Bogor and Bandung

Hi everyone!

Can you believe it? My tenth post, and two in one week! I’m on fire! I figured I might write this story whilst it’s still a little fresh in my mind.

I had a weekend away! You might have seen some pictures on Facebook and Instragram if you follow me on any of those, but I still want to share the story. The family was so very nice enough to take me on this little outing. We had been talking about going for a while now, since I’ve been here and as much as I enjoy going to Jakarta, a little change of scenery is nice. And what a change it has been! So finally we found a weekend where we could all go together which was a treat.

We left last Friday right after the children finished school so I had to pack the night before. I was told it would be cold, but I mean, what is cold to people who live in a constant 33 degree weather, right? So I packed lightly, added a jumper and figured that would be exaggerated. We headed for Jakarta before we left the highway and drove trough Serpong to head south to Bogor. The drive itself from Rangkas takes about four hours, but as the weekend had just started and people were busy to get home or go away, the traffic was heavy and it took us a little longer and so we arrived in the city when the sun has gone down. We decided to stay at hotel Seruni, a absolutely lovely hotel with multiple complexes just on one of the hills so you can oversee the city, which caused for some amazing scenes in the dark! We had dinner at the hotel and it only took them 50 minutes to present me with the ordered Chicken Gordon Blue (I was so bored waiting I taught the little girl how to say it with a French accent, and she ended up saying Ayam Gongong Ble the rest of the trip… sorry about that!) but it was delicious and worth the wait. After a quick stroll around the premises and an evening spent on the balcony marvelling at the view, it was time to hit the sack for an early morning!

Mornings in Indonesia are always early, so by 6AM I was up and running. Well, running figurative because of the heat, although the temperature up on the hill (not mountain, as the Dutchie in me would call it) lowers to a nice 20 odd degrees, but walking up and down the steep hill will heat you right up. Time for breakfast. The hotel was filled with tourists from all over the world, and so was the gigantic breakfast hall. Accompanied by lovely live music with a female singer who had a very pleasant voice we sat down to eat, bread and croissants for me, nasi for the rest of the family. It was time to move to the next location. We wanted to stay in Bogor a little bit longer, but the president of Indonesia had decided he wanted to visit his presidential residence and so half the city was closed down and we couldn’t head back into town. Never mind then, there’s enough around to entertain us.

The drive to Bandung was very long, but the view was amazing. Bogor is surrounded by tea plantations and as we headed further up and into the hills we left Bogor behind us. On the scenic route, we arrived in Bandung about 5 hours later, just in time for lunch and to do a little shopping. We weren’t staying in the city for the evening which was a shame because I would’ve liked to see some more of it, but there’s always next time (I hope). Instead we head up into the mountains just as the sun was settling (it settles pretty quickly over here which still surprises me) and the temperature was dropping and spent the night at ‘Kampoeng Strawberry’ in Ciwidey. This area is particularly famous for growing its strawberries, and nearly every single shop and/or hotel somehow managed to name it after the famous strawberry which I found rather amusing. It turns out, the temperature in this area does drop significantly during the night. It’s been a very long time since I felt 15 degrees (if it didn’t go any lower; it was the last thing I saw on the meter) and realised a jumper really wasn’t going to be enough! Not much to do about that though, so I sucked it up and dealt with my cold feet like I did any other night in Holland, complaining about them the whole time! OK, that’s a joke, I actually felt fond of the fact that I had cold feet like that; hasn’t happened to me in a long time!

The next morning we were up early to feel some of the morning cold and once again be rewarded by some gorgeous views. Our plan was to head up to Kawah Putih, and we were told the night before we ought to head there early as it will be crowded soon enough. The drive took literally 10 minutes before we reached the gates of the park and it was a further 5km drive up the hills to reach destination. Once there it was already a little crowded, but the views were absolutely spectacular! I took endless photographs, but none that really do the place justice. It’s alright, it’s printed in my memory and for you a possible place to visit sometime soon!

Since the president had left Bogor once again, we headed back to the city, this time across the highway which speeded things along rather quickly. Not only that, the temperature rose in the same tempo. I even saw the meter hitting 40 degrees just around Jakarta, but it dropped a little around Bogor city, luckily! I wanted to see the botanical gardens of Bogor, or Kebun Raya, as my father told me many of my family members including my grandfather used to stroll around in that exact garden many, many years ago. It was a thrilling feeling to walk around there, even though it might have changed ever so much. The weather didn’t really hold up and it rained a little, but that didn’t stop me from wandering around and taking some amazing pictures. Kebun Raya is very large and beautiful that really makes you feel in touch with nature (apart from the very dirty polluted river streaming through which is a true shame), which I think is an amazing achievement when you’re in the middle of a big city!

As the sun settled behind the clouds it was time to drive back home again. I had a fantastic weekend away and feel blessed I was able to see some more of this fine country I’m currently exploring!

Speak soon, with love,

Joany x