Writer: Nur Anggraeni
Editor: Hanini Imana
Sleman – Gabugan tourist village offers an exquisite nature view, customs and traditions, and education.
Tourists who visit Gabugan tourist village, sub-district of Donotirto, Kapanewon Turi, district of Sleman, Special District of Yogyakarta, can see the rice fields with Mount Merapi as a background, interact directly with the local residents, learn how to cultivate salak, fish, and also learn how to play gamelan.
“Gabugan village is where Salak Gading originally from. The history of Salak Gading is special because it is related to the Kings of Mataram family, to the extent that Salak Gading was nicknamed Salak Raja. Hence, the history and cultivation of Salak Gading is fascinating for tourists, especially for students and university students.” Said Sujatmiko Tri Atmojo, the head of Gabugan tourist village management, Thursday, 04 February 2021, as was reported by wiradesa.co group of Siberindo.co.
Gabugan tourist village is located in the foothills of mount Merapi. It is approximately 17 kilometers from downtown Yogyakarta to the north or towards Salak Turi Agro-Tourism. According to Sujatmiko, Gabugan tourist village was developed in 2004.
The manager of Gabugan tourist village is often involved in the tourist village forum, then they managed to used Gabugan tourist village as a destination for study tour and the Gabugan tourist village is now well known.
Furthermore, the culture and the customs of the community also support the development of this tourist village. Supportive village communities and warm interactions towards visitors, has drawn tourists attention over time.
There are many forms of programs that this tourist village offers such as, Salak cultivation, rice/Palawija farming, plowing, batik crafts, Karawitan, traditional culinary, fishing, learn how to manage used goods, quail or chicken farming and walking down the river. In addition, there is also a full activity package.
The price of the activity package is IDR 1,200.000/group (50 people). Then the personal package is IDR 75,000/person. There is also a live in package.
This package include small group package (up to 50 people) for IDR 160,000/person, large group package (more than 50 people) for IDR 150,000/person and family package for IDR 2,000,000/maximum package of 10 people. Meanwhile, for the art performances there is an additional price of IDR 25,000/person/package.
Visitors who have come are mostly middle and high school students, but there are also many visitors from outside the city. In the Gabugan tourist village, people can learn how to cultivate agricultural land, livestock and fisheries.
In addition, there are also Salak plantations which are the trademark of this Gabugan village. Salak that are produced in this tourist village are called Salak Gading Ayu.
These Salak is a local variety of Gabugan tourist village which was used as an offering to the King of Mataram.
In this Gabugan tourist village, the visitors will be taught directly how to make batik and understand the process. Apart from making batik, there is also processing of used goods.
Visitors will be taught how to process used goods into crafts. This activity aims to reduce household waste.
The traditions and cultural arts are still very strong in this tourist village, such as merit bumi, kenduri, nyadran, wiwit and tahlil (religious and traditional praying).
There are also various arts that are still preserved, namely karawitan, jathilan and dolanan. The traditional food of Gabugan are processed fish, telo plates, pecel, and bark fruit, including salak dodol, salak chips, candied salak and salak wedang. Gabugan village also provides homestay facilities with a capacity of 200 people and there are 60 homestays available. “This facility is always kept clean and comfortable,” said Jatmiko.
The tourist village of Gabugan is closely related to nature, tradition, and education.
According to Jatmiko, Gabungan tourist village has also received an award certificate from the Tourism Office in 2018 as a Developing Tourist Village.
In the year 2020, Gabugan tourist village also received an award from the Tourism office as an Independent Tourist Village.
“Always develop the tourist attraction and always try to manage the marketing well. This is how Gabugan village as a tourist village,” said Jatmiko.
With an exquisite rural atmosphere and beautiful nature, as well as a community that adheres to their customs, the Gabugan tourist village deserves to be an alternative visit for potential tourists.
Gabugan tourist village offers a beautiful nature view, traditions, and educations that can be a memorable experience for the visitors. (*)
