Monday morning hike-trail run from Taman Hutan Raya Djuanda to Curug Omas Maribaya

so ... after settling some stuff in Jakarta for a more convenient living including had AC, fridge and washing machine fixed, I finally got the chance to try Bandung's very own conservation forest ...

Taman Hutan Raya Juanda is located in the once lush green hill overlooking Bandung as an ancient escarpment. It is still green though, but penetration of human settlement is just way too deep. So sad that it leaves no space between public housing and the provincial (national??) park itself.

What is more ironic is that several hundred metres away from the park gate, lies a HIDEOUS high rising CONDOTEL APARTMENT, spoiling the view on my way to Tahura Juanda. But, hey, I'm here to be among the green, instead of whining ...

So, my first impression of the park is: Tahura Juanda is quite promising as a regular hiking site, but yes, it needs a lot of improvements, especially in terms of choices of trails and its cleanliness 😩😩 ...

By far, on my first trial of the Tahura Park, I found three major trails. The firstbtwo are main official trail varying from main trail from Gate I and trail fromGate II, which actually is the same trail, with a variation of going through the deer breeding area or sticking to the main trail.

Should you take Gate I, after paying a Rp.15.000 (less than $1 for locals, but $4 for international.tourist) you will.be greeted by a jungle cafe. Of course the intention is good, but most likely in the end you're sacrificing the park ecosystem and of course its cleanliness ... Somehow I also see it as a chance of educating people in maintaining cleanliness ...

The thing about Gate I is you can either choose to take the plain and easy main trail, or take a more adventurous one. It's quite easy for you to gues which one I choose. Gate II which is further up the road, offers an easier access to park. For me it simply means less chance for walking, so I avoid it ... lol 😂😂

The more adventueous trail includes crossing an old suspension bridge, shaky and rusty despite being painted yellow (the smell of rust lingers on your fingers, so having a glove before crossing the bridge is helpful). Under the suspension bridge is a narrow, steep and sharp rocky cliff small meandering gorge. Do not lookdown if you are acrophobic. Well, evennid you are jot an acrophobic, it will still give you the chill or "singunen" in Javanese term.

I came quite early in the morning ... at around 6.30, the ticket guy had just arrived and hadn't even sat on his chair, let alone having his morning coffee. He didn't even have any change for me, so he decided that I could get the change later on when other visitors came and paid, giving him some extra change for me.

Caves are the first two attractions you will find, an old Japanese cave and a Dutch one. They offer guide for Rp. 30.000 or a little over $2 only. I haven't tried to explore the caves as I left my flashlight at home ... On your trail to the caves, you'll encounter a wuite population of monkeys. Some are familiar with human, especially the adult ones, while the young ones are still afraid of human.

As rule of thumb in most conservation area, we are not supposed to feed its wildlife using "human" food to avoid making them dependent to visitors and lost their natural instinct in finding food to survive.

The park also serves as beekeeping facilities, so you'll fiind many bee houses along the way after crossing the gorge. The sound of it buzzing somehow give me peace ... lol

Deer breeding ground is one of the perks crossing the shaky suspension which can only be crossed by 4 people at a time ... in the deer breeding area, you will also meet locals selling natural honey harveated from the beehive houses scattered around the area. Gotta try it someday ... It is direct from the farmer, so I hope it helps locals community.

Not far from the breeding ground, you will find a dam, dividing Cikapundung stream into three streams, one for Bengkok power plant turbines (I should explore this