In November 1997 we took a long weekend trip to Bandung Indonesia. City of Flowers and Paris of Java (as it was known in the colonial times), Bandung has still maintained its European ambience and sophistication. Situated at a distance of just 175 km southeast of Jakarta, Bandung is the provincial capital of West Java and third largest city of Indonesia (approximately 2.1 million inhabitants) . The outgoing nature and strong belief in their culture of local Sundanese people makes it quite a change from the other cities in the country. Bandung is known more as the place which hosted the first Afro-Asian Conference in 1955 then anything else and it is a pity. It has a pleasant climate and plenty of natural escapes that gives the tourists a break from the hectic schedule they might have anywhere else in the country. The city is also a centre of higher education with Bandung Institute of Technology being one of the most important destination of students in Asia-Pacific.
Bandung is surrounded by a mountainous region full of cool breeze and natural splendors. A visit to these places should be a must on every tourist's itinerary. Shopping in Bandung is quite an affair and there are many markets around the city to fulfill your shopping needs. Bandung is one of the best place in entire Indonesia to have inexpensive but quality food. Make sure that you have not missed on getting experience of the city life that goes on in Bandung before leaving.
Location map of West Java
Where did we stay?
We stayed at the Chedi Bandung (now known as Malya Bandung), a quaint hotel which opened in 1994 but which has used local stone and timber in the construction to create the impression of a much, older, "chalet type" mountain resort. The hotel is located in the hills (approximately 20 minutes from the train station) outside Bandung city center and is at a higher elevation than Jakarta so the nights were much cooler which was very much welcomed. The hotel has a nice veranda in the restaurant overlooking rice paddies and tree covered hill. Overall a very relaxing trip outside of the city.
Trip Video
Unfortunately we didn't take too many pictures from this trip. However, you can view a short video of our return from Bandung on the train. The train ride from Bandung to Jakarta takes about 3 hours and was a relatively comfortable trip, although not as comfortable as the trains we have experienced during our travels in Europe. In the video you can see some of the lush scenery which we saw during the train ride.
In November 1997 we took a long weekend trip to Bandung Indonesia. City of Flowers and Paris of Java (as it was known in the colonial times), Bandung has still maintained its European ambience and sophistication. Situated at a distance of just 175 km southeast of Jakarta, Bandung is the provincial capital of West Java and third largest city of Indonesia (approximately 2.1 million inhabitants) . The outgoing nature and strong belief in their culture of local Sundanese people makes it quite a change from the other cities in the country. Bandung is known more as the place which hosted the first Afro-Asian Conference in 1955 then anything else and it is a pity. It has a pleasant climate and plenty of natural escapes that gives the tourists a break from the hectic schedule they might have anywhere else in the country. The city is also a centre of higher education with Bandung Institute of Technology being one of the most important destination of students in Asia-Pacific.
We stayed at the Chedi Bandung (now known as Malya Bandung), a quaint hotel which opened in 1994 but which has used local stone and timber in the construction to create the impression of a much, older, "chalet type" mountain resort. The hotel is located in the hills (approximately 20 minutes from the train station) outside Bandung city center and is at a higher elevation than Jakarta so the nights were much cooler which was very much welcomed. The hotel has a nice veranda in the restaurant overlooking rice paddies and tree covered hill. Overall a very relaxing trip outside of the city.
Unfortunately we didn't take too many pictures from this trip. However, you can view a short video of our return from Bandung on the train. The train ride from Bandung to Jakarta takes about 3 hours and was a relatively comfortable trip, although not as comfortable as the trains we have experienced during our travels in Europe. In the video you can see some of the lush scenery which we saw during the train ride.
