Indonesia 2024 Day 5: Lembang Fun!

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Indonesia 2024 Day 5: Lembang Fun!

Jakarta-Bandung 2024 Day 5: 12th July (Friday)

Small Group (Non-cycling) Tour of part of the West Java (Jakarta, Lembang & Bandung), Indonesia;
Day 5- Fun Time at Lembang!:

Sapulidi Resort>The Lodge Maribaya>Floating Market Lembang>The Great Asia Africa Theme Park> Farmhouse Lembang>Sapulidi Resort. (getting around was by a hired Private Van.

This is page 5 of a 7-page blog, Click Here To Go To Title Page.

< D4: Whoosh to Lembang | Go to Other Days | D6: Hello Bandung >

Route recommendations, here're some tips on travelling in and around Jakarta:

1. Traffic Directions!

Traffic in Indonesia is right-hand drive, so drive/cycle on the left. The same thing applies when crossing the road, take note of the direction from which traffic is approaching!

2. Immigration & Customs Requirements

Submission for customs e-clearance is advised for getting past the airport customs without a fuss. E-submission can be done before leaving for Indonesia. Click here for to access and fill up the Indonesian E-CD (Electronic Customs Declaration) forms for approval. Upon successful application, a QR Code is given, save this to your phone and show it to the customs officer upon arrival. With a quick scan, one is cleared to enjoy one's holiday.
OR upon arrival, one can scan the QR codes posted along the arrival halls & corridors and fill up details accordingly and an individual approval QR code will be given.

Immigration entry is via digital gates which scan one's passport and take a facial photo, so put on your best smile 😊.

3. Getting to and around Jakarta & Lembang.

Getting around Jakarta is easy, just install the Grab Van e-hailing app and conveniently hail a ride. Within Central Jakarta (and perhaps some outskirts), autorickshaws called bajaj (pronounced baj-ai) are a convenient way to get around, do negotiate a price before boarding though.

From Jakarta, we took the new Whoosh HSR Train to Padalarang at a fare of IDR225k per pax. We boarded the train at the Halim High Speed Railway Station. the train ride just took thirty minutes. By driving or the normal train, it would have taken 2-1/2 to 3 hours! (Note: Free entry to some local attractions, within the Greater Bandung Area, is given to the Whoosh ticket-holders.)

Click here to purchase tickets for the Whoosh HSR Train, one should arrive at least 30-minutes before departure. Ticket prices remain dynamic and are dependent on passenger density levels, as well as the train schedule.

From Padalarang, a hired van took us to and around Lembang and Bandung. Private van contact: Enc. Budi Rukana mobile/WhatsApp no. +62 813-2111-6869.

4. Accommodations

At Lembang, we stayed two nights booking two rooms at the Sapulidi Resort. (GPS: -6.81255, 107.59823). Although the rooms were older, the resort is located in a very green setting with some rooms facing a small lake. It also has an excellent restaurant - Tuangeun Restaurant.

5. Places & Things of Interests

Enroute were several places of interest, some of which we visited and others we did not for lack of time (Note: click on GPS coordinates for a directional map to respective places):

a. The lush, green grounds of the Sapulidi Resort (GPS: -6.81255, 107.59823).
b. The Lodge Maribaya (GPS: -6.82941, 107.68746). Click here for ticket pricing of various activities.
c. Fairy Garden (Fairy Garden di Bandung) (GPS: -6.82396, 107.68885).
d. Floating Market Lembang (Floating Market Lembang) (GPS: -6.81791, 107.61879).
e. The Great Asia Africa Theme Park (The Great Asia Africa Lembang ) (GPS: -6.83297, 107.60446).
f. Farmhouse Lembang (Farmhouse Susu Lembang) (GPS: -6.83296, 107.60561).
g. Situ Gunung Suspension Bridge (Jembatan Gantung Situ Gunung) (GPS: -6.83104, 106.92888).
h. Kawah Putih (White Crater) (GPS: -7.16666, 107.40372).
i. Tangkuban Perahu (Gunung Tangkuban Parahu) (GPS: -6.75963, 107.60978).

6. Meals

a. Breakfast: Tuangeun Resto in our hotel, Sapulidi Resort (GPS: -6.81255, 107.59823).

Nasi timbel with fried chicken & Bandrek Tea.
b. Morning Tea: Serabi (similar to apom), serabi telor (egg serabi), serabi aren (Serabi with gula melaka) at stall in The Lodge Maribaya (GPS: -6.82941, 107.68746).

c. Light Lunch: Deep-fried bean curd & tapioca chips at Tahu Tauhid Lembang (Tahu Tauhid Lembang) (GPS: -6.81839, 107.62177).

d. Dinner: Sundanese fare at d'SDL Restaurant (RESTO d'SDL) (GPS: -6.82652, 107.60751) - Sate Ayam (Chicken Satay), Sop Gurame, Omelet, Pepes Jamur (mushrooms), Karedok (a local salad similar to Gado-gado), Bandrek Tea, & Teh Bajigur.

7. Communicating with Each Other

When travelling in a group it's important to be able to communicate with each other, especially if one gets lost from the rest. We bought online China Unicom pre-paid 8-days 16GB (2GB per day) phone sim cards through Hello 1010. It was delivered to our home/office within a few days, and we installed it into our phones upon arrival.

Most hotels, motels, homestays, restaurants, and airports have free Wifi; but do note that public free wifi may not be secure and registration may be required. But one can save on one's mobile data by using these, especially for uploading or downloading videos.

8. Communicating with Locals

At favourite tourist destinations, locals may speak fairly good English. At the smaller towns, locals speak some rudimentary English, so knowing some basic Bahasa Indonesia will come in handy and also warm one up to the locals.

9. Weather

In Lembang day temperatures are in the low 20s and at night it gets as low as 12°C.

Useful weather forecast sites for the Indonesia is AccuWeather. For more detailed weather, including cloud cover and wind speed, use Weatherspark and Ventusky.

10. Navigation

I used MapMyRide to track our routes and stops. Geo-tagging of places of interest was via FaceBook or Google Maps.

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PRELUDE

A day earlier, whooshed from Jakarta to Lembang, and found it to be a much cooler place. After dropping our luggage at our hotel, the Sapulidi Resort with its lush green grounds. Then we zoomed off to the Sari Ater Hot Spring; enjoying a hot spring in the cooler weather..... WOW!

Today, we are back to Tourist Mode, and will visit several tourist spots - starting off with a bit of cycling, sort of ....... YEAH!

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DAY 5: FUN TIME IN LEMBANG!

Small Group (Non-cycling) Tour of part of the West Java (Jakarta, Lembang & Bandung), Indonesia; Day 5- Around Lembang:

Sapulidi Resort>The Lodge Maribaya>Floating Market Lembang>The Great Asia Africa Theme Park> Farmhouse Lembang>Sapulidi Resort.

(Click here for the Lembang Fun-time Route Map)

Most of the posts below are linked to my Facebook postings during the trip and are embedded here with some comments. (NOTE: Click on respective posts to link to the FB post to read more details. If you can't see the posts, please log out from your Facebook first)

Started the day with a cool morning walk around the lush green grounds of the Sapulidi Resort. There is a pond right at the centre with small huts surrounding it; Anneh & Rina were in one of the huts slowly enjoying their breakfast, sitting on the floor while taking in the natural beauty and freshness of the place.

Me with my poor back can't sit on the floor for long. So Lynne and I opted to have breakfast at the hotel's dining hall. We had Nasi timbel with fried chicken and Bandrek Tea.

Budi picked us up and within 45 minutes we were at The Lodge Maribaya. This place offers nice accommodations set on a cool hillside, amidst a pine forest. It's also an adventure park for day visitors (that's us!). And we were here for some adventure fun, starting with a nice walk among the greenery.

To one corner, a stall was selling Serabi snacks. Eventhough we just had breakfast, these were too tempting, so we ordered serabi telor (egg serabi), serabi aren (Serabi with gula melaka). Let's worry about putting on weight later, and no regrets here as the serabi was goooooood....

There are several activities here but we just went for the thrilling Zip Line Bike and a romantic sojourn on the Bamboo Sky Platform.

The Zip Bike is like cycling in the sky, ie on a cable. It's actually pretty safe as the rider wears a safety harness that's hooked to another cable above. That's us above: Ready, Launch, Zip away, and THUMBS UP!

And photo opps at the hot air balloon.
Click here for ticket pricing of various activities.

Just across the road is the Fairy Garden and we were welcomed by a very colourful guide!

Colourful pastel-coloured fairy-style gypsy caravan like from the movie.... Stardust.

A Tudorian castle but rendered in a fairy-style pastel purple colour .

A short stop for snacks of Deep-fried bean curd & singkong chips (tapioca chips) at Tahu Tauhid Lembang. The bean-curd with it's musky aroma was slightly sweet and was overall very good. I recommend not to miss this when in Lembang. In Malaysia, the closest one can get to this in flavour are the Hakka Tofu in Titi.

The Singkong (cassava) chips brought back memories of the Sinkong dan Keju song by Bill & Brod. Click to play this video to set the mood. The group is also renowned for the song Madu Dan Racun.

Our next destination: Floating Market Lembang.

The place is quite big, so hop onto one of these colourful Beca (Trishaws) to get around.

The park has many beautiful gardens, including this Tea Garden with a Tea House.

It was only towards the end of our visit that we realised why it's called the Floating Market! Here, lining the lake were colourful, small boats, each selling food stuff or some memorabilia.

Next, The Great Asia Africa Theme Park. It shows buildings from various parts of Asia and Africa. Also interesting was a photo history of the Presidients of Indonesia just at the entrance.

Bird's Eye View The Great Asia Africa Theme Park.

Where does this Hobbit House door lead to?

Leads to the Farmhouse.

Just as we were leaving, we saw this beautifully equipped horse which reminded me of my younger, more "active" days.

We ended the day with a Sundanese dinner at RESTO d'SDL, where we had Satay, Sop Gurame, Omelet, Pepes Jamur (mushrooms), Karedok (a local salad similar to Gado-gado), Bandrek Tea, & Teh Bajigur.

ENAK-NYA!

(That's Bahasa Indonesia for "Delicious")

(For more photos of the Day 5, Click Here)

This is page 5 of a 7-page blog, Click Here To Go To Title Page.

< D4: Whoosh to Lembang | Go to Other Days | D6: Hello Bandung >

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