:: Mount Papandayan Trekking - West Java ::
MOUNT PAPANDAYAN
A visit to Mt. Papandayan is
one of the most spectacular outings to an active volcano
you can make. Golden sulphur crystals, hissing steam,
boiling mud and water, blue and black creeks, all set in
a large
crater with a commanding view over the Garut Plain make
this outing an unforget- table experience.
You can easily combine a visit to Mt. Papandayan with a
weekend in or near Garut. Also, you can make it a
one-day outing from Bandung, in which case you need a
good seven to eight hours for the round trip. From
Cipanas, expect a round trip to the Mt. Papandayan
crater to take three to four hours.
MOUNT PAPANDAYAN NATIONAL PARK : Mount Papandayan is a
complex stratovolcano, located in West Java, Indonesia.
At the summit, there are four large craters, and it
contains active fumarole fields. The 1772 eruption has
truncated the volcano into a broad shape with two peaks
and a flat 1.1 km wide of Alun-Alun crater in the
middle. It looks like a twin volcano. One of the peaks
is called Papandayan and the other is Mount Puntang.
This interesting place lies in the border of the Bandung
and Garut regencies, about seventy kilometers south of
Bandung and about 19,25 km from Garut. It is one if the
most spectacular volcanoes in this province and the top
of the mountain are easily reaches, because there are
special road leading to the crater. Mount Papandayans
crater is probably one of the most spectacular mountain
scenes on Java Island.
There
is a Cangkuang temple situated by Cangkuang Lake, which
was a major discovery of archaeological value as it was
the first of its kind found in West Java, dating back to
the 8th century. This volcano is situated 17 km from
Garut or 50 km from Bandung.
Access to the mountain is easy with any vehicle. Public
buses take you only to within 9 km of the crater, so you
either have to walk the rest of the way or take an ojek
(private motorbike with driver).
Though you can drive directly to the rim of the crater,
keep in mind that your safety is not guaranteed—hot
steam and boiling water and mud can scald you badly, and
many of the sharp-edged rocks are rather loose. Do be
careful.
There are two routes to Mt. Papandayan: one from the
Garut area in the east and the other from the west via
Pengalengan. Note that the two routes do not connect—not
even a jeep can drive the 1 km across the crater.
From the east
The
eastern approach from Garut is by far the easiest. Good
roads take you right to the lower edge of the crater.
Between Cipanas and Garut is the Tarogong roundabout, 42
km from the Cileunyi toll road exit. When you come from
the north (Bandung or Cipanas), head toward Garut and
Papandayan at the Tarogong roundabout. Half a kilometer
past the roundabout, turn off to the right to bypass
Garut and follow the Papandayan road sign. Continue on
past the turnoffs to Kamojang (7km) and Darajat (9 km).
Some 15 km from Tarogong the road connects with the main
Garut-Cikajang road. After another 7 km, in Cisurupan,
where the main road takes a sharp turn to the left, you
go straight up the hill. From here it's 9 km to the
crater.
The road winds
up the mountain, at times steeply, but is reasonably
well surfaced and should not pose a prob- lem for any
car. At the car park, park- ing and admission fees are
required.
Approaching Mt. Papandayan across the Garut Plain, you
can see the horseshoe-shaped crater with a gap- ing hole
to the northeast. This open side resulted when, on 11
August 1772, a terrible eruption shook the mountain and
the whole Garut area. What had once been a solid
mountain flank exploded sideways across the Garut Plain.
Geologists estimate that several cubic kilometers, or
several thousand million tons, of rock mass were blown
out that night. If trucks were loaded with that mass and
lined up bumper-to-bumper, they would encircle the earth
three dozen times! Small wonder that more than 3,000
people lost their lives during that eruption.
From the car park it's a 20-minute walk to the middle of
the crater, and now you see why it is sometimes called
the "Golden Crater's—its cen- tral part is a dome of
yellow sulphur. Sulphur vapor hisses out of many small
fissures in the dome to form columns visible from far
away.
Shining yellow crystals of crystallized steam are
everywhere, and in one place have collected to form a
statue-like figure more than 2-meters high. In earlier
times local people channeled the steam through pipes to
control this crystallization process to be used for
commercial purposes. Be extremely careful not to step on
one of these old brittle pipes, for it is likely to
break and release scalding steam.
You may wish to take a few sam- ples of sulphur with you
as souvenirs, but it would be best to wrap them first—sulphuric
acid may form and burn holes in fabrics. Apart from
sulphur deposits, boiling springs and streams flow in
dark blue and gray colors. Be sure to avoid the soft
patch- es of ground.
Through the open northwestern side of the crater a
fantastic view stretches before you across the whole
Garut Plain and as far as Mt. Ciremai near Cirebon, 80
km away The Mt. Papandayan crater is truly a visual
feast. To the Mt.
From the west
The western route takes you to the upper crater rim
through some mem- orable scenery. Be forewarned, how-
ever, that long sections of the road are often in poor
repair and only passable with a jeep. Public
transportation is unreliable. You can drive up either
the Cisangkuy Valley or the Citarum Valley to the
village of Santosa and then on to Mt. Papandayan (see
the relevant sections in "South of Ban- dung"). From
Bandung you may need about four hours to reach the
crater on this
MOUNT PAPANDAYAN - VOLCANO
TREKKING
Duration: 04 DAYS / 03 NIGHTS
Start / Finish: JAKARTA
Grade: Easy - Moderate
DAY 01: JAKARTA - GARUT
Upon arrival at Jakarta Airport, you will have drive
to Garut at the southern of Badung.This land journey
will takes 7 - 8 hours drive in normaly traffic road
condition. Stay Overnight at hotel in Garut. (D)
DAY 02: GARUT - QUEEN CRATER - TREKKING TO PONDOK
SALADA CAMP
Transfer to Papandayan entry gate, then you will
have to start tr
ekking
up the Mt. Papandayan pass through the active rim
Crater, and Hot spring to reach Pondok Salada. It will
takes 4 - 5 hours trek from the parking area. You will
have stay overnight in tents at Pondok Salada base camp
for aclimatization. (B, L, D).
DAY 03: SUMMIT MT. GEDE PAPANDAYAN - BANDUNG
Early morning proceed to the summit of Mount
Papandayan (2,640 M) for about 2 - 3 hours walk. After
you take picture then you will have descend down to base
camp for have breakfast. At the approtiate time, you
will transfered to Bandung for another sightseeing on
the Paris Van Java. Traditional performance of
sundanesse people will be present during stay in
Bandung.(B, L, D)
DAY 04: BANDUNG - JAKARTA
On today , you will have drive back to Jakarta. Enroute
stop at Indonesia Safari Park, a free range zoo on the
mountain slopes. Overnight at a hotel in Jakarta Or
transfer to the airport for flight to your next
destination. (B, L)
Come and Discover Indonesia Islands with us!
