As green, and good, as it gets at Melrimba Garden
By Mehru Jaffer
PUNCAK, West Java (JP): Next time hubby waves yet another business-class air ticket to where ever, do not despair. Forget the flying and concentrate on the advantages of having feet firmly and forever on the ground.
The plan is to spend a restful weekend with the family. But come Monday morning, get the rusting alarm clock to roll you out of bed before the cock doodles-a-do and then meet up with that gang of soul mates before you breeze into Puncak.
Been there, done that? No, not at the Melrimba Garden, you haven't. While much of Puncak is nothing but a ride on the beaten track, there are some treasure spots still to be discovered. Melrimba Garden is one of them.
Exactly an hour's drive from Jakarta, the Garden stands 1,400 meters above sea level. On arrival at 7 a.m. the temperature is fresh, around 15 degrees, and the dew still sparkling. A boon is the sprawling parking place inside the premises of Jalan Raya Puncak KM 87, that seems capable of accommodating not just your own but all the cars of the entire neighborhood.
First to welcome visitors here is the wandering mist, and there are hugs galore from the fog. A steaming cup of tea brewed from homegrown lemon grass helps to loosen those stiff joints in preparation for the long walk along the undulating contours of paradise that is a combination of flower, rock, water and herb garden.
A guide will keep company but only on request into the dense, decadent beauty and is happy to explain how the mossy parts got so dark, what that patch of green is about and what exactly those luminous flowers are.
It is also possible to get the birdsong translated or, if you so wish, to keep the long silence further suspended for a second or two more, at least until the first rays of the sun decide to fling away their cloudy covers and to kiss the cheeks a very good morning.
Once the walk is over it is best to get back to the feet of the hills lush with tea plantations where you can choose a sumptuous breakfast from 11 food stalls. However, the best thing to do is to inform Melani Rimba about the meal of your choice from Jakarta itself so that the appetite made so ravenous by the combination of mountain air and scenery is not put to further trials.
Talking to Melani over a cup of cappuccino at the Sendok Garpu, the barrack-like structure converted into a restaurant, it was difficult to believe that this picturesque spot of such beauty, repose and seclusion was once a pharmaceutical factory.
When her husband, a partner in the factory, moved all his machines to Bogor, Melani refused to part with the property. For a few years she came here from Jakarta to relax. What eventually filled her with great anticipation was gardening. She was content to clear the weeds from around ancient trees and in cultivating fruits and herbs. She tamed the ferocious forces of water from a nearby spring into streams and ponds, and released fish of every hue and color which can be admired from quaint little wooden bridges. She imported flowers from the Netherlands and Australia and when the surroundings began to display an attractive blend of contrasting colors and forms, she wanted to share all this beauty with others.
Melani, who is chairwoman of the Indonesian Association of Flowers, now looks forward to visitors who will also participate in flower arrangement and bonsai growing sessions organized by her.
So the very prosaic looking, pencil-long, front portion of the factory was given a facelift and renovated into a restaurant with open arches and a souvenir shop. Apart from Indonesian cuisine, Italian, Japanese and Chinese food is also served here.
"For all those interested, we provide cooking tips and demonstrations in different cuisine from across the archipelago," Melani said.
The garden employs about 130 people from the nearby villages making Ace, 35, happy at being able to earn a living in his beloved Sunda highlands.
"I cannot bear to be in Jakarta for more than a couple of hours," said the chief gardener and graduate of the Bogor Institute of Agriculture, in a refreshing contrast to thousands of other able-bodied young people who are abandoning their villages and flocking to cities like Jakarta in search of work.
Ace loves working on the land and proudly shows off Bunga, the well stocked shop adjoining the garden that sells potted plants, tools and other accessories for the garden. It is possible to spend an entire afternoon here, admiring the wide range of decorative plants, flowers and herbal bushes from Indonesia as well as abroad. Also spotted at the shop were other items to further beautify the garden, like lamps, statues and pots.
Like all Sundanese, Ace recommends plenty of greens on the plate; he is able to tell which herb is able to cure what ailment and how soothing to the soul which leaf is.
Open to the public since December 1998, the garden offers another service in providing tricks on professional landscaping as well as technical advice on gardening in your own home. But Melani's dream remains to provide nature lovers with overnight accommodation on the premises, so that each moment from dawn to dusk is spent in the lap of the luscious landscape is experienced personally and not merely told to you by writers like this one.
The garden is open seven days a week, between 9 a.m. and 10 p.m. on weekdays, and between 8 a.m. and 11 p.m. on weekends and holidays. The advantage of a visit on a weekday is that it prevents one from wading through the oceanic traffic jams flooding the main road at Puncak on holidays. Just remember to inform the garden of your early morning date with the lark at telephone numbers (0263)523204, 523205 or 523206.