Explore Pawon Cave
Pawon Cave and Stone Garden Geopark, are located in the same area in Padalarang, West Java Province, Indonesia. Visiting this tourism area will let you discover two historical heritages at the same time.
Pawon Cave is situated in Mount Masigit village, about 25 km west of the city Bandung. Both Stone Garden and Pawon Cave are laid on the same hill where the Stone Garden is on the hilltop, while the Pawon Cave is on the ground.
Moreover, Pawon Cave has a length of about 38 meters with a width of about 16 meters. Pawon in Sundanese means kitchen, the naming idea by the Expert was based on the shape of the main cave that looks like a kitchen.
The Things of Pawon Cave that are worth exploring
Visiting Pawon Cave will give you another benefit. Besides the amusement of traveling, you will also gain knowledge of the history and the civilization. If we go inside the cave, we will find some rooms with some windows fairly sizeable like a big house or huge apartment of the ancient time.
Historically, Pawon Cave was one of the banks of Lake Bandung Purba. Experts found the ancient human skeleton, cultural relics from Pre-Neolithic age such as a stone bracelet, shaved, grindstones, and many various forms of artifacts. We can find a replica of human skeletons as the symbol which presents ancient humans from four different ages who ever lived there.
The main entrance of the cave forms a narrow passage to the first high rock shelter called the Backyard Room. The chamber is big enough and decorated by stalactites and flowstones.
Moreover, we can find a smaller chamber called Dining Room or kitchen which connects the the Pawon Chamber to the big open chamber called The Main Hall. The Main Hall was one a very big cave with ornaments of limestone blocks on the surface and shaped by vertical walls at all sides.
Another interesting fact inside the Main Hall is the existence of 40 cm thick of volcanic deposits. There is also a big window in this chamber from which we can see the beautiful green valley underneath. It is believed that this main hall as the common room of the ancient cave dwellers.
What to prepare when visiting the Pawon Cave
Since the cave is quite dark and slippery, wearing boots is the best option for making your trekking activity more pleasant. Don’t forget to bring light with yourself since it will be useful to make the journey more comfortable.
Furthermore, the most important stuff is camera or mobile phone with a high-resolution camera since a photo hunting is one of the most exciting activities travelers can do here.
In addition, the scenery of green valley combined with white karst hills is the best views offered by this area. Based on our experience, it will be great also if you bring some meals with yourself.
After exploring the Pawon Cave, you may continue your adventure to visit Stone Garden Geopark which is not far from the cave. We can reach the garden by walking; there is a path that connects the cave with the garden.
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