Travel Guide To Bandung, The City In West Java

Bandung is a city in West Java, Indonesia. Bandung is a highland city (altitude 768m) knowns for its many universities, textile industry and many roadside cafes. Called Parijs van Java (Paris of Java) by the Dutch, its high altitude location makes the weather pleasantly cool. Bandung has been nicknamed kota kembang, literally meaning the flower city, since the colonial era. However this nickname is a misinterpreted by many, as the flower actually refers to females, because of the city's reputation for having beautiful girls. The food in Bandung is also well known for its wide varieties and taste. Many tourists from Jakarta visit Bandung during weekends and national holidays, when it can get quite crowded.

The head of government in the city of Bandung is a mayor ("walikota"). The city has 26 districts.

'Bandung Regency"/"Kabupaten Bandung" is the suburbs of Bandung. The head of government in Bandung Regency is a regent ("Bupati"). There are 45 districts in Bandung Regency. Bandung's population in 2005 is 2,771,138 people. The area is 168 square kilometres and the population density is 16,494 people/sq. km.

How To Go There

Though it is the fastest way to go to Bandung, it is not always the most convenient way. Since the Bandung valley is really surrounded by mountains, landing and take-off from the small and only airport, Hussein Sastranegara (BDO), is quite challenging for most pilots. In bad weather it is sometimes difficult to make landing or take-off. Also because of this unique area, the airport can only serve medium sized airplanes (737 or A320). There is an airforce base next to the airport. The airport is also used by PT Dirgantara Indonesia (DI), an airplane manufacturer.

If you charter helicopters or small planes from Jakarta, you can request (in advance) permission to land at Hussein Sastranegara airport. Hussein Sastranegara airport is located at the end of Pajajaran Street, 4 km from the centre of the city. A taxi costs approximately $US1. Use the safe "Blue Bird" or "Gemah Ripah" taxi from Hussein Sastranegara Airport to the hotels/centre of the city (metered). Most hotels provide free airport transfer service. Tell them your flight number, time and date of arrival.

Some airlines serving Bandung:

Air Asia - operates daily flights from Kuala Lumpur (no-frill airline)
Merpati - Balikpapan, Batam, Denpasar, Jakarta (Halim), Palembang, Surabaya, Tarakan, Ujung Pandang, and internationally Singapore
Deraya Air Service: daily flights from Jakarta (Halim Perdanakusuma airport) to Bandung.

Things To Do

There are many activities that you can do in the city or outside the city. As Bandung highland is surrounded by a string of mountains, activities in the outskirt of the city are mainly mountain resorts, adventures and outdoor sports. In the city, you can have culinary activities (see the Eat section) as there are so many food varieties, shoppings with many clothing outlets and distros (see the Buy section) or just hanging around.

Saturday Night at Jalan Dago. Every saturday night, teenagers and youngsters are hanging around at Jalan Dago. The street stretches from Holiday Inn Hotel in the south and a few blocks to the north until Simpang Dago. The street is crowded with modified cars with loud music. Don't bring your own car if you don't want to get stuck in a traffic jam. Just walk and watch these hip-hop youngsters. There are some cafes and chic restaurants in the street that you can sit in. Don't forget to buy some grilled sweet or hot-chili corn that is sold at the street stalls. The party usually lasts until midnight.

Sunday Morning at Gasibu Park. After having a party on saturday night, wake up very early in the morning around 5-7am. Go to Gasibu park at the front of the Gedung Sate complex and wear your sportswear. At the park, you can go jogging and do some stretching, and after you finish, food stalls are already waiting for you with a lot of food varieties. My favourites are dim sum ceker (a chicken foot cooked like a dim sum) and nasi liwet (a rice cooked with coconut milk and served with chicken and other vegetables). Very yummy. In the walking distance, there is a famous yoghurt drink cafe with a nice and relaxing setting at Jl Cisangkuy.
Lembang trip. A trip to the north of Bandung cannot be missed. Rent a car and start to go at the very early in the morning to Lembang, an uphill resort city.

On the way to Lembang, you can make a sidetrip to Bosscha, the only observatorium in Indonesia. Please make sure you have made a reservation and take a note on its opening hours.
Continue your journey to Lembang and stop at one of the food stall that sells fresh milk. You can drink fresh milk with many flavours. The milk is really fresh.

Go to the Mt. Tangkuban Perahu. Go circling around Kawah Ratu (Queen's crater) to see the volcanic activity closely. There are other craters: Kawah Upas and Kawah Domas. Beware of the tourist hawkers who sell many things at unreasonably expensive prices.

Continue the journey to Sari Ater, a hot water spring complex. On the way, there is a good Sundanese restaurant, named Sindang Reret, that you can stop by for your lunch.
Sari Ater is a resort with natural hot water spring pools, some recreation parks and healthy spas. Stay overnight and have a good dinner at their restaurant.

On the way back to Bandung, take a stop at a street food stall and have some grilled 'sweet corns or grilled ketan (sticky rice) while enjoying the view of the tea plantation.