Ranca Upas Travel Diary

During the holidays earlier this month, my boyfriend and I visited Bandung for a short getaway. Ranca Upas had been on my places-to-go list for such a long time and being able to finally visit the place to start the new year was pretty exciting!

If you are driving from Jakarta via toll road, you can take the Kopo exit, and follow the path all the way to Ciwidey. Ranca Upas is located quite a distance from Bandung. In truth, it is situated close to Kawah Putih. It surely was a long journey, but one thing is for sure - it's worth the hassle.

Upon arriving at Ranca Upas, I was greeted by this splendid view of greenery landscape, gorgeous mountains as well as my favorite attraction on the site: the deer conservatory! It was truly a perfect place for a short vacation!

There were lots of camp tents and street foods on the site. It was quite crowded. The entrance fee was 12.000 IDR for each person, and 5.000 IDR for the vehicle. Even if it is crowded, you don't have to worry about parking since they have a considerably huge parking area.

Ranca Upas itself opens for 24 hours, but the deer conservatory has its own operating hours (opens at 8am and closes at 5pm if memory serves right). At the conservatory, there is no extra fees for sightseeing. However, if you would like to step into the mud and interact with the deers, they do provide rental boots and carrots for a certain fee.

The deer conservatory was a large open muddy field with lots of deers in it. Not too many actually, but it was enough to make me feel excited! It was so beautiful, and it didn't stink, surprisingly.

I was feeling bold at that moment so I decided to rent the boots right away with the intention of stepping into the mud field to feed the deers. Turned out, it wasn't a great idea at all.. As soon as I stepped into the mud, I got anxious (even though the deers were still a couple of meters away from me). In fact, I started to freak out when the deers began approaching, let alone feeding or patting them. I kept avoiding the deers by roaming here and there while I held my screams inside my throat. Shy of screaming and running around, I decided to step out of the field and to feed them from the stage provided instead. It was clearly a much better idea.

Therefore, my suggestion is to try feeding them from the stage first; and if you feel that you are brave enough, feel free to rent the boots by then.

Overall, it is a stunning yet photogenic place! As a matter of fact, during my visit, there was a couple doing their pre-wedding photo shoot. Ranca Upas is indeed a wonderful destination!