Bandung, Indonesia

On the 27th December I took a couple planes, from Perth to Singapore and finally landing in Jakarta where I was picked up by driver Slamet. He was going to be a familiar face on our trip and was good enough to endure driving for 5+hrs to get me to my hotel in Bandung.

The next morning I met with my parents at breakfast and then later with our guide Yiyip, pronounced Jip or Yippie or JayPee. He only said his name once and never said it again, and didn't correct us either.

Our itinerary was to include a visit to Mount Tangkubanparahu, which was quickly aborted once we'd received information that it was overcrowded and that we would be charged IDR950k (GBP50/AUD100) per person. Maybe another time, it looks pretty cool.

To keep us entertained, we stopped at some road side fruit stalls, so I took photos whilst mum haggled for the best priced foods.

Second stop was at really nowhere in particular to begin with. JP lead us through somebody's back garden where children were playing and told us about the vegetation and pointed out all the field workers in the distance. We walked further down the hill until he got tired and I began to be eaten by the local insects. I also learned here that you should take photos of people far enough away that they can't demand money for photos, once the get close they home in like moths to light.

On our second day we spent quite a proportion of our time stuck in traffic. Bandung was really quite bad for traffic, even worse than Jakarta. Frustratingly bad. We stopped at Gasibu Field, an inner-city recreational park and running track. There was a photo exhibition on display, runners, walkers and dawdlers on the running track and folks just being active. It also offered us the opportunity to have a look at the Governors house Gedung Sate. It wasn't opened so, from afar.

Next stop was a walking tour that led us past the military museum, down some alleyways and towards JL Braga.

Braga Street, is known for being the popular street in 1920s colonial Indonesia. In those days and even now, the narrow street is lined with coffee shops, an old cinema (with original projector in the entrance), boutiques and restaurants. The sides are lined with plant pots (with either fake flowers or weeds) and iron street lamps.

At the end of Braga Street is the appropriately named Museum of the Asian-African Conference. We managed to pop in about 10 mins before they closed for lunch. In short, the conference was a meeting of 29 countries, between 18-24 April 1955 and resulted in the agreement of the ten principles of Bandung (Dasasila Bandung). Ten principles aimed to guide these nations in international solidarity and cooperation whilst the first world nations focused on the cold war.

We concluded the walking tour with a very average lunch at the Savoy Homann Hotel. Where all toilets were devoid of toilet paper. Weird.

After lunch we went to a late afternoon show at Saung Angklung. An art and music studio they conduct musical performances and have become a popular tourist attraction. It's easy to see why.

There were a bunch of good shows, mainly centred around the angklung instrument. A set of bamboo sticks tied together, that sound a tone when rattled.

Some dancing and a wooden puppet show, and plenty of audience participation

Next stop, Batukaras Beach...