What would normally be a 3 hour ride took 7 hours on the Saturday that kicks off summer break in Indonesia. The air conditioning on the travel van (70,000 rp or $8 CAD) that we had hired also decided that, during this long ride, it would take a break and not work. That is what my trip to the hill top city of Bandung was like, with baby cockroaches playing at my feet…and on my seat…. and on my bag. This was all made better by a nice dinner at Café Sierra, high in the hills with a great view of the city. Due to the altitude, I actually was cold in my sweater and pashmina… not to mention seriously under dressed compared to the stylish Jakarta kids that flooded the city.
Having not made any hotel reservations, we were rescued by my travel partner
’s friend in Bandung. For 250,000 rp a night ($28 CAD), we were given a Bento box, Japanese style room fully equipped with kitchenette and mini bathroom. We even got a huge bowl of delicious nasi goreng (fried rice) and cucumber slices in the morning.
Another friend my fellow Montrealer arranged our motor taksi (50,000 rp + 10,000 rp for gas) that took us to Tangkuban Prahu, a volcano dormant since 1969. The crater’s center was still steaming (!) and the site kinda smelled like eggs, in a bad way. Our drivers definitely had skills,weaving through markets, buses and narrow alleys. There is no way that I will be able to do that on my own…
We wrapped up the day by having Yemen (noodles, meat and veggies in a bowl) on jeans street before taking a very scenic train ride through rice fields and mountain/volcanoes, over narrow bridges, and by thick jungle.
The only downfall was that the clerk who sold us our train tickets failed to tell us that the train from Jakarta to Bogor ended at 7pm, even though she knew we wouldn’t get to Jakarta until 8:00pm at the earliest. We (if by “we” I mean “she” my trav buddy since I don’t speak any Bahasa Indonesian) was able to bargain a reasonable price with a taxi driver to get us back to our hotel (where I found a HUGE cockroach on my bed).<sigh>.
Hotel details: Apartment Bukit Dago, Rini Joedawinata, Jl Bukit Dago Utara ll/11, Bandung 40135. 022-2504581. studio23@bdg.centrin.net.id
Ten years ago I set a goal to visit 30 countries by my 30th birthday. With no plan or country list to fulfill this goal, I decided to let life take me where it wished.
“See Simi Travel Blog | Adventures of a travel snob“, is just that. The account of an ex-20-something year old exploring the world, usually solo, and on a very limited budget.
Every other week I try to tell you a story about the friends, food, fun and fails I’ve had along the way.
