Bandung is in western Java, about 100 miles southeast of Jakarta. It's a nice change of pace from the bustling capitol. Bandung is a nice quiet town that seems much smaller than it actually is. The population is 1.7 million, yet you're hard pressed to find them. The downtown area is only a mile long. It's made up of a mix of old colonial and modern buildings. Bandung is up on a central plateau, over 2,000 feet above sea level. The climate is cool and breezy, with temperatures in the mid 70s and little humidity. After a few weeks in hot, muggy Jakarta, it was great to get away to Bandung.
Taking
the train from Jakarta to Bandung is a great way to see western Java.
The
train is inexpensive and very comfortable, at least in first or second
class. The trip takes about three hours, and guarantees some
spectacular
scenery along the way, complete with terraced hills, majestic valleys
and
a few river crossings. There are several departures each day.
Several blocks north of the downtown area is Jalan
Cihampelas, which
is more commonly referred to as "Jean Street". The road
runs
north and south and is home to what must be the largest collection of
stores
selling jeans and T shirts in the world.
As the stores are largely selling the same product, they compete
for attention by decorating their roofs with huge models of Hollywood
characters
such as King Kong, Rambo, Superman, a space ship and various
others.
The picture above is actually one of the more conservative ones.
Some are not to be believed. Jean Street is certainly worth
spending
a few hours visiting. It's also not a bad place to pick up an
extra
pair of shorts or a T shirt.
A few
miles north of Bandung lie the Tangkuban Prahu, a collapsed
volcano.
It's one of the most accessible volcanoes on Java, and is a big tourist
draw.
We found dozens of busses at the base of the trail, and a rather bizarre sight at one of the lookout points. Inside a two story observation area were dozens of Japanese tourists, all wearing Daniel Boone style coonskin caps. I guess the caps are made nearby, as I saw several vendors with them. One look at the Japanese showed that they were making a killing.
We hiked down to the floor of the volcano, a long hike
through a
heavily forested area. It's a bit hot and the air is heavy with
sulphur,
but the variety of plants you'll see along the way make it well worth
the
trip. As you can see, the trail is nicely marked, so you
won't
have any problems finding your way.
At the
bottom of the cauldron are a series of small hot springs. From
time
to time they even send hot steam geysers shooting up in a mini version
of Yosemite's Old Faithful. It makes looking around a bit more
exciting.
Dozens of people take advantage of the waters to boil their
meals
right there in the springs. We didn't sample any of the fare, but
it was certainly well cooked. It's fun to just wander around and
see what's happening at the different springs.
