August
3, Friday
Along the way I see lots of rice fields
and some houses right beside the fields
Some of the houses look like they are brand new and colourful as well
The mountains are a common sight now, as well as the terraced rice fields.
Some of the irrigation canals I pass on my walk down to the village
Looking straight down into the terraced rice fields
Looking across the valley to the other fields
It is a long walk down but the staircase is well built (with the help of government funding) since it is a World Heritage Site.
Getting closer to the village of Kampung Naga.
You can see water running from one terrace to another because of those irrigation canals. The mountains have springs that provide the clean fresh water.
About half an hour later Dodi returned and we took off to continue on our route today.
I’ve also come to realize that Daniel’s English is much more limited than I originally thought. I’ve started asking him questions where he can’t simply say Yes or No and by the answers he is now giving me, I can tell that he has not understood the question since it is on a completely different subject. I try to rephrase the question and sometimes it works; most times it doesn’t and my questions remain unanswered.
You can't see the houses, but there were many boats on this river
Gas stations are just like our. Prices are much better here however.
Some of the roads were under shady bowers created by the tall trees on each side of the road
We have a very, very long drive to Batu Raden, where we will be spending the night, in the Parahyangan highlands (domains of the gods).
Vast fields when we were driving in the valleys
Lots of trees in the high lands
Rice paddies, rice paddies and more rice paddies; but check out how green they are.
It takes forever to get there since we are on small country roads and we are averaging only about 30 to 40 km/hour. I feel like I’m riding a roller coaster again. I think we managed 80 km / hour for about 5 minutes today, but that was it. Dodi passes a lot of vehicles, but either he does not know when to shift gears, or our vehicle is a gutless wonder, because there are times when we barely are able to get in front of the car he is trying to pass… and there is ONCOMING TRAFFIC who will not slow down.
WE'RE IN THE ONCOMING LANE ! ! ! Pull back in ! ! !
It’s like they are playing “chicken”. There does not appear to be any posted speed limits either, because Dodi does not slow down when we drive through towns where there are pedestrians and animals crossing the street, motorcycles merging into high speed traffic without looking to see if they can do so safely. My nerves are shattered. When we drive through cities, sometimes we get lucky and have a divided roadway and just when I think I don’t need to worry about oncoming traffic, we meet motorcycles and cars driving down the wrong side of the road. Did I miss something? Am I back in India? Sorry, I needed to vent.
We leave Bandung at 8 am and drive to Kampung Naga a
traditional village located in a beautiful valley.
and some houses right beside the fields
Some of the houses look like they are brand new and colourful as well
The mountains are a common sight now, as well as the terraced rice fields.
We arrive at the village and the local guide tells me that approximately 100 families live here (about 300 people) and since it is now a World Heritage Site no more houses will be built here. Although it was advertised as being reached via 300 stairs (going down to the village) there are now approximately 430, not counting the rocky path. And yes, after the visit was over I had to climb UP all those stairs to get back to our vehicle.
Looking straight down into the terraced rice fields
Looking across the valley to the other fields
It is a long walk down but the staircase is well built (with the help of government funding) since it is a World Heritage Site.
Getting closer to the village of Kampung Naga.
You can see water running from one terrace to another because of those irrigation canals. The mountains have springs that provide the clean fresh water.
They have created some ponds where they keep fish
and wash their dishes !
They use bamboo for everything. Here it is used as a rack and a dock
One of the narrow streets where the roofs overlap to provide cover when it rains and shade against the sun. That is a drainage ditch in the middle.
Another use for bamboo: this lady is weaving beautiful baskets while her daughters do their homework. Their houses are very ordinary; no furniture of the type we use.
The walls of the houses are made of bamboo or wood. Here we see a woven basket that is used for the hens to lay their eggs. It is hanging just beside the door, about 5 feet off the ground, so very handy for collecting the fresh eggs in the morning.
The people who live in this village follow the traditions of their ancestors and everything is done by hand: hulling rice, tilling fields, etc.
Assembly hall and mosque. This drum is used for many purposes: call people to prayers, call them to a meeting, fire alarm, etc.
The town has some larger houses for the mayor and other important people. They are also handed down from father to son. No new houses can be added, only replaced.
This is the community hall that also serves as a mosque. Check out the retaining wall made of river stones. No Hélène, I did not bring you one.
As I finish my tour of the village and return to the river, I see three young girls who are also visiting and they are giggling and having a great time. I ask if its OK to take their picture and they agree. They then came up to me and took turns taking picutres of each of them with me. So cute.
The ponds are more extensive than I had first thought.
And then it's time to climb back up all those stairs to get back to the car.
I spotted these strange flowers and could not figure out what they were.
They turned out to be ..... egg shells ! Kind of nice...... but a bit smelly.They use bamboo for everything. Here it is used as a rack and a dock
One of the narrow streets where the roofs overlap to provide cover when it rains and shade against the sun. That is a drainage ditch in the middle.
Another use for bamboo: this lady is weaving beautiful baskets while her daughters do their homework. Their houses are very ordinary; no furniture of the type we use.
The walls of the houses are made of bamboo or wood. Here we see a woven basket that is used for the hens to lay their eggs. It is hanging just beside the door, about 5 feet off the ground, so very handy for collecting the fresh eggs in the morning.
The people who live in this village follow the traditions of their ancestors and everything is done by hand: hulling rice, tilling fields, etc.
Assembly hall and mosque. This drum is used for many purposes: call people to prayers, call them to a meeting, fire alarm, etc.
The town has some larger houses for the mayor and other important people. They are also handed down from father to son. No new houses can be added, only replaced.
This is the community hall that also serves as a mosque. Check out the retaining wall made of river stones. No Hélène, I did not bring you one.
As I finish my tour of the village and return to the river, I see three young girls who are also visiting and they are giggling and having a great time. I ask if its OK to take their picture and they agree. They then came up to me and took turns taking picutres of each of them with me. So cute.
The ponds are more extensive than I had first thought.
The village is surrounded by terraces where cardamom and Arabica coffee are grown, as well as other plants that produce aromatic oils to make perfume (one of their sidelines) jasmine, vanilla, tree bark, etc. My guide was mentioning what sounded like “waniya” and it took me forever to realize he was referring to vanilla. “V’s here can sometimes be pronounced as W’s or F’s. Java can be Jawa or Jafa. J’s are sometimes pronounced like Y’s, as in Jogjakarta where the first J is pronounced like a Y, but not the second. No wonder I don’t always understand what they are telling me, even when it is spoken in English. They also don’t always place the emphasis on the same syllable as we do. Toe-behko for Tobacco for example, sounds completely different when you have no idea what they are talking about, but pointing to a field.
Anyway, back to Kampung Naga: The village gets fresh water from springs in the surrounding mountains and they use this to irrigate their fields and fill their fish ponds. Bamboo is used extensively: pipes to redirect water, fronds are used to tress and make a variety of products: walls, baskets, dishes, etc. The bamboo shavings are used to start their cooking fires. Chickens live under their houses and the floors in the kitchen are specifically built to leave cracks for the crumbs to fall through and the chickens to feed on. 
And then it's time to climb back up all those stairs to get back to the car.
The climb back up the all those stairs took me awhile; a had to stop quite a few times to catch my breath. When we arrived back to the vehicle we were told that Dodi had gone to the Mosque for prayers. I guess he thought we would be gone longer. I bought an orange juice to bring my sugar levels back up and waited in the shade. It was a beautiful day.
I’ve also come to realize that Daniel’s English is much more limited than I originally thought. I’ve started asking him questions where he can’t simply say Yes or No and by the answers he is now giving me, I can tell that he has not understood the question since it is on a completely different subject. I try to rephrase the question and sometimes it works; most times it doesn’t and my questions remain unanswered.
You can't see the houses, but there were many boats on this river
Gas stations are just like our. Prices are much better here however.
Some of the roads were under shady bowers created by the tall trees on each side of the road
We have a very, very long drive to Batu Raden, where we will be spending the night, in the Parahyangan highlands (domains of the gods).
Vast fields when we were driving in the valleys
Lots of trees in the high lands
Rice paddies, rice paddies and more rice paddies; but check out how green they are.
It takes forever to get there since we are on small country roads and we are averaging only about 30 to 40 km/hour. I feel like I’m riding a roller coaster again. I think we managed 80 km / hour for about 5 minutes today, but that was it. Dodi passes a lot of vehicles, but either he does not know when to shift gears, or our vehicle is a gutless wonder, because there are times when we barely are able to get in front of the car he is trying to pass… and there is ONCOMING TRAFFIC who will not slow down.
WE'RE IN THE ONCOMING LANE ! ! ! Pull back in ! ! !
It’s like they are playing “chicken”. There does not appear to be any posted speed limits either, because Dodi does not slow down when we drive through towns where there are pedestrians and animals crossing the street, motorcycles merging into high speed traffic without looking to see if they can do so safely. My nerves are shattered. When we drive through cities, sometimes we get lucky and have a divided roadway and just when I think I don’t need to worry about oncoming traffic, we meet motorcycles and cars driving down the wrong side of the road. Did I miss something? Am I back in India? Sorry, I needed to vent.
We arrive at the Rosenda Hotel in Batu Raden, in the
shadow of Mount Slamet, (another Stratovolcano !) just after 6 pm and in complete darkness. The last portion is on a road so narrow that
it can only fit one car. When we met other vehicles, one of them had to pull
over to the side and wait for the other to try to get by.
The hotel was only so-so, but dinner was delicious: Strips of beef, with sliced vegetables in a
beautiful thick gravy + French fries. I
ATE THE WHOLE THING. The hotel itself is in need of some tender loving care;
repaint would do wonders & upgrading
the bathrooms. There were ants in my
bed. The view from the dining room and
from the balcony in my room the next morning was amazing however. Too bad we arrived after dark and left by 8
am ! No time to explore, so why drive all the way up here in the dark?
No comments:
Post a Comment