"Back To Nature" Trip at Cameron Highlands

" BACK TO NATURE " may be the suitable theme for this leisure trip I did in the end of November. It was because we mainly visited farms and plantation. We decided to went away from the city crowd in Kuala Lumpur and took a bus to Cameron Highlands. Four hours of road trip was pleasant with comfortable ride and beautiful scenery along the way. Cool breeze hit us as soon as we got off from bus. 

Lucky me, the weather on that day was sunny. We rushed to our first desitnation Bharat Tea plantation to have afternoon tea. We ordered a pot of Masala Tea. It is black tea mixed with aromatic Indian spices and herb (details) . The view from our seats was magnificent, but there's nothing better to explore and see it up close. 

I took the wood stairs down to the farm. Curvy green lines of land from afar welcomed me. There were already few visitors who merged in the vast spread of tea. The sunlight accentuated the beauty. The fresh fragrance accompanied us as we strolled on a solid red soil. 

The afternoon sunlight accentuated the natural curves of tea plantation land at Bharat Tea

A couple in the scenery of Bharat Tea plantation.
Look at the gorgeous hill at the background!

Busy snapping pictures among the lines of tea plantation 

We got back to the downtown of Tanah Rata by the taxi we rented before. There are many restaurants varied from Malay, Chinese, Indian and Western cuisine. Tourists center and tour agents have a lot of package to offer. Surely, we chose to go independently. We booked a taxi for tomorrow trip, which costed RM 25 per hour. 

The next day, the taxi picked us sharply at 9.00 a.m. We discussed the places we wanted to visit and the driver set up the order based on the locations. A nice Indian old man drove the taxi smoothly and started to also be a guide. 

We first went to Boh Tea factory ( yes, tea farm again! ). We took a tour around the factory to see them processing the tea. Too bad, it is surrounded by glass so pictures won't come out nice. The production starts with withering the plucked leaves. Then, the plucked leaves are rolled to crush and fermented. After that, the leaves are dried and sorted according to sizes.

We also enjoyed a sip of tea here. There is a store next to the drinking shop and we didn't miss to grab one or two. 

Enjoying tea in a chilly day with this beautiful view at Boh Tea Plantation

One of a great way to enjoy tea is with its fresh plantation view! 

We moved to the next destination which is Lavender Farm. Contrary to its name, I found out it is dominated by many other flowers instead of lavender. Only few areas near the front gate. It was crowded but I managed to take some pictures. However, it is still beautiful.

Gorgeous lines of flowers at Lavender Farm.
Flowergasm ! Can you name them?

Lavender Blossom  <3

House decorations at Lavender Farm 

A Cute Lovelock. One of many others that pretty stands out because of its big size.

A visitor is taking pictures of the flower farm 

Lovely boot-as-vase decoration 

Blooming flowers for self-pick service  

After that, we went to Bee Farm and Butterfly Farm. Honestly, Butterfly Farm is my favorite destination on this trip. The keeper can caught a butterfly and put it on your hand. I tried it too. The butterflies and flowers are colorful and lovely.

Finally found a bee that flying around flowers.

 Mostly they are inside a wooden house at this farm.

Happy is when a beautiful and delicate creature allowing you to say hi

 

On our way back, we stopped at Time Tunnel, a local museum that preserving old collectibles and memorabilia of older days in Malaysia. There are photo galleries, kitchen area, barber shop, and coffee shop display. The yellow dim lighting and a slight of musty smell strengthened the oldies vibe in this place.

Some collections at Time Tunnel

Coffee shop display

The last destination we visited was Big Red Strawberry Farm. We couldn't resist to do a self-pick service here. The strawberry was so sweet and delicious! 

The day was gonna end and so was our trip. To me personally, the vibe of Cameron Highlands are similar to Lembang or Puncak in Indonesia, but overall it was a nice leisure trip. 

The view from our balcony

Wild & Free at Cisarua Safari Park, Indonesia

Thank God I'm so lucky getting free entrance tickets to Taman Safari Indonesia, which is located at Cisarua, Bogor, West Java province. This place had been so long on my wishlist. Thus I can't hide my excitement to meet these lovely animals!

Here we can observe closely how they live like they should be in natural habitat. The cool breeze and shades of trees make the good atmosphere to explore. The sound of crickets and bird chirping kept us company along the trip. There are some decorated gates and ornaments full of wild plants or sculls. Regulation signs are also appear a lot to remind the visitors.

Beside safari track to watch the wildlife, there are also many other attractions such as baby zoo and animal shows. We got to watch bird and dolphin show. Too bad, I later found out that they say animal shows require harsh training. I wish they don't do it here.

Spread your wings wide
The wind is on your side
Hey, the mighty and glorious
The sky is yours !

An eagle is flying low, look at its graceful stance, awesome !

The ruin of gate inside the park 

A beauty in black and white 

We bought some carrots on the way. Of course, we DID ask the ranger before feeding. Since he gave the permission, then we opened our windows in the safe environment and feed them.

A curious Ilama peeking into our car window. Sorry we're running out of carrot! 

Munch, munch, munch 

An eagle resting under the shade of ornament tree 

Hello there! 

It's actually forbidden to open the car windows in the wild animals sanctuary, but we couldn't resist this beautiful tiger. It just woke up from napping, we parked at quite far distance and quickly took shots. Sorry, please don't copy this bad attitude ;)

The Sumatran Tiger sits leisurely after napping 

In the hippopotamus zone, we encountered the river flowing the street. Our car got its turn to bath too, haha. I totally adore hippos. Cute and seems not to be bothered.

Two hippos are enjoying their swim. It's been incredibly hot lately, that must be fun! 

Two otters are playing, or should I say, water dancing. 

Surely I would love to visit again. Can't wait to go to other safari park or even national parks!

WEEKEND’S ESCAPING TIME : MOUNT PAPANDAYAN

“The first experience is not always sweet, but surely memorable.”

Well, it refers to my mount climbing trip on last September. Mount Papandayan was chosen as it is a ‘friendly’ one to the first timer like us. Besides, it is easy to reach from Jakarta and doesn’t cost much.

The cold night wind stroke our faces as we went out from the bus. It was around 12 a.m on Saturday at that time. Some stalls were still open though the visitors were only in a few. We went there to rest for a while. A glass of warm and sweet tea would be a good starter, we thought.

More climbers arrived. We joined them for renting a vehicle so it was cheaper. We rode a car named Kolbak. It was overloaded with passengers that I couldn’t even move at all after sitting. Then, we switched to a pick up after reaching the gateway. It was a hell of ride on the damaged road in the midst of dark and freezing 2 a.m air. Our pick-up even went backwards twice! Half an hour later we relieved a deep sigh at Camp David, the climbing starting post. We met a lovely couple, kak Fariz and Ayu, and agreed for being a neighbor tent-mate later at the top camp site. The awful ride was soon forgotten after playing guitar and singing with another group near the campfire.

The Crater of Papandayan

We left at dawn after repacking all the stuffs. Not far from the starting point, we stopped by to enjoy the moment when the early light of the sun was rising. The road was rocky and full of pebble but easy to walk. The trip to the crater was supposed to be short, but we spent lots of time to make pictures and leisuring. Later we smelled the sting smell of sulfur and reached the crater. It was releasing the thin smoke when we passed through. Then, we decided to having the breakfast while enjoying the view.

On the way to the crater 

A climber amongst the rocky path beside the crater. Gosh, looking at this, suddenly a thought came by,
"Who are you, to be such an arrogant fool in this big vast world?"
I am reminded how small the human is compared to the universe, His creation.

Just keep walking!

The sulfur smoke from the crater 

The Second Checkpoint

The track to the second post varies from wide to pathway, rocky to sandy, flat, uphill and sometimes steep. The views are more picturesque too and greener than the crater. The wind was chill on that nice day, but we sweat a lot. We stopped several times when the backpack and tent felt heavier than we could handle. We passed a small stream of river and queued at the steep pathway too. Then, we reached the second post and reported for camping at Pondok Saladah.

We continued our trip to the camp and built our first tent with the help of our neighbor tent-mate! It was fun! We were excited like children. Haha. The camp was so crowded at the weekend. Well, I expected quieter surroundings, actually.

A picture before continuing to second post, hehe

Not a kind of my everyday's view while eating breakfast, how nice it is !

Not far after passing the crater, the view started to look more greener.

An uphill pathway 

A sign at the second post. We camped at Pondok Saladah. 

The Death Forest and Tegal Alun

We took a nap after lunch and then left to The Death Forest. The dark, dry and dead trees made  an enchanting scenery when we strolled amongst them. Continuing our climb, there was a big challenge just before Tegal Alun, called Tanjakan Abang. It's a long steep and the most tiring one as far as we went through. Supporting each other with other fellow climbers, we finally made it and Voila! the wide Edelweiss field welcomed us. It was so beautiful that I hardly resist the temptation to pick them. I could say this place marked our final accomplish as we were too tired to see the sunrise the next day.

The death forest 

The death forest 

Tegal Alun Edelweiss Field 

 Edelweiss, Edelweiss
Bless Our Homeland Forever

A fallen edelweiss on the ground.

It was almost dark when we reached our tent at Pondok Salada. The campfires started to be seen all over the place. We cooked and ate together with our new friends beside the campfire. Then, I just laying down inside my sleeping bag, staying silent and listening to the music from my cell phone. There was no signal so it was like being isolated with the outside world for two days, forgetting the hustle and bustle of Jakarta’s crowd. Unfortunately, the camp was busy until morning and it was freaking cold, so I hardly slept.

Our campfire 

Despite the awful ride, harsh temperature, and noisy atmosphere at the camp, it was so fun. We are looking forward to another climb. Hmm, what mount do you think should be next?

Here is the trip details:

• Jakarta to Garut Terminal by Primajasa from Cililitan Terminal ( one way ) = Rp 42.000
• Garut Terminal to Papandayan Gateway using Kolbak ( one way ) = Rp 15.000/ person
• Gateway to Camp David using pick-up ( one way )  = Rp 20.000/person
• First checkpoint is at Camp David
• You have to reconfirm if you are going to camp at the second post
• When you were back, make sure to bring all your own garbage, or you can’t leave the post
• Bring a masker or towel and make it wet if you can’t hold the sting smell of sulfur when passing the crater
• I was surprised I couldn’t find any insect at all so I think the insect repellent might not be a-must-bring-list
• If you prefer the quiet atmosphere at the camp, come on weekdays.

Mount Papandayan , 2665 m

Kecamatan Cisurupan, Kabupaten Garut, West Java

Indonesia