Adventure is always better when it’s unplanned. Often these spontaneous trips make it more memorable and something that can be very refreshing. More often than not, when we overplan something and involve way too many people it won’t work out. This is why I enjoy traveling solo or with family who have a flexible schedule. Obviously, my parents are one.

Today, we’re checking out an area called Wonosalam. It’s a hilly area located on the foothill of Mount Anjasmoro. Being a place that’s colder than its surrounding area makes this place an escape haven for people from the city. The area is known for its Durian and there are so many places offering Durian tourism. Other than Durian, they also have various small rivers, pine tree forest as well as Luwak farm. But since my dad can’t walk far and needed some fresh air, we’re only visiting the pine hill and he’ll stay at the top while me and my mom went on a nice stroll around the hill.

_{lush rice field and sugarcane plantation on the way to the area.}

The journey to the place was quite meandering. The area is known for its steep and small road. It takes some skill to pass through the road but any decent driver would do. Since we started at 6 AM, the road that we passed through was a little empty. It was indeed refreshing seeing the scenery around and it has been something I truly missed, seeing greenery and lush rice fields. Sometimes this city leaves me in awe because it has so many undiscovered places that I can’t help but to make a few stops along the way.

It takes about 30 to 45 minutes depending on the traffic to reach the area from the city center. There’s definitely a marker as soon as we reach Wonosalam; It’s the durian smell all around its surrounding as well as Durian sellers on the road side and huge Durian statues.

When we reached the area, we were greeted by the ticketing guy who was cleaning his workspace. His place is a pretty humble hut. This is not our first time coming here but it was for my adoptive dad.

As a side note, to enjoy nature in this country, there’s always a ticketing fee and though it’s something I despise, it is what it is. We paid around $2 for two people and the car’s parking fee. For that price, it’s actually not that bad since it’s all inclusive with the parking. My dad was excluded from paying because he was only staying at the top without actually going inside the hilly areas.

The place has many interesting photo spots and offers refreshing air. Although when I was there,some people were burning trash creating smokey air surrounding it. Thankfully, I think the trees do a great job filtering them out and it wasn’t really long that the smoke filled up the air.

This is one of the photo spots in the area. While my favorite is the next picture after this, the bridge where I spent almost 10 minutes just to take pictures of my mom.

My mom and I got down to the lowest part of the pine forest to screen the area through this stairs. The place was lively on its own, particularly with buzzing mosquitoes and occasional bites. I forgot to use mosquito repellent and they were swarming into my skin left and right. But it didn’t stop my mom and I from taking pictures of the surroundings and my mom with her obsession with selfies.

In this place, there are also stalls selling snacks and drinks. They are often managed by locals. If we're tired of exploring the area, we can sit on the wooden stumps or these cement stumps surrounding the hills. They also have shades as the sun can feel a little strong even shaded by the tall pine trees.

Personally to me, natural attractions like this are even better than man-made ones. I enjoy being in nature exploring hidden gems and just in awe of the country’s rich biodiversity. In that place they even have the flower that’s also known as “ the bird of paradise”. I mean , look at how pretty it is below !

Of course, it’s not going to be a visit to pine forest areas if you haven’ taken pictures of conifer cone. They are like the marker if we’ve visited the lush pine forest area.

I also remember in this place, it was also famous for mini trekking as well as dirt biking.

Since these past few days have rained, the surrounding area is quite slippery. We also ended up collecting mud in our sole and I had to take off my shoes so I wouldn't stain the car’s carpet. My mom looked very refreshed and happy when she’s able to set foot outside the hospital and home.

It makes me overjoyed to see her smiling and happy. She also asked me to take pictures of her a lot and I just obliged. But at the same time, I am pretty satisfied that I got to hangout with my mom and camera again.

I hope I can take her and my adoptive dad to check out more places in the future again. Hope you guys like the pictures too!