Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Turunan menuju lembah kedua terasa lebih mudah daripada jalur menanjak ke puncak. - The descent toward the second valley felt easier than the uphill trail to the summit.

Be aware: turunan can also mean offspring / descendants in other contexts (from the idea of “coming down from” an ancestor), but here the context clearly makes it a downhill section of a path or road.

What does menuju mean, and how is it different from ke?

Both relate to direction, but they’re used slightly differently.

ke = to / towards / into (a very general preposition of direction)
- ke lembah = to the valley
menuju = towards / heading for / in the direction of
- It behaves more like a verb or preposition-verb meaning “to head towards”.
- turunan menuju lembah kedua = the descent leading towards the second valley

Often you’ll see them together:

menuju ke lembah – heading to the valley

In this sentence, menuju lembah kedua already clearly expresses direction, so adding ke would be optional and less common in this exact phrase. menuju here gives the sense of a route that leads to that valley.

What does lembah kedua mean exactly? Is it “second valley” or “two valleys”?

lembah kedua means the second valley, not “two valleys”.

lembah = valley
kedua = second

So lembah kedua = the second valley.

If you wanted to say two valleys, you would say:

dua lembah = two valleys

kedua can also mean both in some contexts (e.g., kedua orang tua = both parents), but here with a singular noun lembah, the natural reading is the second valley.

What does terasa mean here, and how is it different from merasa?

merasa = to feel (used with an explicit subject who does the feeling)
- Saya merasa lelah. = I feel tired.
terasa = to feel / to be felt / to seem, but used more impersonally or with things as subjects, often meaning “it feels / it seems”.

In the sentence:

Turunan menuju lembah kedua terasa lebih mudah...
Literally: The descent to the second valley feels easier...

We’re describing how the descent feels (i.e., easier), not who is feeling it. So terasa is natural.

You normally don’t say “*saya terasa”. You say:

Saya merasa senang. (I feel happy.)
Perjalanan ini terasa singkat. (This trip feels short.)

How does the comparative lebih ... daripada work here?

Indonesian often uses the pattern:

lebih + adjective + daripada + comparison

In this sentence:

lebih mudah = easier (literally more easy)
daripada jalur menanjak ke puncak = than the climbing route to the peak

So the structure is:

X terasa lebih mudah daripada Y
X feels easier than Y.

You can use the same pattern with other adjectives:

lebih cepat daripada = faster than
lebih berat daripada = heavier / harder than

Can you also say lebih mudah dari instead of lebih mudah daripada?

Yes, in everyday spoken Indonesian, lebih ... dari is very common:

Turunan itu lebih mudah dari jalur menanjak ke puncak.

However:

daripada is more standard and is safer in writing and formal contexts.
dari is used so much in speech that it’s widely accepted in casual writing too.

So for learning purposes:

Prefer lebih ... daripada for comparisons.
Understand that you’ll frequently hear lebih ... dari from native speakers.

What exactly does jalur menanjak mean? Is menanjak a verb or an adjective here?

jalur = route / trail / path
menanjak = literally to go uphill / to climb / to slope upwards

In jalur menanjak, menanjak is a verb used as a modifier, similar to English “climbing route” or “rising path”.

So jalur menanjak means:

the uphill route
the climbing trail / ascending path

Indonesian often lets a verb directly modify a noun to describe the noun’s typical action or characteristic:

orang berjalan = a person walking
mobil lewat = a car passing by
jalur menanjak = a route that goes uphill

What does menanjak literally mean, and is it related to nanjak?

nanjak is a colloquial form of mendaki / menanjak, meaning to go uphill / to climb / to ascend.
menanjak is the standard, more formal word.

So:

Jalannya menanjak. = The road goes uphill.
Kita harus menanjak dulu. = We have to climb up first.

In jalur menanjak, it describes a route that slopes upward / ascends.

Why is it ke puncak and not menuju puncak? Are they interchangeable?

Both are possible, but they have slightly different feels:

ke puncak = to the peak (simple direction)
menuju puncak = towards the peak / heading for the peak

In this sentence:

... jalur menanjak ke puncak.

ke puncak is enough; menanjak already implies upwards movement, and ke gives the destination.

You could say:

jalur menanjak menuju puncak

This would sound fine and a bit more descriptive or literary: the ascending route heading towards the peak. But it’s slightly heavier. The original phrasing is more concise.

Is daripada one word or two? When would you write dari pada?

In this comparison, it must be one word:

daripada = than (used in comparisons)

So:

lebih mudah daripada jalur menanjak = easier than the uphill route

dari pada as two separate words is rare and usually only appears when dari and pada each keep their own meaning (from + at/on), typically in more complex or older-style sentences. For normal comparison:

Always write daripada.

Could I change the word order, for example, putting terasa earlier in the sentence?

The original:

Turunan menuju lembah kedua terasa lebih mudah daripada jalur menanjak ke puncak.

This is the most natural order:
[Subject] + [verb/feeling] + [complement] + [comparison]

You could slightly vary it, but big changes quickly sound awkward. These are still okay:

Turunan menuju lembah kedua itu terasa lebih mudah daripada jalur menanjak ke puncak.
(Adding itu: that descent to the second valley…)

But something like:

Terasa lebih mudah turunan menuju lembah kedua daripada jalur menanjak ke puncak.

is possible in spoken language for emphasis (starting with the feeling), but it sounds less neutral and more like you’re focusing on the feeling itself first. For learners, the original order is best.

Could I use jalan instead of jalur here?

You could, but there’s a nuance.

jalan = road / street / way (very general)
jalur = route / line / lane / track (often suggests a specific path/route among alternatives)

In hiking or route descriptions, jalur is very common:

jalur pendakian = hiking/climbing route
jalur cepat = fast lane / express route

So:

jalur menanjak ke puncak = the uphill route to the peak (chosen/known “route”)

If you say:

jalan menanjak ke puncak

it’s understandable and not wrong; it just sounds a bit more like “the road that goes uphill to the peak” rather than a specific hiking route or official route.