Geopark Ciletuh – via the secret jungle route!

July 2018

After being out of action with a nasty shoulder dislocation this year, I felt just about recovered enough to attempt a ride out of Jakarta and headed for this geopark I’d been hearing about on the south coast. The first 2 nights were spent camping on the edge of, and trekking into the jungle around Citalahab village.

On day 3 I followed my favorite jungle path through deep pristine rainforest at dawn. This place is home to a whole host of rare wildlife.

The beauty of this route which finally opens out into lost-in-time villages can’t easily be described. Reaching the coast from here in a day was pretty tough though; no sooner have you descended down a huge hill, the ascent immediately begins again and your mind constantly plays tricks that there will not be another climb.

As it was approaching evening, my back gear cable snapped and continuing seemed impossible. Miraculously however, I discovered I had just completed the final descent and was able to roll towards the coast in top gear.

I stopped a cyclist to try and get some help with my bike. He turned out to be a local businessman who not only helped with the bike but invited me to his house, bought me dinner and let me sleep on the roof of a property he was developing.

The next morning I finally made it to Geopark Ciletuh.

The peaceful road along this stretch of coastline has stunning views but the climbs to experience them are insane.

I camped at a waterfall on night 4 of my trip and enjoyed an invigorating morning shower after a night under the stars.

The next day I ended up following a trail into the jungle which passed through one village and finally terminated at my favorite ever camp spot.

I had to stash my bike in amongst some trees to continue along the path to get here. Man-sized monitor lizards kept racing out of my way crashing through the undergrowth and also came sniffing around my camp in the night. Floating around in the deep crystal clear pool after a tough ride and later cooking dinner as bats began exiting their cave and thousands of tiny fish started flipping up catching bugs had me feeling truly at one with nature!