Gondowan Cliffs

The Gondowan Cliffs are a series of ridges and rocky outcrops rising out of the small channel of sea at the narrowest point between the continents of Gondowan and Indra, and distorting their coastlines at that point. East of the Cliffs lies the Indran town of Madra, while to the west is the village of Naribwe in Eastern Gondowan.

The Cliffs were formed when events at the end of Golden Sun caused a large earthquake and tidal wave, which pushed the continent of Indra southwards and wedged it in between Gondowan and Osenia. The Cliffs can be quite treacherous to navigate, and contain many monsters. Never the less, the Cliffs allow for land travel between the two continents, and allowed the violent warriors of the Kibombo tribe to raid Madra and steal the Black Orb that controlled Piers' Lemurian Ship.

There is also a hidden cave revealed by the use of Whirlwind where one can encounter warriors from Kibombo right after they raid Madra and view a scene.

Not only is this location the means by which the party crosses between Indra and Gondowan on foot, but this location can also be entered from the sea by sailing into it from the ocean above it. The Cliffs act as the gateway for the Lemurian Ship to sail between the Great Eastern Sea and Great Western Sea, but is functionally a closed gate for much of The Lost Age, because of a large rocky spire that blocks the ship's passage through the watery part of the area. The only way to get through Gondowan Cliffs on an oceanic level is much later in the game, when you are to use the Grind Psynergy found in Lemuria on the spire to remove it and continue the game in the Great Western Sea.

Walkthrough
The location as an on-foot dungeon can be entered as soon as Dehkan Plateau is cleared and the party is in the lower portion of Indra. At first, a small encounter-free portion of it can be explored; follow the path to a bush against a wall, and clear the bush away with the Whirlwind Psynergy to uncover a small cave. A brief cutscene with four Kibombo warrior tribesman NPCs occurs in here, and doing this will influence a little bit of text in a cutscene later in the game, but otherwise this has no gameplay impact, and the Gondowan Cliffs are only properly explorable later in the game after having defeated Briggs in Osenia.

From Indra to Gondowan
When you arrive at Gondowan Cliffs so as to cross through into lower Gondowan, use the Scoop Psynergy previously earned in Osenia on the tile the dog is facing to uncover a water spout that is used to elevate yourself upward to where you can hop left onto the elevated portion of cliff. Slide down the cliff slide, hop left once, climb the visible ivy to the lower left, and take the left path of the "U"-shaped fork. Climb your way to where there are three cliff slides to choose from; slide down the center slide, then follow the resulting narrow path northwest to where there is a thick tree stump. Facing it from the right, cast the Move Psynergy and move it left so that it falls into the ocean water below. Go back down and slide down the cliff slide, then climb down the ivy to step onto a large hopping maze. Hop left, left, left, up, up, left, up, left, left, down, down, left, up, up, up, right, right, right, right, up, up across the submerged stump, and left to climb up ivy back onto solid land.

From the end of the hopping puzzle, follow the path up, climb up the ivy, go down the greenish path to the right, then hop left across the gap you just crossed through. Your path branches between the ivy below the pair of trees and the path above them; go up the path above them to be linearly lead to a chest containing a Sleep Bomb, then go back and climb down the ivy. Follow that subsequent path to where there is a rope tied to provide a path west across the continental divide. (Incidentally, if you are exploring Gondowan Cliffs after having received the Scoop Psynergy but did not defeat Briggs yet, there will not be a rope here, but instead a pair of rarely-encountered Kibombo tribesman NPCs, preventing your passage into lower Gondowan).

Before walking left across the rope, climb up the ivy above it and follow the path east, and ignore the next ivy you pass by as you go a fair distance south to where there is a Mars Djinni standing idle. Save your game, then battle it to earn the Mars Djinni Kindle. Then climb up the ivy to the right of Kindle, then go right and climb down two more sets of ivy, but do not climb down the two remaining sets of ivy beyond that that lead back to the start of the area; go straight down beyond a pair of trees to find a rare item named the Laughing Fungus. Then retrace your steps all the way back to the rope, and the remaining, winding path to the western exit of the area is linear.

Return trip from Gondowan to Indra
A little later in the game, after having solved the dungeons in lower Gondowan and recruited Piers into the party, reenter Gondowan Cliffs from the west side, and follow the linear back across the tightrope. Climb up the ivy to the right of the tightrope and follow the same path you took to Kindle earlier, but this time, use Piers' Frost Psynergy on the lone puddle along the way to turn it into an ice pillar, then go back up and climb up the ivy directly above the ice pillar, and follow the elevated path back down so that you can hop left across the ice pillar. Slide down the cliff slide to land on a small area, and go down to the bottom end of it, where the extremely valuable Healing Fungus item (redeemable for a Mars Djinni back in Madra) lies in plain sight for collecting. Go back up and slide down the second cliff slide, then go down and slide down a third cliff slide.

Go right, climb an ivy, and use Lash on the coiled rope to tie it to a post to the up right, and climb up the rope. From there, climb down another ivy, and slide down a cliff slide right below it. Hop right, and now you are on your way back to the eastern exit of Gondowan Cliffs, where you would reemerge back onto Indra.

Collectibles
Kindle: Below a Frostable puddle later on. Must be battled to be earned.

Healing Fungus: In visible view later on in the area, but can only be acquired once Piers is in your party so you can cast Frost on a Frostable puddle and then hop across it and slide down a nearby cliff slide. Give this to an old couple in Madra to earn a Mars Djinni.

Laughing Fungus: In visible view on one cliff outcropping, reached by climbing up vines near the Mars Djinni and following the general route behind it. Only practical gameplay use is to sell it for 525 coins.

Sleep Bomb: Found in a treasure chest somewhat close to the watery divide.