How a village pond became a quirky tourist attraction in Indonesia in the social media age
- Villagers sank their money into a pond, and made it Insta-famous. In the process, they enriched themselves, wiped out unemployment, and became a model village
- Visitors flock to Umbul Ponggok in Central Java every weekend to take tongue-in-cheek underwater selfies, feed its fish, and buy food and souvenirs
Dery Sananya sits casually on a chair “watching” television – as carp, koi and pomfret swim past him. Later, he will upload a selfie of this pose to his Instagram feed, with a quip about how easy its is to find TV channels underwater.
He is one of the many tourists – Indonesian and foreign – who have flocked to Umbul Ponggok in Klaten, Central Java, Indonesia, to take tongue-in-cheek underwater selfies in a pond.
“Many visitors upload photos of themselves on motorbikes or bicycles, and even do pre-wedding photo shoots, which quickly become viral on their Instagram accounts,” says Umbul Ponggok’s 25-year-old manager, Muhammad Abdul Rahman.
Visitors can also swim or snorkel there. Those without underwater cameras can rent one for 60,000 rupiah (US$4.20) per half-hour.
Umbul is the local word for spring, although Umbul Ponggok – measuring 20 metres by 50 metres, and 2.5 metres deep in places – could more accurately be called a pond. Water flows into it continuously from 40 natural springs at a rate of 800 litres per second, keeping the waters crystal clear and fresh.
