Jak to Jog (Part three: Cianjur and Bandung)

View from the top of Puncak Pass

Jogjakarta is still some distance away from Bogor, but looking at a map there is a pretty obvious direction to go – east! East of Bogor are mountain ranges with a pass, followed by a few towns and the city Bandung. We were aiming for Bandung, but as we had heard that the pass over the mountains were quite scenic we weren’t too concerned if we didn’t make it all the way.


The morning would be off to a slow and bad start. We went to the local bus station where we knew we would be able to take a bus over the pass and to Cianjur, the biggest town on the other side of the pass. We found the ‘bus’ that we were supposed to take, a Toyota Hiace jam packed with seats and not a lot of space for anyone’s luggage. Unfortunately, the lack of regulation hit us once again and the only person selling tickets, the driver, had decided he would like to charge us 20 times the actual price that we’d learnt from our hostel owner. This driver, knowing there weren’t really any other options, didn’t want to offer a reasonable price. So we walked away and ordered a grab to the top of the pass.

Cat waiting out the rain in the restaurant

The drive to the top of the pass was slow due to a lot of people going home at the end of the aforementioned long weekend. Eventually we made it and our driver dropped us off at a large restaurant known for its good views and reasonable food. Unfortunately we arrived right as prayer time was beginning, so the restaurant was closed. We walked down the pass a little and found a smaller restaurant that was open. The views here were just as good and the food was just as reasonable – the Indonesian classic of Mee Goreng and Soto Ayam.
While ate lunch through a massive downpour, feeling lucky we’d made it undercover without too much time to spare. Eventually the rain subsided and we headed to a corner to try our luck hitchhiking down the other side of the pass. Our luck must’ve run out with the rain as noone was willing to stop for us. Eventually an angkot came past which we weren’t sure if they were running their usual route or not. They let us on but not before making a seemingly high price pretty clear to us. It didn’t feel too dodgy so we went along with it, figuring we could see what other people passengers paid as they left.

Buddha in the Chinese temple in Cianjur

The angkot took us most of the way down the other side of the pass, which was a fairly nice drive following the curves of the mountains. Everything seemed fine until we turned off the main road down a random side street in a fairly small town, crawling along through the usual markets and motorcycle repair places we see so regularly. The driver pulled up and told us to get off, motioning at another angkot parked nearby. Without too much choice, we changed cars hoping that the various drivers understood that when we said “Cianjur” it meant we wanted to go to Cianjur.








Indeed, this final angkot was headed in the right direction and the roads meant it was going to hit the next city, no matter it’s final destination. The afternoon was getting on so we decided we should stay at the next city, Cianjur, rather than pushing on to Bandung. When the angkot was somewhere near the city center we hopped off and started heading towards a hotel I had earlier seen online.

Good street food has been surprisingly hard to find in Indonesia

When we arrived at the hotel, things looked a bit dead and the receptionist was only concerned about telling us that there would be no breakfast. Turns out the hotel had just opened two days ago, and so we stayed in a brand new room. The hotel was still having some teething issues (we had to swap room because our key card wouldn’t work), but it was a really nice stay for a very good price.
Cianjur is an old gold mining town, which means the original city center is focused around an old Chinese temple. The newer part of the city is focused around a large mosque, with a large new public area with an Islamic focus currently under construction. This construction meant it was kind of difficult to get around as it divided two main areas of the city, but eventually should be a grand green thoroughfare. Our evening was easy and we enjoyed eating street food for dinner, and also getting some urgent repairs on my camera bag.

Urgent bag repairs

Back at the hotel, a staff member who was working his last shift (how he was working his last shift when the hotel had just opened I do not know) was very keen to talk to us. He was an enthusiastic member of the local English club – not a club for people from Great Britain, but a hangout for those wanting to improve their English speaking skills. There are a few sights to see around the outskirts of Cianjur that I was mildly interested in, and our new friend Hilman was eager to hang out with us any way he could. We agreed we would meet again in the morning and spend at least the morning looking around on motorbike with Hilman and his friend, and in the afternoon we would visit the English club. It would be nice to get a chance to actually give something to the communities we were visiting, rather than just being part of the usual tourist strain.
Long story short, either Hilman didn’t organise anything or his friend flaked. Hilman showed up in the morning to tell us that the bikes wouldn’t be happening, and also told us he was too busy to come along with us anyway. We called a grab car to pick us up and take us out to the first sight, but before going with him Hilman tried to help us negotiate a price for the driver to stay with us and take us back to town after. This negotiation didn’t seem to be going well or something was getting lost in translation, as the driver was insisting we should pay the grab fair out, the same amount back, money for him to wait in the car, and the amount he claimed to make on a standard hour of work in the city. We spent a long time trying to explain that this was kind of unreasonable, and also that he would be making more with what we paid him than on grab as it would be off the book. I think eventually this stuck and he gave us a price that was okay at best. So we were off to do some sightseeing, and to our surprise Hilman came along with us.

The elders playing a traditional instrument, sounded like a cartoon jumping sound effect

The main thing I had wanted to see was a megalithic rock site, Gunung Padang. The drive out was long and not too interesting, apart from seeing some large traditional villages far off in the distance. After arriving at the site, the driver decided he also wanted to visit as he had never been despite living his whole life in Cianjur. Another situation of feeling kind of betrayed by someone who seemed to want to be our friend arose in that I was given a price for tickets for Mimi and me, and then four tickets were handed over. Not wanting to have our experience of the area tainted, I brushed this off as how common this sort of thing was and began the climb to the top.

Mimi in her best Lara Croft gear

Called the largest megalithic site in all of SE Asia, Gunung Padang is as mystifying as it is surreal. The hike up to the top of the site was short but quite steep, probably around 300 tall stairs. Impressed by what we saw but wanting to know more I tried asking around.There were some rangers present who were mentioned to be “protectors” of the site, but none of them were particularly interested in talking about what they believe the origins of the site are or what they believe it was once for. What I did gather was noone really knew how old the place was, where it came from, whether it was natural or man made, and what it’s history is. Later online research revealed that this is roughly the consensus about the place. Still it was nice to see despite being bombarded with selfie requests. Sitting with a bit of a breeze went a long way on the hot day and I particularly enjoyed being able to listen to the rangers play their local instruments.

Overlooking the lower part of Gunung Padang

Following Gunung Padang, the driver then offered to take us to his home. He wanted us to have tea with his family and we would be able to sit and look at one of the traditional local villages. Again confused as to whether we were supposed to be friends, clients, or just an ATM, with not much other plans we thought it sounded like a nice gesture. The traditional villages looked really amazing from a distance, they almost looked as if they were very large and complex straw hut buildings, so I was really interested in getting a closer look. After a fairly long drive, we ended up at what was perhaps supposed to be an upcoming tourist hotspot. Basically it was a few buildings close together that were supposed to be built in the traditional style of the area. They looked nothing like the villages I had seen in the distance and I was very disappointed that this was where we were going. I think someone had had the idea that it would be a quick way to make some money if people would come to the area to take photos. The problem was that the scenery was not that good from this particular spot and as the buildings were never going to be used for anything, they were just thrown together and looked like they would soon fall over. More to this, the people sitting around “running” the place insisted on photos of us that I’m fairly sure they were going to use in promotional material.
Mimi and I pretty soon got back in the car to go. Eventually the driver and Hilman got the message and we were off again. By this stage the day was already getting on and we were quite hungry. We drove again for quite some time, and I soon realised the plan for tea with the driver’s family had somewhere been ditched and noone had thought to tell us. I won’t lie though, I was in fact fairly relieved to be back in the city instead. Kind of exhausted back at the hotel, I contacted Hilman many times asking for the location of the English club. Unfortunately he didn’t really seem too interested in having us there, as he just kept telling us it was too far to get to and that he didn’t know how to take us there. Instead of just telling us the location and letting us decide for ourselves, the decision was made for us that we wouldn’t go.

Chalk mining on the way to Bandung

After noodles and street food for dinner and an early night, we were up the next morning to make our way to Bandung. When checking out, we asked the receptionist how to take public transport to the big bus terminal on the outside of town. The receptionist was young and so had never used public transport, as the younger generation happily spend 5 or 6 times as much on grab cars instead. While working out what to do, another family was checking out and kind of heard our dilemma. Turns out the family was from Bandung and were friends with the hotel owner. They were all part of a Buddhist group in Bandung and had come over for the weekend not only to see the new hotel, but also to bring a monk from their temple to perform a blessing ritual. Luckily for us they had taken two cars over and had more than enough room to take us to Bandung with them.

Chinatown, Bandung

One of the many hundreds of mosques in Bandung.

The drive to Bandung was on a good road and had much scenery along the way. Our new friend, Ramli, was happy to open up to us and we took the opportunity to ask all sorts of questions about culture, religion, and many other parts of life in Indonesia. His perspective as a second generation Chinese immigrant to Indonesia was very clear cut, honest, and sometimes brutal. Ramli also helped us organise a hotel for us to stay at in Bandung, as another friend of his could help us get a corporate visiting rate. It was really heartwarming to have someone who was clearly just doing us a favour, and wanted nothing more than for us to come have tea with him at his Buddhist association’s temple. After checking in it was bakso for our late lunch under recommendation from Ramli, this was certainly the best bakso we had eaten in Indonesia and would be the best bakso we ate altogether.
Following bakso we walked a little through the streets of Bandung, checking out what was around and also heading to a night market food area.

Having tea with Ramli

Probably thee best Bakso in Indonesia

We were a little too eager and arrived at the food street much to early, so our selection wasn’t all too large. Bandung is often called Indonesia’s Paris and there was certainly a different feel in some of the streets there compared to other Indonesian cities we had visited so far. This was due to two reasons, the first is the history of the area and the second is the current attraction to the area. Historically Bandung is quite important as it was one of the first cities where the Indonesians drew a line and said this is our side of the city, eventually kicking out the Dutch colinisers who were occupying the city. With this occupation came many fine buildings along with Java’s railway system. Although the occupation was something that initially had to be fought against, the Dutch heritage of the city is now somewhat celebrated, with many cafes selling Dutch food and much preservation of the historical buildings.

Tea, rice, and strawberry plantations, viewed from our lunch spot

Traditional Javanese lunch

Along with being quite pretty in some areas, Bandung is well known as a city for shopping. With four mega-malls in the area and many factories nearby, factory outlets and factory seconds stores are in abundance attracting travelers from many parts of Asia - particularly Singaporeans and Chinese.
Our first full day in Bandung we actually spent outside of Bandung on a tour of the southern area. We joined a four person tour to get to one of Bandung’s natural attractions – Kawah Putih, or, The White Crater. This tour was really great as the driver/tour guide we got was actually the owner of the tour company and was an extremely charismatic guy who’d spent time doing all sorts of jobs in Indonesia as well as studying and working in Melbourne some 10 years ago. Aside from getting to hear about Javanese ways of life and the scams that Indonesian students in Australia pull, the main tour points were a traditional lunch overlooking terraced rice fields, Kawah Putih, and tea plantation viewing points. To our disappointment, Kawah Putih is white in name only. Still it was cool to climb up into another volcano crater, particularly as this volcano’s crater is predominantly filled with a sulphur lake.

Having fun at the white crater

Sop Buntut

Dinner that night is again worth mentioning, Sop Buntut – oxtail soup. A specialty of the area purchased at a restaurant recommended by our tour guide.
The next day was very uneventful, we were thinking of taking the train to Jogjakarta from Bandung, but Mimi was feeling a little under the weather and wanted an easy day. We extended our accomodation one more night and booked train tickets for the next day to Jogja, but basically spent the whole day in the hotel room watching movies thanks to torrential rain.

Tea plantations

Another one of Indonesia's tourist photo spots. Let's build a boat on a mountain in a tea field for some reason.

And so finally we were off to Jogjakarta, another well known highlight of Indonesia that we knew we shouldn’t miss. The train trip was long but comfortable, and also fairly plain in terms of scenery. Still, train travel is generally nice and it was good to have just another relaxing day.

Bandung Train station

Obligatory photo of Mimi napping on the train

To give you an idea of how far I am behind on writing and publishing now, I’ve just finished this three part blog on the 21st of June, sitting on a plane from Malaysia to Thailand. I’ve just had a month in Malaysia by myself as, spoilers ahead, Mimi ended up having to go back to China thanks to visa issues. However unlikely it seems, hopefully I catch up soon – but that seems unlikely.