There's a new glamping site in Sukabumi, just about 2.5 hours away by car from Jakarta. They are pet-friendly, so I decided to give them a try. So let's cover the ground area first. There are 4 different tents to choose from, 3 of which have shared bathrooms and are located by the kitchen area not too far from the entrance gate. The fourth tent is the Luxurious Tent which is located in a separate area, and it has an en suite bathroom and a jacuzzi with a view. The room rates include 3 meals per day and a snack for 2 people, but you can add an extra bed for extra people and that includes meals and snacks as well. There's also an extra charge for pets, for the cleaning fee.
So we booked the Luxurious Tent for 3 nights, arriving on a Sunday and leaving on Wednesday. We were charged weekday rates even though Wednesday was a public holiday so that was nice. The down payment is 50% of the total bill and the remaining balance was due prior to our stay.
On Sunday just before 9 am we packed our Honda Jazz with our luggage, the kid, and the dog, and drove out to Sukabumi. The toll trip took about 1 hour and the rest was non-toll roads that got narrower and narrower as we climbed up. This is one of the rare occasions where paddle shifts are actually useful. Google Maps will guide you through the shortest route, but it's best to ask the glamping admin for direction as the shortest route involves roads in very bad conditions. I do recommend taking a small car if possible, as even in the Jazz DH was sitting at the edge of his seat at some points. I also don't recommend driving if you are not a confident driver.
We arrived at Kancana Mandira's front gate and the security guard reconfirmed our booking. They don't take drop-in visitors so you won't be allowed to enter without a booking. We were directed to drive straight towards the kitchen and park there. The staff got busy as soon as we arrived. First, a pot of tea was served and we were asked to wait for our lunches because we arrived a little early. We took the opportunity to explore the area and took some pictures. It was a nice day with a blue sky and little clouds in the sky. In the distance, we were able to see Mt. Gede and Mt. Pangrango.
Just a little after noon, we were told that our tent was ready. So we packed ourselves back into the car and drove to the tent. It was downhill and then uphill and when we reached the car platform we were greeted with a stunning view of 3 mountains. The closest one on the left is Mt. Salak, and to the right in the distance are Mt. Gede and Mt. Pangrango we saw earlier. There was a staff that helped us carry our belongings to the tent, and one of them gave us a tour around the tent.
The Luxurious Tent has a 2x2 king-sized bed, a sofa bed (futon), a closet, a coffee table, side tables, umbrellas, and an emergency lamp that came in handy when we had a power outage! The bathroom is a proper structure with a toilet, shower, double sinks, and a jacuzzi. Unfortunately, the jacuzzi was just for show.... the hot water tank they used was only a 15L capacity. There's no way you can fill the tub with enough hot water to use it properly.
We settled in, put our stuff away, and started heading out. Even though they had a safe deposit box in the closet, it wasn't working at the time. Even the staff that came to look at it couldn't fix it. So we carried our valuables and locked them in the car instead. There's a mini waterfall within the glamping ground, so the three of us walked down and up the hill again to get there. At first, the climb up felt like it was unbearable.., but as we walked on it several times, it gets easier.
The breakfast that morning was another Indonesian dish called Lontong Sayur. Miss Kiki and DH had another day of school and work, and I hung around with the dog and a book until lunchtime. More rice dish with deep-fried stuff and sides.
That afternoon, we had a huge thunderstorm that lasted almost all night. There was a little mishap with the internet too! It turned out that they turn the routers off during thunderstorms because of the lightning. That was quickly sorted out though, when we informed them that we need it for work, they turned it back on. In the evening we had a power outage, but they had a generator ready so we had partial electricity back on within 10 minutes. The power outage lasted a couple of hours, and then it was back to normal. We went to bed and woke up the next morning ready to go home. This time only Miss Kiki woke up early enough to catch the sunrise, but I felt a little regret that I didn't when I saw how clear the sky was when I got out. We could see so far into the distance, and the weather was a lot warmer than the day before. That morning, they didn't serve us breakfast at the usual time, but they brought us snacks instead. We had brunch at around 11 am (another rice dish) in the kitchen, and while waiting for check-out time and the meal we played around with the drone.
During our meal just before checking out, we chatted a bit with the friendly owner that happened to be there, and she generously gave us taro roots freshly plucked from her garden to take home. All in all, it was a good stay!
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