Bogor

Good day,

I am now in Bandung for almost a week. I get to attach to the people and then i found myself extending my stay. What an amazing experience it was in Bogor. I met a great friend, Mawar, and also her other friends. Showed me many great places and introduced me to the culture of Bogor. Bogor was the capital of the sunda kingdom in the precolonial period. Today many people here are descendants from the sunda kingdom and approximately 87% are sundanese.

On 28 April a Saturday, i booked into a lovely hostel, Cendana Mulia hostel, a 6 bed room. The house was built in 2015 and situated in a beautiful and quiet neighborhood in north Bogor.

I met up with a friend that lives here and she took me to her favorite sundanese restaurant to experience some delicious food unique to Bogor culture. We also met her other friends that joined us for lunch. They all speak sundanese and my friend had to translate to english.  I ordered the beef Bang. A bit too spicy for me but still delicious.

After the lunch we met with another friend and together in a car we went to Ah poong rivermarket out of the city for dessert. This place has so many variety in food that it can be very confusing. Luckily i had some help with the decisions of food and we also tasted from each other’s food

Back home along the way we stopped for more tastings.

The next day was car free day from 6am-9am. I woke up early and met my friend, Mawar in Jl ahmad yani. At the total fuel station to join thousands of other people in walking the road all the way to the botanical gardens. It is a great initiative and seldom in Indonesia that you see more people than cars on the road.

It was quite a long walk to the botanical gardens. It is beautiful and I can see why this is a favorite among tourists.

Below is me and Mawar in mexican garden

After a lot of walking in the botanical garden it was as time for lunch.

After lunch we went to the village where Mawar lives with her parents. She took a shower while i was drinking a coffee before we went across the road for dessert. Was so nice spending time in the village. I was the first white person in the village and people past the house all the time to stare at me.

Later that day we went to shop and walked into the hair salon to chat with Mawar’s friend who is a hairdresser there. While Mawar chat with her friend i went for a hair wash and head massage. Mawar’s friend invited us for dinner at her house later that evening. So, we went back to Mawar’s house so that i can have a shower. The day turned out to be a full day of activities. But i met some nice people that invited me in there home to eat with them. The Indonesian hospitality is the best I’ve experienced so far on my journey as a traveler.

The next day was a rest day for me. I was so tired from absorbing everything around me that I just needed time for myself. I went with someone to from the hostel to a german outreach program that teach children in the village all different skills. Skills like learning the English, sewing, computers and even fashion classes. I was shown around the premises and attended the farewell of one of the volunteers. They prepared a whole concert with a camping theme because of her love for camping.

After the farewell I was hungry and walked to a famous restaurant, Gurih 7, someone told me about. It has a beautiful view and an relaxed feeling with the waterfall in the background. Seating was a bit uncomfortable since there is no chairs and you have to sit behind a low table on a mat. Food is expensive but delicious.

Next, I went back to hostel and met new people that want to do a tour to Salak Mountain area. We arranged everything with driver and agreed on price.

The next day I woke up early at about 05h00 to shower and went with the group in a car to Salak Mountain area. It was quite a steep hike through rivers and the rocks were very slippery. It took us about 2h to the top. The smell of sulphur was noticeably and the water has a cloudy color. After spending some time on top and realizing that the fumes was not good for us, we headed back down the mountain. For some reason the hike down went much better and i was able to manage my way from rock to rock much better. My shoes was in a horrible state with thick mud stuck to it – and these will be my Congress shoes in Japan ??

The next day was my last day, but I was too tired to do anything. My muscles was so sore from walking and climbing the mountain. I went to bed early to be prepared for my long bus ride to Bandung, the next city on my schedule.