Bandung: May'11

I was supposed to go to Belitung Islands this weekend. Instead I canceled it due to a doctor appointment. You won’t find Belitung Islands covered in Lonely Planet: Indonesia (I had the 9^th edition). The alluring islands become famous among Indonesians especially since Laskar Pelangi movie had been played. It’s a must destination.

So, I ended up going for a day trip to Bandung which is famous for its spreading factory outlets selling clothes. No, I didn’t go to the factory outlets. This time I went to Bandung with my parents and maid to Mount Tangkuban Perahu and Saung Angklung Udjo.

Mount Tangkuban Perahu

We departed from Jakarta at 6 am by car and arrived at Mount Tangkuban Perahu, Kawah (crater) Ratu at 9 am (a car Rp13,000, entry fee Rp10,000/person for local, bus can’t go to the top so the passenger should take a minibus for Rp12,000/person or taking a walk).

There were already a lot of people there (should have gone earlier). I had been to Kawah Ratu around 17 years ago. All I remember from that visit was the enormous stalls/street peddlers selling souvenirs and food. The stalls/street peddlers are still there, but this time I barely notice the sellers as I was busy taking pictures of the crater, stalls and visitors. The street peddlers barely notice me as well since I didn’t look like a prospective buyer with my eyes fixed on the crater view. The wind had been cooperative enough that I didn’t smell sulphur in the air.

I met some groups coming from Sumatera and Malaysia speaking Malay and Mandarin. So, you can imagine the crowdedness out there. But actually, not every spot in Kawah Ratu is crammed with visitors. If you take a walk a little bit further away from the parking space, you will find a quieter spot there. I do remember that I went to that quieter place 17 years ago, but I didn’t go any further. This time, I only look at that place from far away.

Somehow, I can find quietness in the middle of the crowdedness by looking at the crater and the crowded. The shadow of the cloud has made a different color to the crater. Ok, it wasn’t that different. I just noticed it since I took several pictures of the same crater from the same sitting point. Yup, I just took a sit on a rock until slowly felt the sun warming my back.

We didn’t spend a lot of time here (less than an hour) because we had an appointment with my cousin in downtown Bandung at noon. We had our lunch at Sindang Reret hotel and restaurant. Not really recommended.

I want to go back to Tangkuban Perahu again to ramble around Kawah Ratu and take a look at Kawah Domas. But it will be rather difficult to coax my traveling friends to go here because Tangkuban Perahu can be reach relatively at a canter. It might be not challenging enough for some people.

Here is a link for the reviews on Tangkuban Perahu on Trip Advisors as I read some people found the street peddlers are the challenging part (http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g297704-d1010804-Reviews-Tangkuban_Perahu-Bandung_Java.html). Ignoring the street peddlers is the best way to have a serene visit on Kawah Ratu despite its crowdedness. But, I think the crowdedness is the trade-off of being very easy to access to. Meanwhile, I have no comments on the peddlers and guides on Kawah Domas as I’ve never been there. Hopefully the visitors and the peddlers can go hand in hand.

Saung Angklung Udjo (SAU)

After having a conversation with my cousin, we went to watch a show at Saung Angklung Udjo (SAU). I highly recommend visiting SAU which is established in 1966 as a one-stop cultural workshop, consists of performance venue, bamboo handicraft centre, and bamboo instrument workshop. I had made a call first making sure that there will be a performance at 15.30 (+62 22 727 1714, +62 22 710 1736, address: Jl. Padasuka No. 118, www.angklung-udjo.co.id, entrance fee Rp50,000 for locals and Rp80,000 for foreigners).

The first time I watch the performance was about 3-4 years ago at night after playing paint ball three games in a row (my team was the winner). The performance is so entertaining that it could rejuvenate your body and mind. So, I came again.

The bamboo angklung performance was played for two hours consist of wayang golek demonstration, helaran (a traditional ceremony), traditional dances, calung, Arumba, angklung mini, angklung padaeng, and playing angklung together. It is a snap performances played within two-hours by the students of SAU. In the morning, the SAU students study in a formal school and on the afternoon practice Sundanese cultures. The junior students play the performance as if it were their playing field. Full of laughter and smile. They successfully make a harmony in traditional music and dances in a blissful way.

They have played the angklung performance abroad and often invited to perform it in front of the state guests. It is an amazing performance. It was also my mom second time enjoying the performance.

My favorite time here was when the entire visitors playing angklung together to play some songs. About the visitors, I saw the Malaysian group that I met this morning at Tangkuban Perahu. There were also people coming from other cities such as Padang and Surabaya; and other countries such as Australia, Holland, and USA. The great thing is the Americans are from Alaska. I won’t be that surprise if I met them in Bali or Lombok, but in Saung Angklung Udjo-Bandung? :) Awesome!!!

We arrived back in Jakarta at 8 pm.

Kuta Beach, Lombok: Apr'2011

Day 2: Sukarara village, Sade village, Kuta beach

Our last stop before going to the airport was Kuta beach. It is beautiful and pristine just like another beach in Lombok Islands.

I rush the lunch time so I can have more time to play on the beach with Joy and Putri. We went to the coral reef that revealed due to the low tide. Some children were fishing there.

From afar, I watched the visitors enjoy their activities on the calm beach. It’s so calm as if it were a giant swimming pool with the horizon and the hill as the boundaries.

The hawkers give it another flavor to Kuta beach compared to other beaches that I have visited here. They do not know the word “no”. When they do, they will curse you or something like that. Still the alluring beach overruled the annoying hawkers there. Well, I assumed to put up with the hawkers as a challenge. Who’s going to throw in the towel first?

I just hope that anyone from the local tourist industry tell them not to do that. It is not a sustainable way to make a living from tourism.

Sukarara & Sade Village, Lombok: Apr'2011

Day 2: Sukarara village, Sade village, Kuta beach

SukararaVillage

On day 2, we were going to explore the southern part of Lombok Islands. Our first stop was Sukarara village known for its woven cloth. On our way to the village, we passed a mobile traditional market. It is called mobile because the market is not a permanent one. You can find sellers sell a lot of things here: spices, tobacco, umbrella, tofu, flip-flops, etc. It’s interesting scenery. Well, we still have the traditional market in Jakarta.

Finally, we arrived at Sukarara village. We were taking pictures of some weavers working in front of a house that has turned into a traditional shop.



There was also a traditional ceremony on the village that time. A group of people playing traditional music along the street while carrying a boy and a girl. It turned out that it was a celebration of a circumcision. What…the little girl also had it? No…she’s the boy’s cousin who accompanied him during the celebration. Neither the boy nor the girl seemed to enjoy it.




Ok…back to the woven shop. We bought some woven fabrics there. If you are a trader, you can make a killing from this deal (if you know how to market it). It’s too bad that I’m not. Shopping malls in Jakarta sell the fabrics for the prices far higher than here (you have to count the distribution, tenant, and margin cost, etc).



Sade Village


Our next stop was Sade village with its traditional Sasak housing. The contradictive part for me is that the village is located next to a main modern road. There’s a donation box at the village’s gate. Some local teenagers were having their relaxing time on the bottom part of a rice barn.

We were welcomed by a Presian (Peresean) dance played along with the traditional music. I found the description of Presian dance as a “folk war dance where young men duel with rattan sticks and shields made out of cows leather.

An orchestra provides the musical background”. A pengembar will find a pepadu (the fighter) to fight with other pepadu that also picked by other pengembar. The Presian dance used to be played with asphalt on the tip of the rattan. But then the government prohibits the usage of asphalt for humanity reason. What is the prize for the winner? The prizes are daily needs such as soap, sarong, etc for them to be sold. Maybe the ego is also one of the prizes.

Some of my colleagues tried to do the war dance in front of the locals. Instead of using the shield to cover them from another fighter, one of them used it to cover his face from the sun. It’s an alternative usage of the shield when you forgot to use the sun block cream.

The most amazing part of our visit to Sade village was when the guide brought us into a traditional Sasak house. That house is still used for a family to live. It mainly comprised of three parts of rooms: a living room and two bed-rooms on the higher ground. One of the bedrooms is also used as a kitchen. Where’s the bathroom? There’s a public bathroom outside the house for the elderly and the children. Other than the elderly and the children should take a bath near the spring.

Next to the traditional houses are the traditional shops selling the woven fabrics, sarongs, necklace, etc. The children will say that the fund raised from it will be used to buy books. I don’t know whether I have to agree on this or not. Try to step into their shoes then as I was about to find the same reason from the hawkers in Kuta beach on our next stop.

Well, not all the children trying to sell things to the visitors. Ton and Kayla didn’t do that. They were playing on balai-balai, a place where the villagers have their village’s meeting, marriage, etc. I showed them some of my pictures from Jakarta’s zoo that are still in the camera. They seemed excited to see pictures. I can’t blame them :)