VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Bogor is known as the City of Rain. Although it doesn't rain every day, it has an impact on tourism, where there are a lot of water tourisms in the form of waterfalls here. One of them is Curug Love which belongs to Bogor Regency, West Java. The name, Curug Love arises because of its heart-like shape. However, local people are more familiar with this place by the name of Curug Catang or Curug Leuwi Cateng. If usually the waterfall is in a mountain or forest, this attraction is surrounded by plantations and beautiful green rice fields. This waterfall tourism attraction is exactly located in Bantar Karet Village, Nanggung District. It is approximately 38 kilometers from Bogor City and can be reached within 2 hours by motor vehicles.

The best time to visit Curug Love is in the morning. When the light of the sun is still warm and it reflects on the beauty of the water, the color of the water looks more unique. Curug Love is not too high, only about five meters high. Two streams of clear water flow quite fast and immediately fill the pool below. The color of the water is so blue even though it comes from a clear waterfall above it.

The pond and river are shallow, only about one meter with a steady flow of water. The water will look very blue in the dry season, when the sun is shining. In the rainy season, the water discharge is higher, and the water appears turquoise. On the right and left side, there are winding rocks flanking with natural scratches due to abrasion. It’s like a rock wall in the Grand Canyon with a river flowing in the middle.

Activities can be done when you are in the waterfall area, of course, not far from playing in the water. Tourists can swim as long as they feel satisfied in Curug Love. Its shallow pond and calm currents make it safe for tourists to enter. They can freely swim close to the waterfall. Another exciting thing that tourists can enjoy is rafting with an inner tube. Unfortunately, this place does not provide rental buoys from inner tubes. So, tourists have to bring their own inner tube buoys to play. Because the river is not too wide, it is better if the buoy used is not too big. Being in a beautiful place, tourists are recommended to bring their own camera. Thye can capture beautiful moments by taking pictures. There are many beautiful photo spots and stunning natural backgrounds, especially if you take pictures in the winding river area, and the photos are taken from a height.

Afghanistan is still not safe. The solemn situation of the Eid al-Adha prayer on Tuesday, July 20, in Kabul, was disturbed by a rocket attack. As the President of Afghanistan and other members of the congregation were performing Eid al-Adha prayers in the presidential palace premises, a rocket exploded very close to the site. Even so, President Ashraf Gani, a number of ministers and other state officials continued to complete the Eid al-Adha prayers.

Since the start of the withdrawal of US and NATO troops from Afghanistan some time ago, security in the country has not shown any signs of creating a conducive situation. The Taliban militia is said to have controlled more than two hundred districts. Most of them are in the north, which is a stronghold of the Taliban insurgency. However, Thailban refused to take responsibility for the rocket attack on Tuesday.

Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen denied that it carried out the rocket attack and  insisted they were sticking to the ceasefire agreement on the Eid al-Adha celebration. The Taliban said the attack was carried out by the Khorasan ISIS group. Of the three rockets fired last Tuesday, only one was aimed near the Presidential Palace.

The ISIS group in Afghanistan has claimed responsibility for the rocket attack.

The mention of the ISIS group tarnishing the solemnity of Eid al-Adha prayer  in Kabul and its surroundings, may indicate that the security situation in Afghanistan is increasingly worrying. If the Taliban's accusation is true that Khorasan ISIS group carried out the attack, then conditions in Afghanistan will really depend on the Government and the Taliban themselves. If the two agree to make peace and negotiate for a better Afghanistan, then the intervention of outsiders such as ISIS will be overcome together. On the other hand, the United States and the European Union, after the withdrawal of troops, do not seem to intend to play a role in Afghanistan anymore.

The ISIS group's interference can actually be overcome through reconciliation between the government and the Taliban. Therefore, the ceasefire that was carried out during Eid al-Adha should be continued. Thus, efforts to take an approach to resolve the civil war can be started. Reaching an agreement to bring peace and harmony in Afghanistan, really depends on the will of both parties.

If the internal situation cannot be controlled, it is very likely that foreign influence will have an interest in Afghanistan. If that happens, the dream of the Afghan people to achieve a peaceful and secure situation will remain difficult to realize.

While the Indonesian people are struggling to fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, which shows no signs of shaking off, some natural disasters also continue to haunt them.

The National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) in its release on Monday (19/7) issued reports of various natural disasters that occurred across Indonesia throughout the year. As of July 19 at 15.00 WIB, there have been 1.583 natural disasters throughout Indonesia. The disasters consisted of 21 earthquakes, 121 forest and land fires, 3 cases of drought, 667 floods, 318 landslides, 432 strong wind and abrasion.

A natural phenomenon is called a disaster if the event has resulted in human casualties, environmental damage, property losses, and psychological impacts. Natural disasters that occurred from January until July 2021, broguht about 499 casualties, 69 missing, more than 12 thousand injured and more than 5.5 million people suffering or displaced.

The number is not small considering the period of only 6 months. The Indonesian government has mapped, mitigated and warned residents of potential disasters to anticipate. But at the same time, they are also facing various difficulties due to the prolonged Covid-19 pandemic. Thereby, it is natural that residents may not monitor, for example, the weather forecast on the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency website, or the study of risk areas issued by The National Disaster Mitigation Agency -BNPB.

In this regard, the regional governments play a major role in monitoring the area related to potential disasters. They are obliged to improve the preparedness of their citizens against disasters, while still adhering to the health protocols. They must also be alert and watchful to take steps to mitigate and reduce disaster risk. Thus, residents will feel protected and voluntarily obey the instructions of their regional government, in case a disaster occurs. Hopefully, the Indonesian people can reduce the impact of natural disasters as much as possible, and the Covid-19 pandemic is going to shake off sooner.

Soto, sroto, sauto or coto are soupy dishes made from meat broth and vegetables. This food is easy to find in various regions in Indonesia with their own distinctive taste. If you go to Karo district, North Sumatra, you can enjoy a unique soto called trites. It is unique because this soup is made from grass which is taken from an undigested cow's stomach. Even though it is from a cow's stomach, this grass is still fresh and suitable for processing. But it is not the grass that will be eaten but the juice from the grass. To make it, the grass will be squeezed and then filtered with cheesecloth, so that the fibers in the grass are not included. Then, the juice will be boiled for up to 3 hours to produce a savory broth.

To get rid of the fishy smell, soto trites uses various spices. One of the main ingredients in making trites is cingkam wood or often also known as gadog tree and cikala acid (kecombrang flower). It also uses andaliman and rimbang, then other spices such as chili, ginger, turmeric, candlenut and lemongrass.Broth from the grass is then cooked with offal, ox bones (buffalo or goat), gravel, tripe and various spices.  Karo people also add milk to trites, so that it tastes savory and makes the broth thick.When presented, trites does not look very attractive. The color of the broth is slightly brown. However, if you try it once, you will be addicted because of its delicious taste and good nutritional content. Trites contains tannins which are effective in healing ulcers and smoothing the digestive system.

In Karo community, trites used to be only served for certain people because not everyone was able to cook it as the basic ingredients were difficult to get and expensive. To cook trites, at least one has to slaughter a cow.Therefore, it is not surprising that trites is said to be the food of the kings. Ordinary people only have the opportunity to taste trites at certain times, for example when the annual work party (after planting season) takes place. This annual work party or 'Merdang merdem' was once commonly held in each village.