Sunday, November 23, 2008

Taman Safari to Arca

That stone road Alex describes from the Taman Safari entrance to Lemahneundeut is certainly a fine walk. In all the walks I've done using Alex's maps I hadn't realised you could enjoy such splendid forest scenery and broad views without ever leaving a broad and comfortable track! That particular section gives a real sweeping impression back towards Puncak and Gunung Pangrango and forward toward Bogor and Gunung Salak.

We also had the pleasure of stopping at Pak Nanang's organic farm in Lemahneunduet Tonggoh, which offered excellent hospitality and a range of delicious-looking vegetables. If we had been at journey's end we could have bought a few kilos of them, but as we had 5 km of walking ahead we had to refrain.

After Lemahneundeut Tonggoh we continued by crossing the Ci Sukabirus to the German cemetery at Arca, effectively a section of the B4 circle route in reverse. This is one of the deepest and broadest valleys on all the walks and the paddy fields in the bottom, always teeming with busy farmers and specked with multi-colored scarecrows, are truly beautiful.

Finding the path down and up the valley is probbaly easier from this direction than coming from Arca to Lemahneundeut. On the other hand, the section between the cemetery and the pine forest is probably much easier to follow if starting from the cemetery side as one section of the path above the pine forest on Pasir Pari is heavily overgrown.

I'm quickly discovering that practically any walk undertaken away from the paved roads in the in the mapped area will turn out to be delightful!

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