Bandung - Gateway to volcanic craters

Bandung is the provincial capital of West Java, Indonesia on a highland plateau 768 meters above sea level, surrounded by mountains and located in the middle of prehistoric lake. It is also the center of textile industry in Indonesia, with thousand of textile shops and factory outlets that sell numerous well-known brand with economical price. Nowadays, factory outlets have become main attraction for shopping goers.



ITINERARY:

Day 1: Singapore - Bandung
Day 2: Tangkuban Prahu - Ciater Hotsprings - Jalan Dago
Day 3: Bandung - Singapore







DAY 1 (22 May 2009, Friday)

The opening of the brand new Hilton Bandung and the recent availability of low cost carriers flying direct from Singapore to Bandung inspired me to book a short weekend trip to Bandung.

Indonesia Air Asia QZ7972 departed Singapore at 1415hrs for a 1hr 35min flight to Bandung. The plane condition is not too impressive however, with several broken arm rests, torn seat covers, and flaked ceiling board. However, I can’t complain much for the price that I’ve paid for anyway.





At the Bandung Airport


On arrival in Bandung, I managed to get a taxi to Hilton Bandung for Rp40,000. The driver took a shortcut, cutting through some villages and onto bumpy tracks to get to the hotel which is located about 3km from the airport. I’ve also managed to get the driver’s contact (Rosman +62 2276456698) to hire him for a full-day tour Tangkuban Prahu.

The Hilton Bandung was opened 2 months ago and it was an impressive hotel with modern technology installed in the rooms. The keycard is touch pad, the electronic safe requires you to swipe your credit card through to lock/unlock, the electronic blinds is controlled by a remote control, enabling you to have an open or close concept bathroom, and the joystick level in the bathroom and basin tap allows you to control the water flow and water temperature.














I had a welcome cocktail drink, and ordered a black forest cake go to along with.



Railway track


Street scenes in Bandung






Sunset over Bandung


Jalan Braga is the city’s quasi-European strip, featuring a series of coffee shops, quality restaurants and bakeries.




Bakso Noodle at one of the stalls.




DAY 2 (23 May 2009, Saturday)

After a sumptuous breakfast at the hotel café, Rosman had arrived at the hotel lobby with a 7-seater Suzuki Arena to begin our journey to Tangkuban Prahu, which is about 30km north of Bandung. Admission fee cost Rp35,000.



At 2076m above sea level, Tangkuban Prahu is chilling cold. The huge queen crater at the top, known as ‘Kawah Ratu’, is an impressively large crater that will take you two hours to walk around the circumference of the crater. Its last eruption being in 1969, Kawah Ratu is an inactive volcano, but still emits sulphur fumes.




It's pretty commercialised as there are plenty of stalls selling souvenirs and garments.



A secondary crater, Kawah Upas, is 1.1km away and will take 20 minutes to walk on the ridge between the two craters. Due to time constrains, I’ve decided to forgo a visit to Kawah Upas. However, a better and less crowded walk is to Kawah Domas, a volcanic area of steaming and bubbling geysers that can be reached by a trail.


View from Tangkuban Prahu on the trail.


At Kawah Domas


Many visitors cooked eggs with the steaming geysers.


Moving on to Ciater Hotsprings, about 8km from Tangkuban Prahu, Ciater is in the middle of huge tea and clove estates. The main attraction in Ciater is the Sari Ater Hot Spring Resort, although they are quite commercialized. Car admission to Sari Ater cost Rp13,000 and tourist admission cost Rp15,000.

There are at least a dozen of man made hot spring pools in the Resort with a large number of visiting tourists, mainly from other parts of Indonesia. The resort also consists of activities such as the flying fox, pedal boat on the lake, children playgrounds, etc.




It was almost 1630hrs by the time I got out of the resort, so I’ve decided to skip Maribaya waterfall which I had initially planned. I informed Rosman to send me to Jalan Dago for shopping at the factory outlets.

The traffic is seriously bad. Rosman has to divert through some mountains, passing some remote villages just to get to Lembang and into Bandung. At Jalan Dago, it is a shopping heaven. There are hundreds of brand in each Factory Outlet, and there are few dozen Factory Outlets on just Jalan Dago. I purchased a couple of business shirts for about Rp95,000 to Rp140,000 each, bearing labels like Zara men, Burberry, etc!




Back at the hotel, dinner at the café is considerably value for money. The international seafood buffet cost only Rp157,000, serving international cuisines like sashimi, crabs, etc.



DAY 3 (24 May 2009, Sunday)

The 1115hrs morning flight left me with no time for any activities. After breakfast at the hotel, I hired a taxi to get to the airport for Rp19,000 to catch the return flight home. The weekend trip is pretty short, and there are still some places I’ve not been to. I’m certain that I’ll be returning for more.



MORE PHOTOS

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FAST FACTS

Travel Insurance: S$13
Flight: S$108
Transport S$39
Accomodation: S$46
Tours and entrance fees: S$8
Food & beverages: S$43
Shopping & miscellaneous: $64
TOTAL EXPENDITURE: S$321



EXCHANGE RATE
S$1.00 = Rp6,983



TRAVEL GUIDES / NEWS / MAGAZINES

Bandung Tourism
http://www.bandungtourism.com/

Bandung hotels, tourism and travel, West Java - Indonesia
http://www.visitbandung.net/

Wiki Travel - Bandung
http://wikitravel.org/en/Bandung

Wikipedia - Bandung
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bandung



MAPS

http://www.indonesia-tourism.com/west-java/map/bandung_city_map.html

http://bandungmap.com/

http://bandungmap.com/html.php

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=bandung+map&rls=com.microsoft:en-US&oe=UTF-8&um=1&ie=UTF-8&split=0&ei=9ecKSpnZIqX66gPE_JyUAQ&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&ct=image&resnum=1

Kuching - "Cat City"

The name of the city, Kuching, is thought to derive from the Malay word kucing, meaning cat. Many of the locals refer to Kuching as the "Cat City" but it more likely comes from the Chinese word for port ("cochin") coupled with the Malay name mata kucing (cat's-eye) for the longan fruit, a popular trade item.



ITINERARY:

Day 1: Singapore - Kuching
Day 2: Sarawak Cultural Village - Semenggoh Wildlife Centre
Day 3: Kuching - Singapore







DAY 1 (15 May 2009, Friday)

On arrival in Kuching Airport on TR494, I managed to secure a full day trip with Hornbill Tours to Sarawak Cultural Village and Semenggoh Wildlife Centre for the next day for RM130.

Taxi to Hilton Kuching took about 20mins due to the peak hour traffic, and cost RM22 from the Airport Taxi coupon counter. On arrival at the Hilton Kuching, a pleasant complimentary upgrade to a Suite Room at the Executive Floor awaits.

Hilton Kuching from the waterfront


Suite Room on the Executive Floor






Complimentary chocolates


Excellent sunset view of the Dewan Undangan Negeri (DUN) Complex and Kuching Town from my room




The budget Tune Hotel is just across the street from Hilton


There are plenty of budget guesthouses and domitaries in Chinatown. Among them is this Chinese Tea House.


I walked along the Kuching waterfront to get to the open air market and had a great seafood meal at one of the stalls.


Drunken prawns


The locals indulge in jungle fern known as the midin. It is much sought after for its crisp texture and great taste, and is usually fried with garlic or belacan.





DAY 2 (16 May 2009, Saturday)

The driver arrived before 0830hrs to get me on the minibus for a 45min ride to the Sarawak Cultural Village. The award winning Sarawak Cultural Village is tucked away on the foothills of Mount Santubong, 35km away from Kuching. You can see Sarawak's ethnic diversity at a glance as this living museum depicts the heritage of the major racial groups in Sarawak

Footbridge used to cross rivers


Many Borneo natives live in longhouses, in effect, a row of dwellingsand a village street under one roof. The Bidayuhs, a group comprising the Jagoi, Biatah, Bukar-Sadong, Selakau and Lara peoples of West Sarawak, built their houses in mountain fastnesses, tacked to a steep hillside like a gigantic staircase. This was partly for protection against marauding enemies, partly for access to pure, fresh water.

The Bidayuh Longhouse


The Iban Longhouse is a traditional longhouse is built of axe-hewn timber, tied with creeper fibre, roofed with leaf thatch. It is nearly always built by the bank of a navigable river, and the visitor approaches it from the boat jetty. Several doorways lead from the outer to the inner verandah under the roof.



An Iban preparing rice grains


Hand making handicrafts


Carving in chinese


The Orang Ulu are gentle and graceful people, as reflected in their songs, music and dances. Sit on the verandah of the Orang Ulu Longhouse nest with the friendly craft-ladies as they do their intricate beadwork whilst in the background, floats the melodiously haunting tune of the sape, their stringed musical instrument. Other sights of interest are the art of body tattooing, parang ilang, their fighting sword, klirieng, their burial pole.




The Melanau people traditionally lived near the sea within reach of pirates. As a means of protecting themselves, the Melanaus built massive tallhouses forty feet above the ground.




Malay houses are built on stilts and a visitor approaching from the front comes up a staircase.


The Chinese farm house is built at ground level. The floor is made of trodden earth, the walls of whitewashed sawn timber. The roof is thatched with leaf attap. The house is divided into two main parts; the family room which contains the kitchen, eating and living area as well as a storage area for valuables such as bicycles or agricultural machinery, and the bedroom.




Sarawak Cultural Village's award-winning dancers and musicians present their famous multi-cultural performances with spectacular costumes and elegant dance routines to provide an entertaining and enjoyable introduction to Sarawak's ethnic groups and their cultures. Charming Orang Ulu maidens folllowing the pattern of the hornbills or the rugged Iban warrior performing the ngajat, shield in hand. To the rhythm of deep gongs and rainforest instruments.














Tried the Sarawak Kolo Mee and Assam Laksa at one of the food centre during lunch.



After lunch, the driver took me to the Semenggoh Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre, with species of Orang Utans such as Mawas and Mayas on display. Visitors have to walk 200m into the jungle to get to a viewing area, about 50m from the feeding platform to see the keepers leave food on the feeding platform for the orang utans.



After a nice shower back at the hotel, I walked over to Top Spot Foodcourt for dinner, as suggested by the Lonely Planet Guidebook. Stall #25, Bukit Mata Seafood Centre, was highly recommended in the guidebook.





From Top Spot, I took a 30 minutes walk to the Sunday Market at Jalan Satok. The Sunday Market is like a huge hypermarket divided into many sections such as food, fruits, vegetables, fishes, potted plants, jungle produce, pets, bundle clothing, magazines and even toys. It comes alive beginning Saturday afternoon till the afternoon of the next day.






DAY 3 (17 May 2009, Sunday)

I got up early to walk around Kuching town in the morning, only to be greeting by a light drizzling rain. Had some yummy Kolo Mee and Laksa for breakfast in Chinatown.




The Tua Pek Kong Temple, next to the Hilton Kuching is the oldest Chinese temple in Kuching built in 1843. Various festivals are held here for example The Wang Kang Festival and Ghost Festival.



Hong San Temple


Chinatown



The Post Office


India Mosque Lane at Lorong Sempit is filled with life in the early morning.






Kuching City Mosque was built in 1968 with striking design, featuring a combination of Mid-western and Italian architecture.


Food offerings at the mosque


From the Kuching Waterfront, motorised Tambang ferry passengers back and forth across the river all day at 50 sen per trip.


On the other side of the river is the newly constructed Dewan Undangan Negeri (DUN) Complex and Fort Margerita.


Completed in 1879, Fort Margherita resides at a strategic position at the riverside due to the historical reason that it was once a defensive structure to protect Kuching from possible attack.



That's how quickly the weekend past!



MORE PHOTOS

Click Here



FAST FACTS

Flight: S$110
Accomodation: S$43
Transport: S$6
Tours and entrance fees: S$59
Food & beverage: S$35
Shopping & miscellaneous: S$11
TOTAL EXPENDITURE: S$274



EXCHANGE RATES
S$1.00 = RM2.40



TRAVEL GUIDES / NEWS / MAGAZINES

Wiki Travel - Kuching
http://wikitravel.org/en/Kuching

Sarawak Cultural Village
http://www.scv.com.my/main.asp

Wiki Travel - Bako National Park
http://wikitravel.org/en/Bako_National_Park

Bako National Park
http://www.forestry.sarawak.gov.my/forweb/np/np/bako.htm

Virtual Tourist - Kuching
http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/Asia/Malaysia/State_of_Sarawak/Kuching-1282361/TravelGuide-Kuching.html

Kuching Car Rental Online
http://auto.catscity.com.my/kuching-car-rental-rates.html



MAPS

http://www.outer-court.com/kuching/kuching-map.html

http://travelmalaysiaguide.com/images/Maps/kuching-map.jpg

http://www.feng.unimas.my/encon2008/Images/Kuching%20Map.jpg

http://www.giantleaf.com/MAP/Kuching.htm

http://www.maplandia.com/malaysia/sarawak/kuching/