The Beautiful Kawah Putih and Bandung
For those who are looking for relevant information to travel to Bandung, please scroll down to the end of the post. Feel free to email me, and I can share whatever limited knowledge I have.
Last weekend, we went to Bandung, a city about 120 km. from Jakarta. This was our first outing since we came to Jakarta, and we were really excited about it. The plan was to start at about 6am and be back by 10pm. We had gathered a list of places to visit in Bandung, a pretty long one :). Then as friends suggested, we had to choose only 3 or 4 as that was all that we could have done justice to, in a span of 8-9 hours.
The travel started along the crowded toll road, as we navigated through the traffic leading to Bekasi and Chikampek (Industrial settlements outside of Jakrta). As we moved ahead, the traffic started reducing, the road getting more and more beautiful. This country seems to be blessed with each and every colour of green that is possible. Hill slope farming could be seen along the road, and any plant that can produce flowers always seems to be full of flowers of bright colours.
We entered Bandung at around 8:30. Our first destination was Kawah Putih, a crater lake to the south of Bandung. The winding roads leading to the lake were nothing different from the roads to Mahabaleshwar. Large number of strawberry farms could be seen on the way. As we moved higher, Nilgiri trees were visible. The nilgiri forests, through which the road meandered, reminded me of Ooty and Kodaikkanal and made me even more nostalgic. We could feel the weather getting cooler. We reached the top, and as the car was entering the parking, saw a few travellers in jackets and caps. We did not carry any warm clothing, as staying in Jakarta, warm clothing was unheard of! As it turned out, the temperature was pleasant. We started climbing down some stairs, wondering what we would see, and then what we saw in front of us, was just unbelievable. We all were seeing a crater lake for the first time. A greenish blue water body, with fumes very close to the surface, surrounded by hills, lush green on one side, and burnt due to sulfur on the other. Deep blue skies beyond and the clouds and wind playing hide and seek, changing the backdrop from gray to deep blue to deep blue punctuated with cottony clouds.
We clicked to our heart's content.
It started getting slightly warmer, and we exited the place. Saw some strawberry vendors, and bought strawberries :) yumm yumm!
As we started our climb downwards, we decided to make a stop at one of the strawberry farms. The person gave us baskets, and asked us to pick strawberries :). The activity actually was a real pain in the neck, as there were hardly any ripe strawberries in the field, and one had to really search hard! But the view of the valley was breathtaking
We then proceeded towards the Bandung city. The city is known for many things including educational institutions, eateries and last but not the least factory outlets. Eateries were not applicable to us, as being vegetarians, it is very difficult to get any food for us :). The cuisine in this part of Indonesia is called Sundanese cuisine (from what we learnt from the boards and hoardings!). We could find a restaurant called "Curry Kitchen" that served us Indian vegetarian food (after about 1 hour!).
Then we headed to an area with nice administrative buildings and all. The Bandung city itself reminded me of my own hometown Pune, in India. The most "close to heart" similarity was that one could see hills from the most crowded streets! I could not see to many high rise buildings In Bandung. The streets were neat, but not too big. The buildings represented modernity as well as some areas had heritage buildings too. I read about Bandung having a good engineering college, which again is similar to Pune. The weather was a pleasant contrast to the heat and humidity of Jakarta.
There wasn't much time to stop anywhere, so we were like "this is abc, and that is xyz" and moved on to the factory outlet street. After shopping for clothes in a shop called "cascade" on Riau street, we were in two minds about going to the Dago area as recommended by a friend. Finally, looking at our driver's skill to ask directions, and the time, we decided to head back to Jakarta. The return journey was slightly tough, as all of us had woken up at 4.00 am. We took turn staying awake, and finally reached Jakarta at 10pm. Wow! It was a memorable trip!
Quick tips for the information oriented
Last weekend, we went to Bandung, a city about 120 km. from Jakarta. This was our first outing since we came to Jakarta, and we were really excited about it. The plan was to start at about 6am and be back by 10pm. We had gathered a list of places to visit in Bandung, a pretty long one :). Then as friends suggested, we had to choose only 3 or 4 as that was all that we could have done justice to, in a span of 8-9 hours.
The travel started along the crowded toll road, as we navigated through the traffic leading to Bekasi and Chikampek (Industrial settlements outside of Jakrta). As we moved ahead, the traffic started reducing, the road getting more and more beautiful. This country seems to be blessed with each and every colour of green that is possible. Hill slope farming could be seen along the road, and any plant that can produce flowers always seems to be full of flowers of bright colours.
We entered Bandung at around 8:30. Our first destination was Kawah Putih, a crater lake to the south of Bandung. The winding roads leading to the lake were nothing different from the roads to Mahabaleshwar. Large number of strawberry farms could be seen on the way. As we moved higher, Nilgiri trees were visible. The nilgiri forests, through which the road meandered, reminded me of Ooty and Kodaikkanal and made me even more nostalgic. We could feel the weather getting cooler. We reached the top, and as the car was entering the parking, saw a few travellers in jackets and caps. We did not carry any warm clothing, as staying in Jakarta, warm clothing was unheard of! As it turned out, the temperature was pleasant. We started climbing down some stairs, wondering what we would see, and then what we saw in front of us, was just unbelievable. We all were seeing a crater lake for the first time. A greenish blue water body, with fumes very close to the surface, surrounded by hills, lush green on one side, and burnt due to sulfur on the other. Deep blue skies beyond and the clouds and wind playing hide and seek, changing the backdrop from gray to deep blue to deep blue punctuated with cottony clouds.
We clicked to our heart's content.
It started getting slightly warmer, and we exited the place. Saw some strawberry vendors, and bought strawberries :) yumm yumm!
As we started our climb downwards, we decided to make a stop at one of the strawberry farms. The person gave us baskets, and asked us to pick strawberries :). The activity actually was a real pain in the neck, as there were hardly any ripe strawberries in the field, and one had to really search hard! But the view of the valley was breathtaking
Then we headed to an area with nice administrative buildings and all. The Bandung city itself reminded me of my own hometown Pune, in India. The most "close to heart" similarity was that one could see hills from the most crowded streets! I could not see to many high rise buildings In Bandung. The streets were neat, but not too big. The buildings represented modernity as well as some areas had heritage buildings too. I read about Bandung having a good engineering college, which again is similar to Pune. The weather was a pleasant contrast to the heat and humidity of Jakarta.
There wasn't much time to stop anywhere, so we were like "this is abc, and that is xyz" and moved on to the factory outlet street. After shopping for clothes in a shop called "cascade" on Riau street, we were in two minds about going to the Dago area as recommended by a friend. Finally, looking at our driver's skill to ask directions, and the time, we decided to head back to Jakarta. The return journey was slightly tough, as all of us had woken up at 4.00 am. We took turn staying awake, and finally reached Jakarta at 10pm. Wow! It was a memorable trip!
Quick tips for the information oriented
- Bandung is about 120-125 km from Jakarta. With the toll road, it takes about 2-2.5 hours from city to city; the time may vary depending on the traffic conditions from Jakarta to Bekasi
- Kawah Putih takes another hour or so to erach after reaching Bandung. It is best to visit this place early, as it tends to get crowdier on weekends
- If you are traveling with a driver who does not know roads well, it is worth planning your travel with google maps
- We made a mistake in waiting at the Indian restaurant. Though they served us excellent food, we spent too much time. If you can live with a Pizza hut veg pizza, that is a better option. We had carried food for breakfast and evening snacks and a lot of juice and ultra milk packs with us. Dinner we took in Jakrta.
- It is best if one can make a 2 day trip to Bandung as then only it would make complete justice to looking around all places. If you stay in Jakarta, do shop in Bandung. The prices for branded stuff are truly competitive.
- Links
Wow this is beautiful place! Very well written, Arati.
ReplyDeleteCrater lake!! Wow!! Wonderful snaps and a good travelogue!! :)
ReplyDeleteu seem to have had a great trip and the crater lake must have been wonderful.
ReplyDeletesagar, naveen, tejas : thank you very much
ReplyDeletekhup sundar
ReplyDeleteNice place. Well described.
ReplyDeleteWont you include links to picassa pictures of the bandung trip. You teased me with all the description and then I am left craving to see the pictures. Its like having rich chocolate and then no water.
ReplyDelete