Ir. H. Djuanda Forest Park
Talking about places to visit
in Bandung is not complete if you have
not visiting the Ir. H. Djuanda Forest Park . You can
feel the atmosphere of nature , and know some of the history of Indonesia. In
1965 the forest park was inaugurated by the Governor of West Java that time,
Brig. H. Mashudi , as the Botanical Gardens or Forest Recreation . It was not
until January 14, 1985 forest park was inaugurated by President Soeharto as
Forest Park Ir . H. Juanda . The inauguration date does coincide with the
birthday one of Indonesian hero, Ir . H. Juanda Kartawidjaja , a national
figure who held 18 ministerial posts in the period between 1946-1983 .

Last
Sunday, me and my father went to Ir. H. Djuanda Forest Park. It is at Jl. Ir. H. Juanda, Lembang, Jawa Barat 40391. Forest Park Ir. H. Juanda is a conservation area which is
integrated between the secondary nature with forest plants located in Bandung,
Indonesia. The extent of 590 hectares stretching from Dago Pakar until
Maribaya. The price of ticket is Rp27.000,00 for
two of us. When we entered the park, we could see a map of that park included
the direction and the distance of
visitors object and the fresh
air will be felt once we entered the park. I think we must
come here once a week to replace the existing air in the lungs with fresh air.
After reading the map, we continued our journey. We passed the bridge. Under
the bridge we could see water lines from top to bottom to be filtered and
cleaned.







Our first destination is Japanese
Cave. Called Gua jepang/Japanese Cave because the cave was made during
the Japanese occupation in 1942. The cave
was
made after the Dutch surrendered and served as the defense
of allied attacks. There are four large caves which is connected with each
other hallways. During the Japanese
occupation , the cave functions as a storage warehouse of weapons and
ammunition was continued while adding other new caves nearby (1943-1944) which
was later known as the Cave of Japan . To build this cave , Japan imposed
forced labor ( romusha ) in the population at that time. These caves then also
be a last defense of Japan in Bandung . After independence these caverns
unnoticed and only rediscovered in 1965 by a closed condition of the plants
reeds and dense . It was in the ammunition found in the cave many former Japanese
soldiers during World War II . Since the discovery , the Cave of Japan is still
in its original condition while the Cave of the Netherlands has experienced
three times improvement. After we arrived, we rented a flashlight. I asked my
father to wait for other visitors who will go into the cave as well. Finally
there are 3 visitors and a tour guide who explain the cave. In the cave there
are two vents and a few places to rest. The places for rest was commonly used
by Japan generals. The atmosphere inside the cave is quite cold and dark of
course. In the cave there are also some bats. Japanese cave floor like a stone
small rocks, and the tour guide said that the cave floor has never been renovated,
so the cave is still the same as it was first built.

After visiting the Japanese
cave, we continue the journey
to the Dutch cave. Dutch cave was built
in 1912 by breaking into a hill on the side of the river flow Ci Kapundung .
Initial function is as tapping channel streams for the purposes of generating
electricity. 1918 seems to be no changes or additional functionality in the
cave because the cave was added spaces and hallways branch to the overall
length of the cave reaches 547 meters . 3.2 meter high cave entrance hallway
and a number of branches 15 pieces . Some space looks like a detention room .
After the change of function , then made a new water lines using large pipes
planted underground Tahura region . Dutch possibility also makes this cave as a
store of gunpowder. When the entry of Japanese troops , the Dutch had used this
cave as Central Military Telecommunications Dutch East Indies for the army. From gua jepang/japanese cave to gua Belanda/Dutch
cave can be reached by walking less than 15 minutes. You can also go directly
to the Dutch Goa by car. Cave has also become the
pass towards Maribaya sights in Lembang. Distance from Goa to Maribaya
approximately 5 KM. It's just could not ride because of special vehicles for
pedestrian through the beautiful forest. The
cave floor is made of cement with the rails for transporting goods.



After passing the cave Dutch, we had rest
first , many stalls selling food , ranging from beverages , instant noodles ,
until roasted corn are available. When we were in that park, we met some kind
of animal. We saw two squirrels on a tree near the bridge, and then we also saw
some monkeys in the tree. When the road has begun crowded with visitors, the
monkeys come down from the tree and make some visitors fear, including me. Visitors
feared that his luggage would be stolen by monkeys. Fortunately, the monkeys
did not disturb visitors . I think , a lot of monkeys that have been
contaminated by humans , so the monkeys down from their habitat and be close to
humans without fear of humans. Maybe the monkeys once fed by visitors so it
becomes a habit.We also met a few dogs and the dogs were not disturb us. We
also see a wide variety of plants in the park. Every tree named tied to the
tree trunk using springs, so that when these trees grow bigger nameplate these
plants will not break.








There are the view of
Forest Park Ir. H. Djuanda:
The last sentence , I would like to thank my father, who had
accompanied me to visit the park. It is a fairly tiring journey because we had
to walk, but we are happy with our journey.