A trip to Bandung is not complete without a trip to Mt. Tangkuban Perahu. On top of Mt. Tangkuban Perahu lies a huge crater that looks like a clogged basin.
We had an interesting drive to the mountain. We drove passed villages, towns and many stalls. These stalls usually sell identical goods. For example, if the first shop sells bananas, then the entire row of shops will be selling bananas too.
Hammocks also got.
We passed by a stretch of stalls selling live rabbits. Some of these little fellows were not caged and let to roam freely.
Few metres later, we passed a stretch of food stalls with the signs “Satay Kelinchi”, which means rabbit satay. Oh noes!
Mt. Tangkuban Perahu is just a short drive from Bandung city. There’s an entrance fee. I can’t remember how much.
The road up to Mt. Tangkuban Perahu was not in top condition and we had to endure a bumpy ride up the mountain.
Our first destination was Kawah Ratu (Queen’s Crater), the crater that looks like a clogged basin.
Immediately after getting out from our car, we were swamped with local traders offering us their goods and services. A few were quite persistent despite being rejected by us and even followed us to every where we went. One was trying very hard to engage us in a conversation but after ignoring him for ten minutes or so, he went away.
Yes! Another picture for my collection of toilets all around the world!
There’s nothing much to see in Kawah Ratu other than the crater and a row of shops. Hence, we decided to head to Kawah Domas and engaged a local guide to bring us there. It is compulsory to engage a guide.
Row of shops.
Yadi, our guide charged us 200,000 Rupiah an hour (I eventually found out that some guides offer lower charges). Nevertheless, it was well worth it. He gave us detailed explanation of the place we passed and even offered to take photos for us.
The path to Kawah Domas is well marked and relatively easy. We stopped by a cliff to take pictures of Kawah Domas from the top. We were also introduced a plant where its leaf is edible. Accordingly to legend, Dayang Sumbi consumes such leaf to maintain her power of eternal youth.
I ate a few branches. Nom.
Cliff has a shop too.
Overlooking Kawah Domas
At Kawah Domas, boiling hot geysers are a common sight. Some are extremely hot with steams pouring out and some are mild, which allows people to soak their feet.
We soaked our feet and rubbed volcanic mud on our leg. I had the service of one of the souvenir sellers to massage my leg.
It was quite good. I thought of repaying his service by buying one of his products, but when he offered his product, a wooden duck at 300,000 Rupiah (RM100!) I awed in disbelief. I told him that I will pay him for his good service rather than the product. However, he rejected me and told me that he will lose his job if he takes up my offer.
Since he strongly stuck to his principle, I eventually hogged the stupid duck down to 100, 000 Rupiah.
One chap took it to the extreme by taking a bath on the side where we soaked our feet. He even poured the hot spring water down his pants in front of us. That was our calling to get our feet off the pond.
Our guide brought us to check out some ‘volcano flowers’ which is just a pile of sulphur.
Yadi
We then took a stroll out from the jungle and saw couple of interesting sights. One of them is a stacked bunch of plants collected by locals. It tried lifting it and I couldn’t!
Actually, I couldn’t even stand up…NEED MORE PUSHMORE!!
Upon reaching the exit, we thanked our guide and paid him his fees. The entire trip took two hours and the total damage costs 400, 000 Rupiah. Nevertheless, we gave him some tips for his good work. I think the total cost for this is around RM200.
