Wildflower Hall's garden offers relaxation

By Mehru Jaffer

CIAWI, West Java (JP): Forget about the few bumps, jerks and jolts along the road which has fallen into such a shambles through sheer neglect. For at the end of the one hour ride away from the heat and dust of Jakarta lies the magic mountain itself, its feet locked in a never-ending kiss with the valley of crystal, with clear waters below and cuddly clouds above.

Everybody is familiar with most of the weekend resorts along the Puncak Pass perched atop Bogor, but perfect peace is possible only in the thicket of the Sundanese foothills far from the hustle and bustle of the main road.

Four kilometers after Ciawi, up Jl. Sukabumi and past the lively Pasar Cikretek, there is a path that wanders away into Lebak Ciherang, where Madam Arlene has been soothing souls for the past seven years at the Wildflower Hall guest house. Soaked in the scent of the low, deep-green bushes of numerous tea plantations, the only sound that is to be heard here is that of the humming brook, hopping and skipping through different corners of the guest house.

It all started 20 years ago when Arelene, a professional nurse, found it difficult to get the essential oils for her aromatherapy reflexology treatment. She started to grow herbs like lavender, mint, rosemary, thyme, basil and lemon balm on a makeshift terrace garden in her Jakarta home. Soon she had enough plants to be able to extract the oils.

That led to her search for ceramic jars to store the precious oils. She was told to look for Yanto, a potter who is said to fire the most beautiful bottles in the jungles behind the Puncak Pass.

Eventually Arlene did find Yanto on the slopes next to Tapos village and got the jars she wanted. But she was so bewitched by the surroundings there that she had a problem returning to the plains.

Soon she rented two hectares of nearby land and cleared parts of the jungle, tamed the frothing waters of the river and with the help of the villagers built a Sundanese style cottage made of bamboo.

"At first all that I was really interested in was growing herbs to be able to continue practicing aromatherapy," Arlene recalls. But passing groups, many on their way to see master potter Yanto at work, would stop and ask her what she was doing in the wilderness. Some stayed for a few hours, some others for a whole day, while requests to spend the night there led Arlene to build three more cottages. And from a herb garden, the Wildflower Hall blossomed into a gracious guest house.

Soon exhausted expatriates from Jakarta, famished for peace and quite, were pouring in for aromatherapy treatments and to rest. A stay at Wildflower Hall includes long walks, homemade meals and snacks prepared from vegetables grown on the premises and watching the activities in the herb garden, like the drying and distillation of flowers and leaves for making essential oils for soaps and perfumes.

Evenings are spent on the verandah with a pot of tea and maybe cookies made from peanuts. Conversation is sparse as everyone is eager simply to rest and say farewell to the sun as it prepares to retire for the day behind the mountains. When the moon is out in all its fullness, the world is lit by fireflies insisting on fluttering the night away. And if it rains, it is difficult to choose between the magic of a misty morning or a day drenched in sunshine.

Couples come here to reconnect, writers to meet their muse and those about to retire are known to have found the strength here to face the world once again.

At present a weekend trip of two nights cost Rp 1,500,000 for two, while a two day and one night trip is Rp 800,000 for two. A day trip with a gourmet lunch is Rp 250,000 per person and a aromatherapy reflexology treatment for weekend guests costs Rp 330,000. Guests on Wednesdays and Thursdays pay Rp 440,000 for the same treatment. While the prices and landscape at Wildflower Hall remains the same, the monetary crisis has robbed the guest house of much of its routine. From about 40 employees from two neighboring kampongs, Arlene can now afford just 10 regular employees.

That people here lost their jobs is a pity, as many of the locals are extremely poor, as exemplified by Anna, a 35-year-old mother of nine who was forced to give her children to those willing to feed them. Arlene adopted Anna's last baby, who is three months old and named Linda.

Much of the land that was used to grow herbs is now planted with vegetables and rice so the employees can feed themselves. The distillation of flowers and leaves has been discontinued for the moment and ovens and stoves in the kitchen are not lit as often as before.

Ina, who has cooked for Arlene for the last two decades, is unhappy because she now seems to have far too many days off. Umi, another household helper, spends a great deal of her spare time working in the garden.

With many foreign firms having closed their offices and expatriates returned home, the number of guests at Wildflower Hall has been reduced by about one third. Guests still come, but now it is mostly for day trips. Arlene recalls that 1998 was a very bad year for her business.

But for those still in the country a trip to Wildflower Hall is a must because it means living life, if only for a few hours, as it was meant to be lived.

Children and dogs are welcome at Wildflower Hall.