We spent only one day in the 1500-metre mountain area of Puncack, and it wasn't an experience to savour. There are gardens, tea plantations and a (supposedly) good wildlife park in the area but the inclement weather and a poor accommodation choice meant that we quickly moved on...
Travel Diary Details - Puncack Area
Puncack Pass area
It took an hour to drive to Puncack from Bogor and cost us 40,000rp by car. The rural scenery is good and several interesting villages are passed along the way. The Puncack area looked lovely so we decided to stop at the Puncack Pass Hotel which is central to many attractions in the area; its setting is spectacular, surrounded by mist shrouded hills and fertile tea plantations. The tea plantation workers work 7am to 5pm six days a week for 60,000rp a month.
First impressions are good but things go downhill from there. The Puncack Pass Hotel has apparently been built specifically for rich Chinese and Indonesians. We were the only westerners there and didn't get a very friendly reception - they even wanted to keep our passports! Room rates are high and range from about US$40 and above for clean and comfortable doubles with hot and cold water, fireplace, television, large bedroom and sitting room. It's bungalow accommodation with wonderful views where everything you want or need usually comes at an extra cost.
We had problems getting hot water. If you stay here, get that sorted out first - this place is high in the hills and gets cold and wet. Twelve pieces, count them, of firewood are included in your room price, which lasts about two hours. Extra bundles come at a price of 3000rp! When the fire runs out hop into bed and enjoy the views and atmosphere, but bring some warm clothes. You'll get one blanket each - extra doubles come at 10,000rp.
About a kilometre up the road from the hotel is the Rindu Alam restaurant where most visitors to the area seem to congregate. It's a haven for hawkers as well, but it's better to buy from the many small markets along the side of the road up and down the mountain. The food at the Rindu is very good with views over the mountains and neighbouring tea plantations. There's a wide choice of Indonesian regional dishes as well as Chinese standards. We paid 25,000rp for two, including drinks.
TIPS:A few tips on the street markets in general; buy the pisang raja bananas (they are the best), make sure the nanas (pineapples) are heavy (sweet with much juice), and ask for the jerunga (a type of large, sweet pomelo) to be sweet (manis) because a lot of sour stuff is sold to unsuspecting people - oh, and bargain hard for everything.
TIP:This entire area is a Mecca for Indonesian holiday-makers and it's so popular on weekends and public holidays that the traffic on the mountain grinds to a halt and it turns into the opposite of why people come here. Try and avoid it at these times.
We were rained out for much of our time here so we didn't get to see many of the surrounding natural attractions. The hotel dampened our enthusiasm too, and hastened our departure. The area is, however, worth exploring I think but you'll need to find a better base and be more patient (or fortunate) with the weather than us. The area around Cibodas is also quite convenient, beautifully sited, and there are several good, cheap guesthouses here. If I was visiting again this would be my first preference.
Puncack to Bandung
Every day hundreds of buses travel up and down the mountain and you can catch one going either way with no trouble at all - just stand on the edge of the road and wave one down. We flagged down one of the large public buses that speed by every ten minutes or so. They advertise their destinations on the front, it's usually somewhere like Bandung, Cirebon or Surabaya. Most buses will be travelling through Bandung.
Our bus cost 3000rp. Not too cramped and a relatively comfortable trip by Javanese public transport standards. It took an hour to get to Cianjur terminal where it stops for ten minutes and dozens of crazed hawkers jump on you. It's then about a one and a half hour trip on to Bandung.
UNLESS YOU PLAN TO VISIT THE PUNCACK PASS AREA ATTRACTIONS I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND A SPECIAL STOP HERE.