The Other Side of Bandung

Was on a sans-kids holiday to Bandung with Inche @azrulx and other adults of the Zaghlol clan a few weeks back. So, before I totally forget about it, I'd better blog about itlah, kan? It was one of those el-cheapo tickets from AirAsia - like RM160 per pax and we booked it like yonks ago. By the time it was actually time to go; 2 people chickened out of it , even - @emazag had to study for her exams and @nazz2121 had a make-up class for his MBA. (Apasal I am referring to people using their twitter nick nih?)

We stayed over at Grand Serela Boutique Hotel which was right smack in the middle of the shopping district. So much so that the earlier group consisting of my sister @ewazag, BIL @eski7 and Banati walked along Jalan Riau to get to the FOs the day prior to our arrival. ;) My mom and dad opted out of the crazy walkathon. (Wise choice, if I had to say so myself! :)) Me and the hubs got the Deluxe room while the rest got the Family room - adalah menakjubkan sebab adalah merupakan bilik duplex, with two twin beds at the bottom and a Queen-sized bed at the loft.

Anyways, we also did other stuff besides shopping that is, albeit only that one daylah. The other side of Bandung, if you will which would be the main focus of this entry. :)

The driver that we hired, Pak Nanang (+612-81-214 76468, sila mention Ibu Ewa) took us to Tangkuban Parahu in the morning. It is actually a national Park with a few volcanic craters - one active and a few dormant ones- in it. The journey took us about 1.5 hours (kot? I forgot already) in the APV. Agak pening, ok sebab jalan turun naik bukit/gunung and berpusing-pusing. Our first stop was at the lower Kawah Dorman Domas (Ye ke? Memandai je kamu.. Lain kali blog lambat-lambat lagi, kan dah tak hengat!) and a tourist guide was already waiting for us. He (and his assistant) said they could take us on a half hour walk along the dedicated trail to the active crater. Can boil egg maa.. Got reflexology and can also dip your leg into the hot spring. Bagus untuk kulit, katanya. The price was just Rp 250K for an hour for our whole group. Seems like a good deal. Rupa-rupanya kami hampir di-taken advantage of! With a little kid in the group (read: the adorable Shoshoff) and my mom with a bad knee, rasa-rasanya boleh siap segala nak rebus telur tu in 1 hour, to and fro? I think not. He said, Rp500K for 2hrs, etc. and went down to Rp400 for lebih dari 2 jam pun takpe. Jadi, the moral is, you need to agree with the guide on the price up front. Kalau tak the price would be so ridiculously expensive. Bisa tarik rambut, deh!

Hujung-hujung tu , kitorang skipped the guide altogether and drove up to the dormant crater, Kawah Ratu and took some pictures there. Another thing, be careful of the mobile street merchants. So many souvenirs sold at almost unbelievably high prices. If you are comfortable, hanggle and buy. I got a stack of pretty cool rattan pipe while we were up there. Else just nicely say "No" and move on with your life. :)

On our way down, we asked if we could take some pictures near the tea plantation. Pak Nanang went into one and we jumped out for some photo op. *Cheh, nak menunjuk sling bag Longchamp dia tu la sebenarnya..*

Next stop was at a strawberry kebun called Kavling Stroberi. They have a few kebuns and we went harvesting at kebun 6. It's like a little gated tempat tanam sayur with strawberries planted in little dirtbags. Tak banyak pun buahnya, tapi thrill je lebih. They charge Rp15K per head to pick your own strawberries and each oz. priced at Rp6K. Not too bad, actually coz each one of us got a strawberry ice-blended drink at the end of it. (Adalah sedappp!!!) The picked berries? We ratah only. Sedap. Even without anything. Or a little bit of sugar. (Can't believe they don't have creme to eat them berries with.)



Next up was Kampung Daun - a cultural village where people can lepak and eat. The walk up was a little long - it took us maybe 15 minutes of walking. Along the way, my mom bought some local kuehs and delicacies. Mana lagi nak try kan? At least nampak macam bersih. But the ambience is oh so perfect. Macam jalan-jalan nak pergi kolah air terjun - sejuk, shady and very very relaxing. There were little ,comfy huts along the climb, where groups of people were having their meal. Looked like they were having fun too. We were placed at the very top balai - on a long table with very comfortable extra cushions. The food was wonderful and unexpectedly reasonably priced. We were definitely pleasantly surprised. :) Berbaloi datang sini. Serious.

After Kampung Daun we went back to the hotel. By then it was almost 4.30pm. So, we dropped by Roger's Spa to make an appointment for cremebath and reflexology a little later.


So, in conclusion, sapa kata pergi bandung untuk shopping saja, haaa???
-dillz blogging out-