After 5 hours on the road with a Mitsubishi Colt L-300 drived by the road racer Mr. O, we finally arrived at Mount Halimun National Park. At noon, we started a light trekking to the canopy trail and Cimacan waterfall. The National Park circling the villages and the tea plantation area belongs to PT. Nirmala.
We stayed at one of the villagers’ house: Mr. S. His family is the environmentalist by nature. The villagers work as a tea plantation employee, a farmer or a forest ranger. They even have their own made electricity from a water turbine. When the dusk falling, we played a card game as it was raining out there. I had my first bruise because of a fork during the game.
After the rain had stopped, we went to the front-end of the forest near the Cikaniki research station. The forest at night is absolutely dark, eventhough you’re using a flashlight. As our eyes got used to the darkness, we could see some green spot lights, which came from the glowing fungus among the trees. I don’t remember the fungus scientific name. Then we spend the night inside the forest trying to capture the beautiful dark view with a camera. Well, I was only looking my friends got busy with the camera and the fungus. I felt there’s something wrong on my foot: a leech was sucking my blood. Awesome! It’s my first hole due to a leech. I found the second hole as we took a rest at the research station. The sleeping time was peaceful though.
Getting up in Mr. S’s homestay was a refreshing one. We went up early in the morning to see the sunrise, but Mr. dramatic sunrise Z was still sleeping undisturbed. So we’re heading to the tea plantation area above the village with a flashlight. The road is rocky and slippery.
We’re there for about an hour. We’re climbing it and standing watching the sun rise that slowly came into sight from behind a mountain. Meanwhile the white mist was flowing following the curve of the hills under the morning sunlight, with the forest as the surroundings. As the tea plantation farmers were starting to come and a bee was also starting to feel annoyed with our presence in his territory, we went back to the homestay to have breakfast.
Our schedule today is the jungle trekking to the seven meter Cikudapaeuh waterfall. At first, we’re going to the 25 meter Cipiit waterfall, but the road is too slippery and steep that you have to use thick rope.
We started the trekking on the tea plantation area and the village. At first I thought it would be a mundane four hour trekking through the tea plantation area. But then, we turned to the left side and entered the forest. Since this is a rain forest, there’s no sound as you’re stepping on the falling leaves. It’s muddy and slippery. Often the ranger re-opened the track with his machete and boots. As we got deeper, the forest became ticker. The greenery thicker swathe forest really looks amazing from far away. And it is more amazing when you’re inside it, and absolutely not a boring one.
After a packet of steep ascent and descent, we will have to cross the clear water river to have another packet of steep ascent of descent with the river and so on for six hours to and from the Cikudapaeuh waterfall. Some of the descents and ascents have almost 90 degree slope. I really thought the ranger would take the turn road, if it exist, but he went on with the slope.
Hence, most of the jungle trekking was crawling by holding the tree roots or everything available there and your friends’ hand. Not to mention the leeches. I had 11 small bloody holes on my feet and another hole on my leg due to the leeches. It didn’t include the leeches that hadn’t had a chance to suck my blood as I already threw it away. But the rain forest itself is an exquisite one. Besides the leeches, there are bird nest with the little birds inside it, colorful wild flowers and fungus, civet dirt, Java tiger’s track, Owa Jawa (chimpanzee cousin I guess) playing high above the trees and the beautiful Cikudapaeuh waterfall inside the forest.
The ranger also taught us to eat a tree stem & leaves and drink water inside another tree stem. The trees also make canopies that hindered us from the falling water when the light raining started on our way back. I had never been so happy to see the rice field as we got out from the forest to have our very late lunch on the afternoon at the homestay.
The adventurous journey hadn’t finished yet. It was continuing on our way back to Jakarta. Z and Mr. O, the driver, decided to take another shorter route, maybe because the night was about to come. But the road is slipperier and steeper than the road where we’re coming from. Somehow, the road racer Mr. O had successfully managed the old engine to go through all the difficulties on the road.
At some points of the road, the fog and flood, from a broken dam, slowed the car down. We arrived in Jakarta at 11pm.
It was the first time I entered the forest and it took a few months for me to stop daydreaming to be there again and fully back on the reality. I really hope the area will always be protected. It’s too valuable to be destroyed for economical reason. Those villagers have proved that they could live side by side with the nature. They are rich with the fresh water flow 24 hours straight from the mountain, the fresh air, the delicious food from their backyard, the warm day and the peaceful night. If they want something more sophisticated than that, just join us in the city. Don’t disturb the forest. I just hate the leeches. Why can’t they make an exception on sucking human blood?
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