Paris Van Java aka Bandung, Indonesia

(Note: I have been lazy, this trip was from Christmas last year)

I have been to Bandung at least two or three times and the last time I went there was maybe 5 years ago. All I can say is every time I came to Bandung it was all to eat and shop (they got the nickname "Paris Van Java" for a reason :) Which the two things I enjoyed most from travelling :). Although, I have been wanting to go to Tangkuban Perahu whenever I'm in Bandung but never had a chance. My husband, who has never been to Bandung and always hearing good things about Bandung from his friends and colleagues, suggested to go to Bandung for Christmas Holiday. I was staying in Jakarta before the departure date to Bandung, so I took the minibus from Sarinah, Jakarta. I used "Daytrans" bus company (as suggested by my friends and family) and it cost IDR 75,000 and it took 3,5 hours to arrive in Cihampelas (somehow I thought I heard it's only 2 hours away?) It was rainy when I got there, good thing I brought an umbrella with me so I stood next to the road hoping to catch a taxi soon. An hour later, I finally found a taxi to take me to my hotel. I booked a room in "Favehotel" in Braga which is a famous area of "old Bandung" and famous of its culinary street. My husband flew from KL and we both arrived at the hotel at the same time and many have said traffic in Bandung is horrific during weekends because of all the Jakartanese coming for a weekend getaway,  but it's the only time we had. Arrived at the hotel,  I gotta say we were a bit disappointed. The hotel is situated in the underground of a mall,  the room is tiny and has no window and there's a sewage smell coming from the bathroom. It was still raining, but we had to find a tour agent to arrange our trip the next day. After a few hours looking for tour agent that does Bandung tour and we couldn't seem to find one, we finally decided to try this travel agent that I found from the internet called "Jactour" in Jl. dago Pojok 89AF. Not knowing where it is we stopped somewhere in Dago area, turns out we had to walk for another 2 hours up hill to get to this place. There's a sign said "guesthouse" in the front and sooo quite, no signs at all that it's a travel agent. We finally managed to book a tour to "Kawah Putih" (a volcanic crater) because of the timing and "Kawah Putih" sounds more interesting and convenient. The tour wasn't cheap, it was IDR 650,000 for the two of us. We could've rent a car and it would've been cheaper, oh well!

The next morning the car arrived 2 hours late from the time promised! We were pretty pissed but the beautiful view along the way and the friendly driver/guide washed our anger away, but not for long. Then the rain came. We stopped at a nice restaurant and had a nice Bandungnese specialty "Soto Bandung" Which was perfect for the situation, hot yummy beef soup in a cold, rainy, mountain area, surrounded by lush greenery, hmmmm. We finally got to Kawah Putih and parked our car in a big parking lot and had to continue by "Ontang-Anting" a small car that can fit around 20 people in.You can bring your car all the way up but you have to pay extra IDR 200,000 instead of IDR 35,000 for 2 people plus car park. But I accidentally paid extra IDR 50,000 to the driver because I thought the tickets we got from the parking lot was for entrance tickets and not our transportation. Our tour guide saw and realized it and tried to find the driver but he left and gone as soon as I handed the money :) 

It was still raining when we got to the point and even though you can't see much because of the fog, but you can still see a bit and feel the beauty of it. Despite of the many tourist there, it was quite in a way and there's mysterious feel about it. Probably because of the story behind it . This place was "found" or should I say "introduced" by a German/Dutch researcher who heard about this mysterious place from the locals, they mentioned that this place is so mysterious and haunted that no birds fly near here and no animal has found coming close to this place. Which later explained that it was all because of the sulfur. It was also because the sulfur smell that's getting stronger we didn't stay for long, plus we were wet and cold. 

The next day was rainy again, we went to Cihampelas area and walked around the street and the mall. Again, we couldn't do much because of the rain. 

So, our trip this time well...wasn't what we expected. But, I guess not all your trip turns out the way you wanted and I learned that it doesn't hurt to check the weather of the place you're going to visit before you leave! :) xx