We went with a guide, who shall remain nameless, not from the National Park as it seems they will still only take you if you are conducting research and fill in tons of forms (even more if you are non-Indonesian) – or presumably if you hand them a fat brown envelope. The trail is pretty straightforward though. I think Highcamp made a trail across the saddle between 1 and 2 so a traverse can be done but I think it takes a full day.

So ‘Anon’, no comment about Bureaucracy or permissions.Be useful if you can clarify.Did you go up there by yourselves?with nat park guide..if so pay how much
Is there any sensible path from salak 1 to salak 2 making a traverse possible?

For Salak 2: 4 hours up, 3 hours down.
Start 675mdpl near Highland Park.
Houses – 750mdpl
Pine woodland & sign – 750mdpl
Pos2 – 1122mdpl (last water)
Pos3 – 1400mdpl
Pos4 – 1535mdpl
Pos5 – 1726mdpl (best Pos for camping)
Monument – 2160mdpl
Salak2 Summit 2180mdpl (good views of Salak 1 between monument and summit)
Notes: lots of monkeys between 1000-1500mdpl. nettles on first section. a bit steep and slippery from pos5 to summit. excellent views on summit ridge. nice hike.

Myself and a couple of other hikers were supposed to be climbing Salak 2 from Curug Nangka today. It appears that after several years it is now permissable for hikers to climb on this route (a route which really never should have been ‘closed’ in the first place, given that it’s the closest mountain to Jakarta and Bogor).
Anyway, our guide contacted us late last night to let us know that you have to ask for permission to climb Salak 2 a minimum of ONE WEEK BEFORE you wish to hike. So we had to cancel.
The mind really does boggle! How can this possibly be a good policy? First of all, it is questionable whether or not a mountain ought to be ‘closed’ at all unless as a result of volcanic activity (which is not the case here). Gede-Pangrango is overcrowded these days and hikers dearly need other options near Jakarta to spread the load a bit.
The process of getting ‘permission’ to climb is something of a grey area to me but from what I can gather you need to ask at the resort (!) at the base of the mountain near the Curug Nangka waterfall (possibly ‘Highland Park’ resort???). This presumably means two trips there – one to request permission a minimum of a week in advance and then a second trip to climb the bloody thing!
Nice to see that rational thought is alive and well in West Java!
I’ll probably give this one a try in October if the ‘paperwork’ can be arranged.

You’re welcome, see you Mr. Zac

Just had a great hike up this weekend with a group starting at around 10pm and arriving on the top around 3.30. We realized that we had started a bit early so we took our time on the way up, with plenty of nice breaks. Conditions quite wet with light drizzle so we were freezing when we got up there with damp clothes! Nice sunrise around 6am and laying around in the sun for a few hours helped to warm us up. Then a 3 hour hike down with plenty of time for photos.

Guests to Gunung Salak should look into the PORTIBI farms and Ekologika lodge, a cool eco-lodge and organic farm set up by a long-time Jakarta expat. They can provide guides for the mountain and also comfortable lodging for when you get down! Close to Cicurug village. Complete info available on Facebook.

4 of us ‘bagged’ Salak 1 on Sept 5th 2011, up from Cimelati.

Just want to confirm times, 4-4.5hrs up, 3-3.5hrs down for a fairly strong group.

Nice forest, relatively unspoiled.Quite a bit of bird and primate life.

We were a bit concerned about not being able to find the right turn, but the turn to Cimelati is well signposted, as you enter cicurug..then head staight up to Petanian Cimelati

I used your contact information via Latif and he refered me to a nice young man named ‘Aldi’ who took me to the top of Salak Satu. We stayed a night on the mountain which was really cool considering how so many Indonesians consider Salk to be laden with spirits and otherworldy creatures. I must admit that all the folklore stories added to the ambience of the whole mountain. I’ve passedby this mountain a couple of dozen times since moving here five years ago and it was a real accomplishment to finally bag it. A lot of hard work after all the hard rain. I am not sure if it’s because there is a substantial gain in altitude but coming back down the slippery trail was a real challenge to put it mildy. we took the route via Cimelati and it was a nice climb and we were back in Jakarta by the next evening. Thanks for the contact info, it helped out a lot as a volcano that’s been pointing it’s finger at me for years was finally bagged. thanks.

Yesterday, 13 of us went up to the Javana Spa, for the hike to Kawah Ratu. This was the David Jardine Memorial Walk. Dave was a great journalist (formerly teacher) who passed away in April. He had always had a fascination for Gunung Salak and spent many happy hours watching the sun set over its slopes from the Salak Sunset Cafe in Bogor. It was his wish that some of his ashes would be scattered on its slopes. A new website has just been set up to publish his writings….. http://davidjardine.net/
Not everybody made it to the crater, but the weather stayed reasonably fine and it was for the most part an enjoyable day trip out from the urban chaos of Jakarta.
Unfortunately, there are a few negative things that must be said about what should be quite a simple trip from Jakarta and back!!! Firstly, a new barrier has been erected further down to Javana Spa road, so everyone who wants to use the road up to the Javana Spa must pay an additional Rp2,000. It’s a very small amount of money, granted, but the road is a public road and this sort of highwayman behaviour seems to be becoming quite widespread in West Java, whereby road users are expected to fill the pockets of some local chancers just for using the road through the village! I’ve experienced it in the hill roads north of Bandung and also near Pelabuhan Ratu. Very odd, quasi-official ticketing. Whether the money is spent on improving the road or area is, I think, fairly obvious to anyone with even a basic knowledge of Indonesian society!
The other issue is at the information centre further up the road where they, quite officially, always try to charge anyone non-Indonesian almost ten times the price for entry. Again, it’s not the actual cost that is the issue here, but the ‘us and ‘them’ racist mentality. There is also another sneaky trick whereby if, for example, you pay for 12 tickets, they try to give you just 8 or 9 so they can personally pocket the difference in ticket price. Pathetic, sad behaviour.
On the positive side, the security chaps up at the (seemingly always empty) Javana Spa were very friendly and helpful and let us park the minibus next to the security post for a small payment.
Getting back to Jakarta afterwards could only be described as a nightmarish ordeal!! We used the Jalan Alternatifs to try to avoid the worst of Cicurug and Bogor but even so it was painfully slow going. Then we finally limped onto the toll road to find that it was at best 10km per hour the entire way to Jakarta. It took us about 6 hours to get from the Javana Spa to the outskirts of Jakarta (which seemed deserted by comparison). It was so horrendous that instead of adjourning to Jalan Jaksa for a few drinks in memory of Mr Jardine, some people drifted home to forget the nausea of the journey. Some of us managed to retain enough energy for a quick bite to eat and beer at the excellent Ya Udah Bistro near Jl Wayhid Hasyim (Menteng).
The Bogor – Sukabumi road must rank among the worst in Indonesia, so be warned! You might be better just flying off somewhere instead of try to do something local!

Thankz Mr.Daniel and Mr.Heinz
(latif)