On 19th June 2009 (I remember the exact date because we were travelling on my birthday), I went to Bandung with my parents and sister for 4 days. I have a good friend of mine studying in University of Padjajaran so I continued the vacation for another 2 weeks staying at my friend's place.
With my family, we were staying at a motel on Jl Riau (now known as Jl R.E Martadinata). They offered a very basic room even without the water heater. Jl Riau is very famous for its factory outlets i.e Heritage, The Secret and The Summit to name a few. The location of accommodation was very convenient and the weather was very nice which allow us to walk to the outlets. We did not hire any Pak Supir as the Blue Bird taxi is easily available. We also tried to ride on AngKot (Angkutan Kota) and trishaw - super duper cheap and convenient as well. Indonesia is very famous with the traffic congestion, so during peak hour, is not advisable to ride on a taxi. Be it whether it's blue bird taxi (with meter) or "teksi sapu" (without meter).
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| the only sister of mine |
4 days in Bandung were totally for shopping (goodies bag, wedding card and lace for my wedding on top of unnecessary blouses, shirts, pants etc..hehe) and eating. Bandung and Jakarta are famous place to buiy wedding stuff as their offered price might go as low as 70% compared to price in Malaysia.
After my family went back to Malaysia, I continued my stay at my friend's place in Padjajaran campus together with another 2 friends just arrived from Malaysia. The place is an hour journey from Bandung City. It's quite outskirt but I really enjoy the calmness of the Padjajaran town and the coolness of the weather. Most of the times, we took a bus to travel to the city. In Indonesia, it is common to have buskers entertaining you in the bus, beside your taxi's mirror and at the traffic light. Most of famous singers in Indonesia start their journey as singer by busking in the bus or by the road. So we enjoyed listening to their free performance in the bus regardless.
I would like to highlight that I had an unforgettable moment during the stay. We've visited a place which is 6 hours from Bandung. It is located in Pangandaran, West Java. The beautiful-must-visit place named Cijulang River which has clean green water flows between the huge wall of hill or known as GREEN CANYON..
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| Green Canyon |
It serves never been forgotten experience to all visitors who come there by renting traditional boat or the challenging of body rafting.. We took the traditional boat. We enjoyed the amazing natural rock wall completely with the sound of river and birds tweet. The fresh look with the green water and plants surrounding was amazing. The boat buzzed up the jungle-fringed, emerald-green river to a waterfall and a beautiful canyon where there’s swimming (though the current is often strong here, they provide a rope for us to hold to). Boatmen work on a return-trip schedule of just 45 minutes, which only gives you about 15 minutes to swim and explore the narrowest and most beautiful part of the canyon.
It was a wonderful experience. Not so much picture taken unfortunately as at that point of time, not so much funky waterproof camera available in the market (plus student don't have much money..LOL)
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| The traditional boat brought us to the Green Canyon |
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| Swimming in the dark cave.. |
We also visited the Pangandaran Beach. Pangandaran is one of Java's best-kept secrets as far as international tourists are concerned, but has been extremely popular with locals for long time. A small fishing town, it possesses one of Java's finest beaches and Pangandaran Nature Reserve teams with wild buffalo, barking deer and monkeys. The people are very friendly, this combined with the idealize surroundings make this a great place to spend a few days relaxing island-style.
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| The beach is facing the Indian Ocean |
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| Fishing Village |
We assumed that this beach and its surrounding had badly damaged during Tsunami 2006 as the Tsunami alarm were made visible everywhere around the beach. The billboards also highlight on the Tsunami alert.
According to information available at the notice board around the beach, Pangandaran is the most devastated area by the roughly 3-meter (10-foot) wave. Off the island of Java, Indonesia, an earthquake rumbled under the ocean on July 17, 2006. The motion triggered a tsunami that struck the island about an hour later.
Several hundred people died in the area, which is a fishing community and resort area. Larger structures withstood the tsunami, but many smaller buildings and homes were washed away. Tens of thousands of people have been displaced by the devastation.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the earthquake occurred in a shallow part of the boundary between the Australia Plate and the Sunda Plate. The two tectonic plates meet offshore of the island of Java. The Australia plate dives beneath the Sunda Plate at a feature known as the Java Trench. The quake occurred about 50 kilometers north of there.
Nevertheless, we could not see any remaining scars from the Tsunami. Perhaps billions was spent to rebuild and refurbish this amazing tourist attraction.
We also took the Island Hoping package together with the Pangandaran Nature Reserve tour. It was an amazing trip as until now (after 6 years) I could still remember this wonderful journey.
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| On the boat: Island hoping |
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| The recreation park offers thousands amazing experience for tourists |
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| BFF in Dewi Rengganis Cave..the growing myth among local believe that the magical water in the cave will make you look younger than your age. |
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