SIDEMEN RICE TERRACE — Attraction in Kecamatan Sidemen

The views were beautiful but there were no waypoints to guide the trail. As a result, we had trouble following the trail at the cross-sections.

The trail starts easy and follows the irrigation canal, but at the blue flag in my first picture, you need to take a left into the chili fields to continue the trail. If you keep following the irrigation canal instead, the path will be blocked by old mudslides which can be clambered over, but with increasingly difficulty. We went back after we found a dead dog floating in the canal, only to find out we had missed the turn at the blue flag. The trail continues through the chili fields and down into rice fields but will stop in an open space among the rice terraces; here, you need to climb the stairs up to the building with yellow flags (you can see this building from a distance in my second picture) After descending from the building, you turn right and will arrive at the Kubu Sakian Villa. Here you can turn right to follow the road back to the start (about 3km). However the trail actually continues to the left, where you have to cross two rivers. At the first river, there are stepping stones to cross the river, you can wade through at ankle height, OR you can take a left turn to find a bridge; however, if you take the bridge, you will have to retrace the trail by crossing through the compound of a (very friendly) family. The second river has a stronger stream, is broader and does not have stepping stones (see third picture) so we had to wade through about waist high, which can be tricky (and maybe impossible in the wet season). Finally, after crossing the river, you need to clamber up a steep hill to reach the resort road into sidemen. Then you will have to walk about 3 km through Sidemen to get back to the start of the trail.

According to some websites, the whole trail should be a circle of 3km, but it was 6km for us which took about 3-4 hours due to all the clambering. It may be that we missed another turn for the 3 km variant, but I do not know where.

So overall, although there was a stunning view (see second picture), the trail was poorly maintained and quite challenging both to follow and complete. Also, it costs 15k per person which I don't think is used to improve the trail. Just following the river canal until you meet the mudslides is sufficient to...

Really nice walk and the trail is well marked, there are tons of signs. A little after the start you’ll come to a fork - on the left it says “to the rice fields” and on the right it says “sidemen tracking”. “To the rice fields” is the 3km loop, “sidemen tracking” leads to a restaurant. I didn’t go to the restaurant but the walk there on the canal was very pleasant and shady in the afternoon, so you can add that on if you want to do a bit more than just the loop.

The guys are friendly and gave me a ride on the scooter back to my guesthouse for a reasonable price. Getting to the trail I walked from my guesthouse (maha neka) and it was a nice enough walk - you see some interesting things such as a bridge crossing the river and a decent amount of the road has a small shoulder so it’s easy enough to stay out of the way of traffic.

It was not crowded at all - went once in the morning and saw a few ppl, went once in the afternoon and saw only locals. If it gets busier maybe they can make some more...

A wonderful place to explore. We hiked an hour before sunset and met many locals bathing in the man-made canal. The place is stunning and the hike is very fun. The path soon becomes narrow and uneven, so you have to watch your steps: it’s not suitable for young kids. Or at the very least wear sandals that can get dirty and wet. There are many signs pointing the way but it’s not a loop: at some point you have to decide if it’s time to head back because the whole trek can be as long as 5km. When we felt we were ready to turn around, we followed a sign pointing to the rice fields and then walked the path until we came back on the road, a few meters from the starting point. It was almost dark and it wasn’t easy to follow the trail anymore, so make sure you got enough time to get back before the sun sets. It’s worth getting to the raised platform, you can get a magnificent view of the...