has a pond, which is a must for every Instagram influencer,
photograph, Umbul Ponggok/Instagram, but it was not always so, 15 years ago, Ponggok was a poor, obscure Indonesian village,
and its immaculate pond was a dirty, polluted cesspool where locals used to
bathe and wash their dirty clothes, unemployment was high and locals barely
earned a living farming and mining in nearby quarries,
today, that same village
ranks among the 10 richest in Indonesia, unemployment is almost non-existent,
and tourism drives the local economy, and it was all possible thanks to Umbul
Ponggok and Instagram,
the South China Morning Post reports that back in 2005
Ponggok had an annual income of some 80 million rupiah, today, Tirta Mandiri’s
annual revenue from its various businesses – all centered around the pond –
reaches 14 billion rupiah, it has also become known as one of the must-see
tourist attraction of Klaten Regency, and a magnet for Instagram influencers in
search of the hottest selfie spots, thousands of people travel to Umbul Ponggok every weekend,
and the local authorities make sure that they are not disappointed, as
underwater selfies are the most popular among visitors, they’ve set up all
kinds of props on the bottom of the pond, such as motorcycles, benches, even
old TV sets, all things designed to make photos stand out, and it even has its
own Instagram account, with over 40,000 followers, where the coolest underwater
photos are featured, what a neat place to have your photograph taken, and if you go to the link a fascinating story of how the head of the village had such a great idea.
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