Anywho....the whole point of this blog is to tell you about my last awesome trip to Puncak! It was mine and Matt's first trip together, so I was a little nervous about it, but overall I think we did an excellent job planning and enjoying together, as well as balancing each others different travel styles out well.
We left pretty early from Karawaci and Matt was able to borrow a car from his work and we hired a driver through his work as well. The driver was excellent, always on time, and always knew where we were heading. The trip there was a bit long, and upon arrival at Puncak Pass Resort, we were shown to our room, which wasn't quite ready for us. We sat outside discussing what we wanted to do for the afternoon while they completed the cleaning process. The room was nice, equiped with 2 twin beds, an excellent shower (always a plus,) a fridge for our beer, a television (which actually was used once or twice during the rain,) and a fireplace!
After putting down our things we quickly packed a picnic lunch and set off for a bit of exploration. Not going far, we found a beautiful pond, and a nice private view overlooking the city of Bogor below us. Here we ate our peanut butter and banana sandwiches, chips, and chocolate. After arriving back to our room we changed and prepared to do further exploration. A short walk up the road we discovered a tea planation, and quickly paid the 30 cents to get in and walk around.
Our explorations soon took us Telega Warna which can be classified by my standards as a dirty lake. Later when I looked it up I found out it was one of the main attraction in Puncak. We sat and people watched (and monkey watched) for a bit as well as considering doing the flying fox before realizing how slow it was. When we decided to leave we happened upon a random little uphill hiking trail and opted to take this path back. The hike up hill was a bit scary as the rocks were slippery and even in my hiking boots I kept slipping. Eventually we realized we were on the edge of the tea farm and decided to head back through there instead of down the slippery slope. Matt noticed a tree with peoples names carved in it and stopped to carve our initials inside of a heart. What a sweetie :)
On the way back to the hotel we stopped for some beer, and while we were searching we ended up getting stuck in the pouring rain. Eventually we just had to make a run for it and spent the rest of the evening planning for the next day. The restaurant at the hotel had an excellent burger by the way, which I downed with a whiskey coke. Matt was quite cold at dinner but I found this incredibly cute. When we got back to the hotel room we tried to get the fire going, but I've never started one inside, so I failed and we had to call a hotel worker. The smoke was awful, as they didn't have a good airing system and we had to keep the door and windows open, which kind of defeated the purpose of the fire.
The following morning we woke up to an excellent breakfast free of charge (well, included in the hotel cost.) I ate an omelet, chicken sausages, yoghurt and fruit, veggies, and a double espresso. I was quite satisfied and ready for hiking afterwards. We were a bit confused about how to get to our hike as there are so many waterfalls located in the area, however eventually we found the correct route. After being passed by the vice president of Indonesia (!) we made it to the correct place and paid our fee (I forget the price.. Less that $5 each) and started our hike. It was 2.7 km to the set of 3 waterfalls and the hike was very easy, other than the portions where we had to shout "permisi!" all to have no one respond, thus leading us to force our way through the indonesian hiking at half the pace. Oh, and the picture taking everyone wanted with us. No thanks!
At the end of the hike we found 3 beautiful waterfalls (Ciberueum). I was unable to get to the 3rd one since you had to walk through ankle deep water to get there. Matt took my camera and his waterproof boots and snatched a picture. On the way back I had to pee quite badly, so I went off on an unmarked path. Matt followed behind and gave me a high five when I finished, and then we continued on the unmarked path. For about 5 minutes we stood in complete silence listening the the nature around us. I took several very deep breaths.
After finishing the hike we went back to the hotel quickly to shower and then headed to Gunung Mas to meet Matt's co-worker Ivy for tea. Ivy's family owns a Villa inside the plantation so she was able to take us on a walk around the tea plantation and took several excellent pictures of us. We also got to sample tea, Whedeng (ginger and milk tea) and pisang coklat keju (fried bananas with cheese and chocolate) which were much better than they sound. They also gave us suggestions for our evening and the following day and assisted with times of departure.
I did manage to find a Middle Easter Restaurant for dinner ( Royal Al Jazeerah.) The food was a bit expensive, but Matt and I weren't super hungry, so we were able to split an appetizer and a meal.We stopped at a nearby Indomaret for ice cream and then headed back to the hotel for an evening of wine (brought from Jakarta) and cheese, overlooking the outdoor area and discussing life.
Once done with the safari portion we explored the park and had some coffee, and finished by walking to yet another waterfall.
From there we took the train back to our car and drove to lunch at Cimory Riverside Restaurant a local creamery. We started out with putting our name in as the place was packed and then went to the shop to buy some chocolate and ice cream, as it was Easter. I quickly snarffed down the ice cream before our name was called. Matt and I shared the Beef Alfredo and Chicken Cordon Blu, both excellent choices considering they had dairy in them. We were also able to try some delicious yoghurt smoothies.
This trip was full of exploration and I can honestly say it satiated my need for travel. More mountains and hiking, less beaches and snorkeling please! Sorry Matt...thanks for being such a great travel partner. Cannot wait to explore more of this world with you!
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