Indonesia 2024 Day 6: Lembang To Bandung!

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Indonesia 2024 Day 6: Lembang To Bandung!

Jakarta-Bandung 2024 Day 6: 13th July (Saturday)

Small Group (Non-cycling) Tour of part of the West Java (Jakarta, Lembang & Bandung), Indonesia;
Day 6- Hello Bandung:

Lembang (Sapulidi Resort)>Kartika Sari Kebon Jukut>Bandung (Kedaton Hotel)>White Crater Lake (Kawah Putih)>Oleh-oleh Bandung TIGA RASA 2>Rumah Mode Bandung>Kedaton Hotel.
(getting around was by a hired Private Van.

This is page 6 of a 7-page blog, Click Here To Go To Title Page.

< D5: Lembang Fun | Go to Other Days | D7/8: Braga Road >

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

In Bandung, we stayed at two rooms for two nights at the Kedaton Hotel (GPS: -6.91550, 107.60784) near the renowned Braga Street. At a central location and was within easy walking distance to the older parts of the town. A tip here, rooms facing the city has good views, but is noisy as it faces the nightlife district with acitivities lasting up till 4am. The rooms on the other side are quieter but have no views.

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. White Crater Lake (Kawah Putih) (GPS: -7.1662, 107.40212).
c. Strawberry shopping at Kawah Putih Bus Parking (Kawah Putih Parkir Bus) (GPS: -7.1423, 107.39785).
d. Kuih Bingka Ambon & other pastries at Kartika Sari Kebon Jukut (Kartika Sari Kebon Jukut) (GPS: -6.91442, 107.6053).

e. Pastry shopping at Oleh-oleh Bandung TIGA RASA 2 (GPS: -6.90761, 107.59746).
f. Kuih Bolu Susu from stall opposite Pasundan University (Universitas Pasundan) (GPS: -6.90536, 107.6081).

g. Factory Outlet Duty-free Shopping at Rumah Mode Bandung (Rumah Mode Bandung) (GPS: -6.88294, 107.59968).
h. Indonesian artwork at the ground floor lobby of the Kedaton Hotel (GPS: -6.91550, 107.60784).

i. Braga Road Shopping Street (Jalan Braga) (GPS: -6.91782, 107.60943).

j. Situ Gunung Suspension Bridge (Jembatan Gantung Situ Gunung) (GPS: -6.83104, 106.92888).
k. Tangkuban Perahu (Gunung Tangkuban Parahu) (GPS: -6.75963, 107.60978).

6. Meals

a. Brunch: Lontong at Lontong Kari Kebon Karet (Lontong Kari Kebon Karet) (GPS: -6.91401, 107.60488).
b. Late Lunch: Javanese & Sundanese food at RM. Saung Andir (Rumah Makan Saung Andir) (GPS: -7.07636, 107.48753). c. Dinner: Mixed Asian Food at Rumah Mode Kitchen (Rumah Mode Kitchen) (GPS: -6.88272, 107.59984) - Curry Noodles, Lumpia, Soto Ayam, Chocolate Cheese Banana, and Teh Tarik.

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

Lembang has cool day temperatures in the low 20s and with colder nights as low as 12°C. Bandung is not as cold, but it still has comfortable day temperatures of the mid-20s and slightly cooler nights.

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

Yesterday, was an exciting day of fun kicking off with "cycling in the sky" at The Lodge Maribaya. This was followed by visits to several theme parks i.e. the Floating Market Lembang, The Great Asia Africa Theme Park & the Farmhouse Lembang.

Today we say goodbye to Lembang and head for Bandung for the next stage of our holiday. It's then onwards to a pristine white lake!

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DAY 6: LEMBANG-BANDUNG

Small Group (Non-cycling) Tour of part of the West Java (Jakarta, Lembang & Bandung), Indonesia; Day 6-Lembang to Bandung:

Lembang (Sapulidi Resort)>Kartika Sari Kebon Jukut>Bandung (Kedaton Hotel)>White Crater Lake (Kawah Putih)>Oleh-oleh Bandung TIGA RASA 2>Rumah Mode Bandung>Kedaton Hotel.

(Click here for the Lembang-Bandung 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)

Budi picked us up from the hotel, and soon we stopped at a roadside stall to buy some Kuih Bolu Susu, which was opposite the Pasundan University. After seeing many stalls selling it yesterday, we just had to get some to try.

Suddenly the girls shouted to stop, it's a stall selling beautiful bananas - it's opposite Frances Hotel, Cipaganti (GPS: -6.88688, 107.60229). We'll save it for desserts later!

Lontong brunch at Lontong Kari Kebon Karet. Lontong was never one of my favourites, but this one here was very good and may change my mindset!

Close-up of the Beef Lontong, the kicker was their curry gravy, not overly thick and yet still had a rich creaminess. The beef was very tender, and they have a chicken version too.

Our next stop, Kartika Sari Kebon Jukut to get some nice pastries, especially their Kuih Bingka Ambon.

To make room for a more comfortable journey, we dropped off our luggage at Kedaton Hotel.

It's still too early to check in, but we had time to admire several Indonesian artwork at the lobby.

..... And we are on the way to a.
Getting impatient (or rather getting greedy) we opened a box of the Kuih Bingka Ambon to try.

Although it differs from Malaysian Baba-Nyonya Kueh Bingka Ubi, I very much like this kuih (cake). It's just slightly sweet, and the the inside is stringy for the kid in me to slowly pull out strand by strand to eat .

Since we were at it; we had a go at the Kuih Bolu Susu too!

12:30pm - Arrived at the Kawah Putih Visitors Bus Parking, from there we took the local shuttle vans to ride up to the entrance of the lake. The roads up a narrow, but the skilled driver easily maneuver the van, squeezing through the oncoming traffic and the road-side trees!

I was sitting shotgun and was holding on for dear lift and the young drive nonchalantly negotiate the bends squeezing pass the oncoming traffic. The girls at the back were having a fun ride though.

Half-an-hour later we arrived at the entrance which interestingly was made form rattan, and it was like walking through time tunnel.

On the other side was the White Crater Lake (Kawah Putih). It is one of the two craters that make up Mount Patuha, a composite stratovolcano with no records of significant activity since around 1600.
The lake is 2,430 metres (7,970 ft) above sea level so the local climate is often quite chilly.

Kawah Putih is a sizeable highly acid lake that changes colour from bluish to whitish green, or brown. The sand and rocks surrounding the lake have also been leached into whitish colours through interaction with the acidic lake waters. This has also affected the trees surrounding the lake, making them look like terrified trees.... oops... I mean black petrified trees.

2:30pm - Back at the Kawah Putih Visitors Bus Parking, there are several stalls selling fresh strawberries. One shouldn't miss buying these strawberries as surprisingly they were very sweet!

A late Sundanese lunch at RM. Saung Andir.

We made a short detour over to Oleh-oleh Bandung TIGA RASA 2 to buy some pastries etc.

Got some Sale Pisang, these are banana fritters done the Bandung way, they not overly sweet and subtly crispy.

Also got a back of pre-mixed Bandrek Tea. I find these to be overly sweet, perhaps we should have got the Teh Bajigur which was recommended by the salesperson. Ultimately, one can just get some fresh ginger, chop it and squeeze out the juice for the extra oomph!

One of the attractions in Bandung, is duty-free shopping. We went to Rumah Mode Bandung, it's nicely laid out with a very green compound but somehow the goods on display didn't fancy us ..... perhaps they're mainly for the younger generation.

What we didn't fancy it fashion attire, we found a food galore here!

I was on the lookout for Penang Food, but had to settle for this Singapore Laksa. It's not too bad but still lose out to Penang Curry Mee.

YUMMY!

(For more photos of the Day 6, Click Here)

This is page 6 of a 7-page blog, Click Here To Go To Title Page.

< D5: Lembang Fun | Go to Other Days | D7/8: Braga Road >

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