Gorgeous Grobogan

Gorgeous Grobogan

An orchestral  sound of cock-a-doodle-doo woke me up this morning, got me feeling relaxed and serene. Chirping birds welcome me as I yawn on my bed. I breath deeper and cold breeze of fresh air flowing through my lung, giving me a flying sensation. In a tropical land like Indonesia, this weather is so indulging that I feel like my blanket is pulling itself and wrapping me back again, seducing me to come back asleep.

I resist it that temptation because I really love morning breeze. I got tempted even more to taste uncontaminated chilling air outside. And I was right. Thick teakwood forest just to the north brought its mildness down to my town. As I unleash myself out to my backyard, a thin layer of mist embrace all over me. Tender unhurried mist caresses every inch of my skin. Morning in my gorgeous Grobogan.

I’m pretty sure you all know about that adjective ‘gorgeous’, but Grobogan? You might wonder what thing could it be. You may even also wonder how to pronounce it correctly. Well, just to help you a bit, it’s gro-bo-gun. Yup, like gun as in rifles, kalashnikov and so on. It’s actually the name my hometown. This very writing aims to describe my little peaceful town where I spent most of my childhood.

Yes, it’s a name of a small town where I live with my family. Hundred bunch of houses, settlement where the district officials also located, governing an area of 104.56 square kilometers. This small city is surrounded by vast paddyfield, where most of its inhabitants make its living. This village-like town is located 6 kilometers from Purwodadi to the north. The only urban part of this whole district sprawl in an area of 3.00 square kilometers and inhabited by 7787 people.

To get here and found it on the map, not as difficult as it seems, albeit it’s a small town. Precisely on the map, you can find it at 07° 01’ 50,25” S 110° 55’ 15,25” E. Just paste it on your browser, you’ll find it easily. You can locate Central Java province in Indonesia and search a transportation by air or water to Semarang, the capital of Central Java. There are several direct flights to Semarang from Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and of course Jakarta. Then from this 7^th biggest city of Indonesia, ride a bus directly to Purwodadi, the capital of Grobogan regency. It usually takes 2-3 hours by bus, depends whether there’s traffic jam or not. Then from Purwodadi, you can ride a bus heading to Pati to the north and drop off as you find an intersection going to Kudus. This teeny tiny city right at the T-shaped intersection is the one where I live in.

When I say it’s tiny, I do mean tiny. The built-up area is elongated along 3 kilometres of an asphalted main street named Pangeran Puger, our former Regent. At the southern end, there’s a T-shaped intersection to the east heading to Kudus 40 kilometers away. The main street is so straight and smooth that sometimes at night, drunken racer use this road to speed up their vehicle though it’s only 6 meters wide. From these two main streets, a web of dirt road crawls and create a semi-urban area with rural taste.

It’s located in a geographically plain terrain in a dry karst land. It includes in a watershed area of Lusi river in the south, creating a valley between two low-lying mountain range of Kendeng in the south and Northern Limestone in the north. From the main street northward, you will be able to see behind the horizon a strapping Kapur Utara mountain range, which literally means Northern Limestone. Along this main road, there is a ivory yellow soil gap between the asphalted road and the paved sidewalk. This type of soil is typical for karst areas like this one, and it’s usually unfertile and also dry. That’s why agriculture is a bit harsh here, because mostly only teakwood can naturally prosper in this land. Evenso, a broad canopy along the main steet is existed, protecting the driver and pedestrians from everyday scorching heat. Flying dust at midday is inevitable, strengthenin a draught sense of this piece of land.