Madakaripura Waterfall

Madakaripura sits at the head of a narrow canyon in the Tengger foothills, a fall of around two hundred metres coming down as a curtain into a bowl with cliffs closing round on three sides, and the approach is the memorable part: the path follows the river up the canyon and for the last few hundred metres runs directly under water pouring off the overhanging walls, so you walk soaked through a permanent shower to reach the main fall. Ponchos are sold at the entrance and are inadequate. Javanese tradition holds this as the place where Gajah Mada, the Majapahit prime minister who is said to have sworn to unify the archipelago, withdrew at the end of his life. Flash flooding has killed visitors here, and access closes when the river rises.

What you actually see

• A 200-metre curtain fall - dropping into a closed bowl of cliffs.
• A walk under falling water - the last stretch through a permanent shower.
• A canyon approach - the path following the river between narrowing walls.
• The Gajah Mada tradition - the Majapahit minister's retreat, by Javanese account.

When to go

May to September; morning light into the bowl. Half a day.

Honest expectations

You will be soaked - waterproof your camera and phone properly. Flash floods have killed people here; the site closes when the river rises and that is not negotiable. Guides are compulsory.

Nearby

Bromo and the Tengger caldera are up the road; Probolinggo is north.