Bandung, Indonesia

Following Kirti’s manager’s advice and a few researches, we decided that out next destination should be Bandung. By the time we decided, the flights to Bandung were costly and hence we opted to take a flight to Jakarta and then travel to Bandung.

We booked in tiger airlines, and reached Jakarta by around 11 30 am on Saturday morning. Had a juice from there and took the shuttle bus of Primajasa to Bandung. We reached Bandung bus stand by around 3pm. However, we were again “taken a ride” by a taxi there. The driver told us it will be 100,000 IDR for taxi trip. We argued and he agreed to take us on meter. However, he took us a long route, and we traveled in the route the bus came and finally we ended up paying 107000 IDR when we reached the hotel. As it was already late, we decided not to take any long trips for the day. We checked in, had food from a nearby Indian restaurant and decided to shop for the rest of the day. We went to Dago factory outlet and brought some dresses. We had planned to enjoy night life, but the bars and pubs were closed down because of Hari Raya and we had to call the day off.

We had booked a car with a driver from MPV rental by morning 6am, as we were informed that traffic gets real bad, especially during weekends in Bandung. We started from the hotel by around 6:30 am and headed off straight to Kawah Putih. We reached there by around 8:30 am; the drive was amazing with hill ranges and terraced farming on both sides. 

 

We took an angkutan (a vehicle similar to autorikshaw in India) and reached the top of the crater. It was raining and we rented umbrellas. After a short walk, we reached the top of the crater and it was a fantastic view.  

 It took us a few minutes to finally believe that we are actually standing inside the volcanic mountain. Kawah Putih was a white crater volcano and it was beautiful with an azure blue lake near the center of the crater. We walked and reached the center of the crater.  

 

It was an amazing experience, being inside the volcanic mountain, even if it smelled sulphur. We stood there for quite a few minutes, took snaps and started our walk back.

 

  


Our next stop for the day was Situ Pattengan, a lake near Kawah Putih. The drive was aside acres and acres of tea estates and the lake was ideally situated in between these hilly tea estates.







 


Again, rain had not stopped when we reached there and this time, it was a combo with fog. We could not even see the lake for some time. We decided to take a boating, and we were literally shivering throughout the entire trip. The boating was awesome, nothing special, but it had been a while since we enjoyed natural beauty and this was at its best



 


Cutting through the fog, we travelled and the boat stopped in a tea estate. We got down there, and it was really a heavenly feeling for me. A lake, foggy atmosphere, with no visibility than 10 meters or so, we started walking in the tea – estate island. 








 We climbed up the estate, took some snaps from there, spent some time walking and boarded the boat back. Yeah, and I fell down while boarding the boat… ;)





We decided to go next to Walini Hot Spring, which was the worst part of the tour. It had a hot spring swimming pool which was crowded like anything. We really hated that part of the tour and the water was also dirty. We dint stop there much and proceeded to have lunch.

 

Our driver took us to Sindang Raret, to have traditional Sundanese food and it tasted great. That was the first time that I loved an international dish. The food, the restaurant, everything was lovely, a great traditional restaurant.


 After having a hearty lunch, we decided to drive back, and we reached hotel by around 6:30 pm. We took rest, had some strawberries that we brought on the way and slept tight after the tiring journey.


The next day, we had asked the cab to be at 6:30 am, and we set off to Tangkuban Perahu by 7:00am. We drove across Lembang, crossing the beautiful views on either side. We reached Kawah Ratu by around 8:00am and again we saw, something which I never expected to see in my entire life. 

A black crater volcano, with pretty much “volcanic” looks compared to “better” looking and beautiful Kawah Putih.We could observe the volcano from the top, and could see smoke coming out from the bottom. We walked around a bit, took some snaps and proceeded back to the car and asked the driver to drop us at Kawah Domas.


Even though we were hassled a bit by guides and hawkers, we avoided them, both at Kawah Ratu and Kawah Domas.

 

In Kawah Domas, we had to trek through the forest for half an hour; we were confused a bit on the way, as of the route, but luckily chose the correct one.

Enroute Kawah Domas, a light trek of around 20 minutes or so.

 

After half an hour of light trekking, we reached Kawah Domas, and were thoroughly amazed by the natural phenomenon. Never expected to see natural hot water springs with water boiling and steaming.

 

I was gasping in wonder thinking of the diversity existing in nature. We were wondered by a lush green hill just besides, compared to the stony volcanic Kawah Domas .

It was simply splendid to observe nature at her real best here.

 

 Water boiling in the natural hot water spring in Kawah Domas. People bring egg and cook here. :D

 

After spending some time there, we trekked back, and decided to visit Maribaya waterfalls.

We reached the waterfalls by around 11:30 am, spent some time at the waterfalls near the entrance. We were told that the caves and the Maribaya falls was an hour trek away, so we decided against it, as the time was limited. 

 

We went back to Primajasa bus stand and from there to the airport, and then all the way back to Singapore.

Snap taken from Jakarta Airport.

Phuket, Thailand

We kicked off the journey on August 27^th evening from Singapore. It was a great day, we had gone to Universal Studios and had enjoyed a lot there. The hangover was still clouding when we reached the airport. We were so hungry that, even if we had just half an hour for the flight, we ordered a pizza from pizza hut. But the pizza was delayed so much, that we had to leave without eating, and paying.

We reached Phuket by night, and to our disappointment, it was raining. Raining huge! So, after a span of 4 months or so, we saw huge thunderous rain! We took a mini bus from airport to Patong beach and they dropped us at the hotel. On the way, they stopped and took us to a tourist agency office to explain about the various packages. We reached the hotel irritated, and came to know internet was not working. I tried calling home and informing, but was of no good, as the telephone found it difficult to interpret ISD code. Hoping that the rain would cease next day, we slept nice.

Sunday morning arrived. We had arranged for a Phi Phi tour the next day morning, but the tour operator backed out, leaving us in a soup. The hotel also said that it was not possible for them to arrange a tour on such a short notice. We walked out of the hotel, tried to catch vehicles that will drop us to the jetty, and this process continued for half an hour. When we almost backed out and decided that we will go to the island next day, a minivan stopped and agreed to take us. We went to jetty, paid more than others and were excited about our first island trip through the sea.  

The first few minutes of the trip were stupendous! The green ocean, the swaying boat and the amazing scenery. Water everywhere and we were really excited.

Then the villain came, again in the form of rain!






It started raining heavily, and the boat swayed beyond our excitement and slowly I started feeling sea sick. The itinerary was changed and Kawa beach would now be at the end of the trip, rather than at the start. We were taken directly to the Phi Phi don and the monkey beach. It was raining heavily. We were unable to snorkel and then came the saddest of all the news when the tour operators informed that they have to take us back to Phuket directly, 1hr after lunch. It was raining so badly that the tour had to be cancelled for safety purposes. 


The next hour, luckily did not rain and we spent the time well in Phi Phi. Swam across in the beach, went some far into the ocean and was lovely. I know I am repeating, but the greenness of the sea was worth watching!





We boarded in another huge ship for the return journey. And that journey changed the entire course of the trip. We were in the bottom level of the ship, and I felt so damn sea sick that I could not open my eyes for the entire trip. I started hating the sea and water and I just wanted to get back to Phuket. After more than 2hrs, we finally reached the destination and I vowed never to travel in the sea again.

We went back to the hotel, decided to cancel the Phang Nga trip we were planning to go. We still regret the decision we made, but there are times when health takes precedence over excitement. We rented out a bike and decided to travel around the island for the next 2 days. I would have to say, we did not miss Phang Nga much as the island herself was a beauty. After the phi phi tour, we decided to enjoy the night life and Simon cabaret. Went and booked the ticket in VIP seat for Simon cabaret. And that turned out be a visual treat, a colorful and beautiful show.

Even if my wife tried her best to make me believe it was a transvestite show, I could never imagine them as males, until finally when we came out to take snaps with them, some of them sounded so. We drove back to the hotel, changed and decided to try a discotheque. We went to one near the famous Bangla road, had 2 Pepsis and sat there a while. She wanted to dance badly, but I was not in a mood, may be because of the Phi Phi hangover. After a while, we went back and called it a day.

Next day morning, it was all clear and the sun was out. We hoped, we had gone to Phi Phi then, so that we could have enjoyed it more and I would have been less sea sick. But, there is no point in crying over spilt milk. I suddenly remembered that I forgot the place from which I rented the bike. And I had submitted my passport in exchange! We were both so tensed, roamed around the place for 1 hr or so, before finally finding the place. 

Then we decided to go to Phuket shooting range and tried a sniper gun from there. I made a small fight over there as they dint allow us to take photographs. Finally winning the argument, we took some snaps and proceeded to the next destination.

On the way, we saw a small Buddhist temple. We got down there, and spent a few minutes there. It was all red with agarbati smell all around. She enjoyed the temple much more than I did.








 We moved on to Patong beach, and it was lovely and green again. I had a hearty time in there. Was swimming and enjoying for more than 2hrs or so. The hotel was very near the beach, and we went to the hotel to change.





Later, we went in pursuit of Indian food and found a good restaurant and had fried rice for the first time in 5 months or so.
We came back to the hotel, had rest and decided to go to the Fantasea next. By evening 6 or so, we left for Phuket Fantasea, a mega carnival and show. The drive was a nice one, with 2-3 beaches including Kamala beach by the side.



It was a nice place, and a great show with elephants and traditional Thai dance and drama. There were shops all around, and we went around taking as much snaps as we could. Near the entrance, we could pose with baby tiger; of course, we need to pay extra for all those. The Fantasea was good, don’t know if it was worth the huge price tag, but the show was nice.








We saw white tigers, baby elephants, street dances and beautiful carvings and other small man made wonders there.

Once the show was over, we went back to the hotel and again decided on trying out the night life one more time. This time our mind was fixed on a go-go bar in Bangla road, and we decided to get in one with the poster “Ass spanking fun”, and, indeed it was. We saw certain “natural wonders” in the bar and decided 15 minutes was too much to spend there. Went back to the hotel and called the day off.

Next day morning, we went to the beach again, swam and played for again 2hrs or so.Even in overcast conditions, the beach looked extremely beautiful, and luckily it dint rain.



We came back to the hotel, tried out the rooftop swimming pool now, and decided to get sun tanned. We swam and burnt our skin for another hour or so, and it was time to check out.


We checked out from the hotel and our destination for the day was Promthep cape.




On the way, we stopped at Karon beach first. It was by far the best beach in Phuket. We had the beach to ourselves, not at all crowded, and the sand was white and silky. The beach was so clean and nice. We sat there for around half an hour and resumed our journey.

Next stop was at Kata beach and it was another wonderful beach with an extended coastline. There was this place, which looked so much like Hawaii or Mauritius. We spent around 1hr there and continued driving with beaches on the side again.







Kirti in Kata beach.

A view on the way to Kata - Karon beach.





After a long drive, we reached the first view point – Kata-Karon viewpoint. It was an amazing view point with the 2 beaches in sight.

 It started slightly drizzling after 2 days, but luckily, it did not continue much. Even if she was afraid to continue the journey, I insisted and we drove across another beach and finally reached Promthep cape.

On the way to Promthep cape ->







The view from there was indeed worth the long journey. An amazing view, with 3 beaches in sight. The waves of the beaches appeared so slow. It was one of the most beautiful evenings I spent in my entire life.

We waited till 6 15 or so to view the sunset, but the sun was still dressing behind the clouds. We started our return journey from Promthep cape, and were just 5 minutes from the cape, when the sun, fully dressed up, emerged pushing the clouds apart.

 We could catch the view on the way back, and the sight of sun setting from a hill top surrounded by ocean will never be forgotten.

We went back to Patong beach area, gave the bike back, collected my passport and boarded the cab to airport. Within 2hrs, we were back to the "man-made" Singapore,re-invigorated though.