamping. The name of this place is Coconut Beach, which is located in Samboja, Kutai Kartanegara.

Our family stayed in several glamping tents. We chose glamping tents as a place to stay so that we could be more free and easier to do activities and interact around the beach.

The facilities at Coconut Beach are quite complete. At Coconut Beach there is a restaurant, prayer room, and also enough public bathrooms for all visitors.

The atmosphere at Coconut Beach is very calm and refreshing. The road to the glamping location from the gate is very beautiful because the environment is clean and there are trees that make it shady. The tranquility is also very pronounced at Coconut Beach. Maybe because Coconut Beach is a private beach, where the visitors are only people who stay there. Coconut Beach is also located quite far from residential areas, so there is not much noise.

The beach is also quite fun. The sand is sloping and the waves are not too big, so it is safe enough to chat with family.

Although quite pleasant, there are a few shortcomings on the beach. The beach sand feels like it is mixed with mud, so it feels a little submerged when your feet step on it. Never mind the sand in the water, even wet sand that is not submerged in water also feels a little submerged. Maybe because this beach is located quite close to the estuary/bay of Muara Jawa, so that the mud deposits from the river mouth are swept up to the beach.

In addition to the sand mixed with a little mud, another drawback is that there is a little garbage around the edge of the beach. But this isn't a deal breaker, considering that almost all the beaches near the city are in similar condition.

Went To Taman Gubang

For similar reasons as on the first visit, we visited Taman Gubang again on May 10, 2024.

This time, with brighter weather, we also took a ride on the gubang (boat) provided at Taman Gubang.

Oh, yes. In my previous post, I wrote that the cost of riding the gubang was IDR 120,000. It turned out I was wrong. The cost required was only IDR 100,000.

There wasn't much additional information that I got on our second visit. If anyone wants information about Gubang Park, it seems better to read my previous post. So in this blog post, please just look at the photos... Hehe... 😁

The Card That Never Came

When I first started postcrossing, I was really excited to keep an eye on postcrossing groups on Facebook, both in Indonesia and abroad. It felt so good to read the exciting stories and also see the postcards they got from all over the world.

Occasionally, there would be members who would give away postcards that they sent. Usually, there would be a lot of people joining to get the postcards.

Once, someone in the Indonesian Postcrossing group held a postcard giveaway from Japan. The member seemed to be a Japanese person who was good at speaking Indonesian.

Because joining the giveaway didn't require any effort, just a comment saying 'want', I thought there was no harm in trying to join. I turned out I got it. I felt quite happy at that time.

This man from Japan sent a message on Facebook, asking for my postal address and email address. I just gave it to him..

A few days later, this man sent me an email, stating that his giveaway postcard was ready to be sent. The email also included a scanned image of the postcard that was sent to my address. That's the picture I show above.

Generally, postcards from abroad will arrive in Indonesia within one month. For fellow Asian countries, some even take less than one month. However, this postcard addressed to my address has not arrived until now. 😢

It is indeed very risky for a piece of paper to be lost, if the paper is 'traveling' around the world. Amidst the hustle and bustle and the large logistics that might fly with the paper, it is very likely that this postcard will be misplaced or lost.

In addition to being misplaced or lost, what also might happen is that postal officers underestimate postcards. In the era of instant electronic communication like today, it can be said that stamps and sending stamped letters are only a 'symbolic' business for postal companies in various countries. It is not surprising that postal officers ignore the postcards in their offices. I myself had a similar experience where I sent an official postcrossing postcard abroad (Russia) which also did not arrive at its destination address.

Well, that's a little bit of my experience in the world of postcrossing, a hobby that I'm not doing anymore because it feels quite expensive... Hehe.. 😁

For all my fellow readers who want to read my experience in the world of postcrossing, please click the postcrossing label below the title of this article.

Waiting for The Dusk

Waiting the dusk in the tourism object, Taman Gubang, Tenggarong, Indonesia

Now Available in English.

In order to get wider audience, I wrote my thoughts in English now.

First of all, excuse my broken english. English is not my first language. So, when you fnd mistake in this blog, feel free to correct me in comment.

Content in this blog will be slightly different from my real blog (www.dnwahyudi.com). I know that with nowdays browser technology we doesn’t need to make separate blog in order to make content in different language but I just like it.

So, this is it….

Visiting KRUS

Finally, I was also able to visit the UnMul Samarinda Botanical Gardens (KRUS). YES, this is my first time 😭 visiting KRUS. I've been active in Samarinda for years, but I haven't even had the chance to visit KRUS. 😵‍💫

So, like several Sunday nights before, my friends and I hung out together while staying up late, discussing the fate of the nation.  In the morning, we agreed to take part in mass gymnastics activities at Segiri Sports Hall, followed by an Umrah visit to the UnMul Samarinda Botanical Gardens (KRUS). So we went to Segiri Sport Arena. 

The event in Segiri is a series of events for the Community Service Mutual Cooperation Month and the 42nd PKK Unity Movement Day. There are various activities in Segiri; Women Expo, mass gymnastics and so on. Well, last Sunday was the exercise.

It didn't take long for us to finally decide to immediately carry out the Umrah pilgrimage to visit KRUS. When I got there, the first reaction that came into my head was, "Oh, that's just how KRUS is..." 😛

In my opinion, it seems that KRUS management is not being carried out well. This can be seen from several parts that look unkempt. There were also too many food and drink sellers so it looked a bit crowded.

Below are our photos at KRUS.

This trip to KRUS was not very pleasant for me, because the things I found there were far from my expectations.

What about you, Guys? Is there a very famous tourist attraction in your city?