Visit Bandung -- My Hometown!

Why Bandung? Bandung, the capital city of West Java, is the fourth biggest city in Indonesia which offers you a cool climate and great tourism sites. It’s not hard to reach Bandung since Cipularang toll road was finished in 2005. By Cipularang toll road, Bandung can be reached in 2 hours from Jakarta, while normally it takes 3-4 hours via Puncak and Cikampek. But if you don’t like traveling by cars, trains and planes are also available from Jakarta.

Instead of seas (Bandung doesn’t have any sea because it is located in the middle of Java Island), Bandung has so many mountains surrounding him, like the famous reversed-ship-shaped Tangkuban Perahu Mountain (left) and Galunggung Mountain. Tangkuban Perahu mountain is still active, but it doesn’t prevent people to visit and see its beautiful crater. The mountain is located in Lembang, north Bandung.

Because it is located on the foot of Tangkuban Perahu Mountain, Lembang is colder than Bandung and its soil is fertile. That’s why agriculture side is growing there. There are a lot of strawberry field you can visit and self-picking the strawberries. Not only strawberry fields, but also flowers and vegetables fields are grooming there.

If you don’t like agriculture, astronomy maybe will attract you. Boscha Observatorium (right), the only one observatorium in Indonesia, located in Lembang too.

If you love to shop, Bandung provides many shopping sites like factory outlets spread in Riau and Dago Street. Or you can find the cheaper one in Pasar Baru or Cimol. Cimol (see picture on the left side of this paragraph), located in Gedebage, is a place where you can find “second-hand but look like new” clothes. Cihampelas Street is also a good place to buy jeans and clothes.

Looking for shoes? Try Cibaduyut in south Bandung. Cibaduyut shoes are well known for its good material quality and reliability, and many of them were exported to foreign countries.

For culinary lovers, Bandung is their heaven. Try traditional foods like peuyeum (fermented cassava), colenak (peuyeum with kinca sauce and coconut grates -- see picture on the left), batagor (soybean curd filled with tenggiri fish fickle), or surabi (pan cake made from coconut milk). Besides traditional food, there are modern foods too -- although many of them are just modified from their origins. Like Steamed Brownies (Amanda is the first brand for it) and Pisang Bolen (banana rolled by pastry -- Kartikasari Cake Shop is the “inventor”).

If you want to know what Bandung like in the past when the Dutch settled in Indonesia, have a walk along Braga and Asia-Afrika Street. There are a lot of buildings that still maintain their identity as "memorial buildings". Those buildings are heritages from Dutch Colonialist Era, such as Savoy Homann Hotel and Gedung Merdeka (left). Not far from Asia Afrika Street, there’s another Dutch heritage site called Pendopo (now it is used as the Major’s Residence) that faces the Tangkuban Perahu Mountain. The famous Gedung Sate (West Java Government building) is also a Dutch building, but it is located on Supratman Street, about five kilometers from Asia-Afrika Street.

When the night falls, go to the north of Bandung like Dago Atas, Cigadung, or Lembang. Those sites will entertain your eyes with a panoramic night view of Bandung. Not enough? Many cafes and restaurants there will provide you great taste of their foods, complete with romantic candles on their tables and the view of Bandung.

Very well written, BRAVO.