An ancestral village
An old way of life.
DANIEL JULIE from Paris, France — CC BY 2.0 · Randynovianr — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Azmie Kasmy — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Azmie Kasmy — CC BY-SA 3.0
A traditional Sundanese village in a green valley on the Ciwulan River, whose Muslim residents have for centuries lived the way their ancestors did, in about a hundred similar houses of wood and bamboo with palm-thatch roofs, without electricity by choice, keeping their traditions of building, farming and ceremony. Visitors walk down to the village on a long stone stairway of hundreds of steps through rice fields and trees, then tour it with a villager guide among tidy houses, fish ponds, the small mosque and rice paddies. Bamboo handicrafts are sold. Some sacred sites in the neighbouring forest are off-limits to visitors. Entry is usually free, with a donation to the village and a fee for the local guide. The climb back up the stairs is tiring, and photographing inside homes needs permission. It lies halfway between Garut and Tasikmalaya, about three hours from Bandung, so make it part of a day trip. Respect residents' privacy and village rules.
An old way of life.
Hundreds of steps.
Wood and palm thatch.
Neglasari, Tasikmalaya, on the road between Garut and Tasikmalaya
By choice, to keep ancestral tradition and harmony with nature and to avoid fires in the close-packed wooden houses, though neighbouring villages have power.