Our long anticipated trip across Java has finally started. Our group is not in the best condition, with half the members sick with the flu, but plans have been set in motion, so we must go along with our plan for the moment. I would love to have seen my mom, Kiky, and Charlene in better health along this trip, and hopefully our night at Garut with lovely hot spring baths will help expedite this….
With a planned departure at 6:00 am, we actually got out the door just before 8. I was really happy to be on the road, and excited that Tedy was leading our trip across Java. He is my sister’s father in law, and so far has been a kind and generous host. I think that he is excited to show us the island he has grown up on, and has a good route planned our for us. Having a car for such a trip is invaluable, since we are able to see the countryside and stop where we would like. Today was a perfect example of how a road trip should go.
After getting out of the city, we passed through
a town called Subang, and started to cruise up into the mountains. The winding road passed through rubber plantations initially, where we got to see the raw material used in making rubber. I was amazed that this natural product was so elastic, and a bit surprised by the smell of the rubber tree. The lowland forest soon gave way to tea plantations, where hundreds of workers dotted the verdant green hills picking tea. Stopping for another local delicacy, a pineapple, I stood in awe as the clouds raced through the mountaintops, offering glimpses at the scale of their grandeur.
Our detour afforded us a chance to get up to Tankuban Perahu, a huge volcano just north of Bandung. While the site is quite commercial, with rows of stalls clinging to the crater rim, it is still amazing to see the power of nature. To think that this mountain had been built over millenia by explosive outbursts of lava left me wondering how slight our impact of the world in the long run really is. As a species we may live to see the earth become uninhabitable to humans through our own actions, but I cannot imagine humans being able to replicate phenomena such as the earth is capable of doing.
Down into Bandung, the capital of West Java, we cruised, encountering yet another mass of humans creating traffic jams and a bustle completely unecessary in order to survive. I was glad to see the city fade into the distance as we headed for our final destination of the day, Garut.
We arrived in Garut with enough time to find a reasonable hotel. We settled on a resort town called Cipanas, and were quickly pleased to see that each of our rooms had a bath fed by the local hotspring at the back of each room. Getting into the warm water melted away the fatigue brought by a days worth of travels, and brough Ben and I to pondering about geothermal energy. With a little re-engineering, we soon had created a deeper tub. We wanted to show Kiky the tidal wave that ensued as we both splashed down into the tub, but that the last minute Ben pulled the cold water faucet out. For a few seconds a dark vile scum poured out into our crystal clear tub, and Kiky witnessed a disaster much more entertaining than what we had originally intended. Fortunately, the tub was easily drained and soon enough we had replenished it with more hot spring fed water to bathe in.
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