City Tour

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.