Guest Post
South East Asia is top of our list of exotic trips we are aiming for to trek and to hike. We are actually looking at Hong Kong, Malaysia, the Philippines and, because most recently we have been made aware of one possible destination, Bandung aka the Paris of Java, in Indonesia.
Having researched it, we found out that there are many qualities that speak to us as hiker/travellers , and equally attractive to a considerable number of European active holiday makers, too for choosing Bandung. :
1. its weather, which gives it cool temperatures the whole year round;
2. the amenities available on offer: luxury hotels, restaurants, cafes and boutiques to make Europeans like us feel more at home), and most importantly
3. a varied choice of hiking trails, from short easy hikes to multi-day camping treks, offered by its hilly terrain with their awesome views.
Bandung is described as lying on a river basin and surrounded by volcanic mountains.
Hiking in Lembang
In our search for possible easy hikes, we think we will choose to head to Lembang, which seems to be a top destination for nature lovers and active holiday makers like us for its amazing mountain hiking trails. Over there, one has a number of trails to choose from, and one we will certainly take is the Gunung Batu (Stone Mountain) trail.
Although equally scenic, this trail has the advantage that there are not too many tourists going there (yet) and one can enter without having to pay an entrance fee. (The more popular ones require them.)
Art Deco Architecture
As we always say, our travels not only aim to find easy hiking trails and taking them to tell you about it in our blog, but also to discover the cultural and culinary attractions of our destination.
Bandung looks like it won’t disappoint. The city has retained many architectural heritage left by Indonesia’s Dutch coloniser. In the 1920’s, the Dutch decided to have its colonial adminsitrative capital to Bandung. And it so happened that the 1920’s were also the days Art Deco flourished.
A city walk would naturally be in order to discover the remnants of the Art Deco architecture still left standing in and around the city.
Indonesian Cuisine in Bandung
Now, to the most interesting bit of our visit: the culinary discoveries. Indonesian cuisine has always tittilated our palates with its liberal use of peanuts. (We love peanut butter!) We would be looking forward to being able to eat the real thing: satay, to start with. We’re sure there would be numerous varieties of these. We just need to find the best places to have it.
Then, we could satisfy our curious palates by trying what they call Ronde, a sweet ball of glutinous rice filled with (you guessed it!) peanuts. And there would be the Indonesian version of pancakes, the Martabak. We need to try both the sweet and the savoury versions of this, naturally. There surely will be more to discover when it comes to Indonesian cuisine in Bandung.
