Gunung Sewu (Thousand mountains)[1] is the name for the karst region of southern central Java that lies to the south east of Yogyakarta, south of Surakarta, and is considered a very dry and poor socio-economical region in Java. It has poor rainfall compared to the volcanic mountain areas to the north and east. Administratively most of the region is part of Gunung Kidul Regency, within the Yogyakarta province.
It is a region where archaeological evidence shows very early human activity [2]
It is very popular with cavers [3][4] although foreign tourist information such as Indonesia Handbook and more recent editions of Lonely Planet editions about Java and Indonesia tend not to give much information about Krakal, Baron or Krukup beaches - it is usually local tour operators websites [5]