Economic crisis hits 'paradise on earth', too

By Mehru Jaffer

BANDUNG (JP): Even paradise has not been spared by the cruel krismon (monetary crisis). The vast stretch of highlands around Bandung have always been the abode of the gods. Wrapped in mountain mists and cradled in the lap of hissing volcanoes, thundering waterfalls and steaming sulfurous hot springs, all visitors like to make sure that they enter the sacred land of the Sundanese with great caution. But not the krismon. It has simply barged in, threatening to play havoc with heaven itself.

Until a year ago, the Javana Spa at the foot of Mt. Salak was a favorite haunt, especially for weary Singaporeans, who liked nothing better than to drown all their worldly concerns and take refuge in the bosom of the lush rain forest, thousands of feet above sea level.

But after the rioting against the country's ethnic Chinese, Singaporeans have become careful about visiting Indonesia, let alone the remote Parahyangan region that is home to the staunchly Muslim Sundanese.

During the combined holidays of the Chinese New Year and Idul Fitri in the past, the spa played host to 40 guests or more. This year the guests did not number more than five.

Among the staff of nearly 80 members at the spa, most keep their fingers crossed that they will never have to pack up and leave their job in the clouds. Many of the employees are from coastal towns like Semarang and Surabaya and swear that they love living by the sea. But to be so close to the sky provides them with a special kind of high.

Pilgrims have been aware of the healing properties of the Giri Jaya area since times long gone. The warm sulfur mud of the crater found here was guarded jealously in the past for the exclusive skin care of ancient royal families.

Today the magic waters from the still simmering volcano are piped into a hot spring area at the Javana Spa for everyone's use. Ever since the acres of tea, coffee and clove plantations were cleared in 1991 to open an American style health resort against a very Japanese-Javanese setting with muddy sulfurous baths, the lives of many a guest have been transformed. But for the local people employed at the spa, a great satisfaction was to witness their own standard of living upgraded in just a couple of years.

"I was only a shopkeeper in Sukabumi some years ago," says Ela, as she gives a massage in an aroma therapy session.

After she came to the spa, she was trained in Jakarta and then observed instructors from a Californian one which is reputed to be the best in the world. Ela feels that her life is perfect at the moment.

Her husband works here as a house helper and her children are in the care of her mother at the staff quarters, three kilometers away. The staff has one meal a day on the spa premises and so far their old salaries still allow them to afford food, shelter and education for their children.

When the spa is full, Ela gives up to six massages a day. These days she seldom gives more than two treatments.

Eko, a Sundanese from Sukabumi, worked in a motor garage before he came here to be trained in the art of preparing food and beverages. Away from the grime and filth of repairing cars, Eko can walk proudly around the spa as elegantly as the swans in a nearby pond, pouring endless herbal teas and fresh fruit juices into the glasses and cups of his guests.

After Hadi, 32, graduated from a school of agriculture in Semarang, he was employed at the spa as a gardener. He is so grateful to wake up each day and be able to look out upon the rolling green terraces of the Japanese garden, landscaped by well-known architects Kazuhisa Fukawa from Japan and Gatot Marsel from Jakarta.

During the eight years that he has been at the spa he has graduated to become one of the most popular aerobics instructors and hiking guides. On the way to one of the seven waterfalls that cascade down in the vicinity, Hadi will talk nonstop, pointing out root beer plants in one corner and clove trees in yet another. He is also in the habit of teasing the touch-me-not flowers along a path that is carpeted with leaves and blossoms used in traditional medicine. He will also feed deer across the fence and pause a while to reply to the call of a rare Javan gibbon. Ultimately it is also Hadi who takes guests into the deep pools of the grotto waterfalls for a shower in the tingling water.

Javana Spa turned nine years old on Saturday (May 8), and is for those who seek peace, fun and health, and are willing to spend Rp 900,000 (US$100) a night.

Dr. Rani, who visits the spa at least twice a year, feels that this is the best one in Asia, if not in the world. She has been to spas in Switzerland, India and Thailand and loves to return again and again to this one specifically.

Her Aunt Lalita came all the way from Malaysia. She said, of course, there are spas in her country but they are not as beautiful as this one. On this occasion both came to their favorite hideout inside the ring of fire not only with their respective kids but also some cousins and nieces. Most importantly they love to return to the people who run the spa.

Kanti first came here from Jakarta some six years ago to nurse a broken heart. "Nothing at the spa has changed since then. It is as efficient as it was then and I feel as pampered as before," said the 30-year-old businesswoman.

Indi, an Indonesian expatriate who now lives in Switzerland was returning home happy with the thought that she had managed to loose a kilogram in two days. That, she thought, is a major victory for someone like her who loves to eat, drink and smoke all the time.

And Subadris, the chief chef at the spa, has made it his personal mission to bring smiles to his guests. Often he goes crazy trying to count calories all the time but the thought that each guest has received the food they deserve makes all the sweat and toil worth its while.

"When guests return to the spa on their second and third visits, I spoil them with a special cake. I love to feed my guests with food that tickles the taste buds but does not harm the body," explains Subadris, a Sundanese who was born and brought up in Jakarta.

He has worked at the spa for six years and says that he would be saddened to return to the capital city. He has been around the world while cooking on passenger ships and at five-star hotels, and Subadris feels content at having at last found peace, quiet and satisfaction here in the mountains.

"I am now an old man. It would be cruel to ask me to start life all over again, especially in a chaotic city like Jakarta," he says.

Try telling that to the krismon, Subadris.