TRAVEL NOTES

 

 

Known as warok, these men are believed to possess special talents, gained through years of arduous discipline in forest retreats. They are usually well built, often sport a handlebar moustache, and can be identified at performances by a coloured sash, which is an accessory to the traditional black costume and a symbol of spiritual rank.

Until not long ago it was a common practice for the warok, whose magical powers could become endangered by close association with women, to buy or 'rent' young boys who, as transvestite substitutes, would accompany the warok in their travelling performances and play the part of jaran kepang. On hearing of this tradition, we were at first somewhat disappointed, since we had been certain that what we had witnessed was the 'real thing', yet as far as we could tell the jaran kepang dancers were most certainly women; or so we thought. It wasn't until we had developed our films and examined the results closely that we realized that we had been wrong and that the performers were in fact boys, or gemblak, as they are called in Ponorogo.
The reog performance over, it was early afternoon and we still had a few hours of daylight left. We decided to drive up into the foothills of Mt Liman to visit the lake at Ngebel, which is renowned for its beauty and tranquillity. This is the type of landscape which inspires fairy tales. The air is cool and the atmosphere primeval. Surrounding the lake, which is 6 km in circumference, are steep, forest covered hillsides supporting vast and ancient trees with fantastic root systems. We spent the rest of the afternoon at this enchanted spot, circling the lake on foot, which took more than two hours, before heading back down on to the plains at sunset. Even though Ngebel lies only 20 km from Ponorogo, the village is still completely undeveloped and as yet there is no official accommodation for travellers.

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