Just came back from Bandung this week after spending 4 days & 4 nights there. Memorable trip indeed with excellent hired driver who can act partially as tour guide too.

I am going to breakdown my itinerary here as well as the costs as close and as much I remember However, for food, if you are interested in how much it will cost, kindly PM me.

Trip Duration: 4 days & 4 nights (9th Nov 12 to 12th Nov 12)
Number of ppl in the trip: 6 pax
Transport Hired: Toyota Avanza - New Edition
Driver: Angga (Email: erlangga_na@yahoo.com) Highly Recommended!
Background of the Driver: Driver speaks basic English, if possible, try to speak/email in Bahasa Malaysia. He can understand due to huge similarities in the 2 languages. He doesn't work full time as a driver. He has been staying in Bandung for 15 years, currently work in an IT company monitoring Network Securities. Through the days we traveled together, I have my respects for him.


Night 1
Friday - Finished my work, rushed to airport to catch an evening flight to Jakarta. Flight was delayed for 2 hours and luckily the driver who drove all the way from Bandung waited for us patiently there. Transport from JKT airport to Bandung - Banana Inn @ Jalan Setiabudhi (which is highly recommended) took us about 3 hours+. Arrived hotel at midnight, checked in and sleep to prepare for our 1st day.

Cost Breakdown: Driver - 600k for Jakarta to Hotel transfer, inclusive of petrol, toll charges; Hotel - check www.agoda.com


Day 1
Saturday - Had breakfast at Banana Inn and headed to Situ Cileunca, Pangalengan for White Water Rafting at 8:30am. Had a nice view of the sceneries when we are on our way there. Took us about 2 hours+ to reach there. Had a wonderful experience of the water rafting there with superb sceneries and atmosphere there, totally indulged in the mother nature. Total time spent for rafting - 3 hours. After which we moved on to the next location.

On our way to Ciwedey for Kawah Putih and Situ Patenggang (Love Lake), we stopped by a Sundanese Restaurant recommended by driver and had our 1st Sundanese meal in Bandung - Good food, good taste, good price.

Again, superb sceneries along the way to Kawah Putih. However due to bad weather, Kawah Putih was already closed. The officials didn't want to risk us paying and going in without seeing anything due to the fog. There were a few unofficial/illegal touts trying to get us up but our driver fenced off those touts and told us that it's very unlikely that we would be able to see anything there and wouldn't want us to waste money. Forgot how much it would cost but to hire a car to go to the crater would cost 150k on top of entrance fees per person.

We decided to moved on to Situ Patenggang/Love Lake. Entrance was cheap at only 50k for all 7 of us. Enjoyed the view of the tea farm as well as the peaceful lake. Based on the tea farm I saw here versus the Ciater one, this one indeed is really beautiful.

Went back to Bandung for dinner which took us about 4+ hours due to flood (because of the bad weather) at one of the towns. We ate Sate at Restaurant Shinta which the driver told us the restaurant is for the elites in Bandung. After which we went back to Banana Inn to rest for the next day.

Cost Breakdown: Driver - 570k for South Bandung tour; White Water Rafting - 990k for 6 pax; Love Lake - 50k for 6 pax


Day 2
Sunday - Checked out from Banana Inn, had light breakfast, left hotel at 8:30am. 1st stop, went to Rumah Stroberry somewhere at near Lembang. Spent some good time there picking our own strawberries and had our lunch there. There are some packages where you can eat your strawberries which came together with lunch at a very cheap price.

Moved on to a waterfall at Bandung - Curug Omas (inside Maribaya Nature Park). It's not the biggest at Bandung but it's the most accessible one here. Nothing as great as what we may see in Western Films. It's just a medium sized waterfall. Spent a little time walking around the park as well. According to Angga, there are 2 more caves in the park - Gua Belanda and Gua Jepang which requires some walk. My parents reluctant to walk further. Spent some time taking photos and without dwelling too much, we moved to the next stop.

Tangkuban Perahu was our next location. We saved quite a bit of money by Angga claiming that we are citizens and get our access granted at cheap price. Went straight up to Kawah Ratu and Kawah Upas (3km away from Kawah Ratu) and spent about 2 hours there taking photos, enjoying the breathtaking creations by mother nature.
There's another crater - Kawah Domas which is very well-known as tourist trap. Do not go there if possible unless you don't mind getting overcharged at the end of the tour. We eventually left Tangkuban Perahu for the next stop.

Best satays we've ever had were at the bottom of Mt. Tangkuban Perahu. We tried 10 sticks of Sate Ayam and 10 sticks of Sate Kelinci (Rabbit) - they indeed are exotic and tasted very delicious. Highly recommended! After that we continued our way to Subang (some distance after Ciater) to try out their Pineapples, which is very well known in Bandung. We also had a all-fish meal (super cheap & good ) in Subang which is also what they are famous of. Amongst the pineapples I've taken, the ones in Subang indeed are tastier and less acidic than the ones I've tried in Singapore and Malaysia. Haven't figured out why is that so, perhaps the volcanic soils helped in a way?

After that we checked into Sari Ater Hotel and enjoyed the rest of our day at Sari Ater Hot Spring and enjoyed their facilities there. Sauna, Hot Spring, etc.


Cost Breakdown: Driver - 520k for North Bandung tour; Rumah Stroberri - 120k for 400g of strawberry + lunch for 6 pax; Curug Omas - 300k for 6 pax (If pretend as Citizens only 7k/pax, too bad we accidentally spilled out Mandarin); Tangkuban Perahu - 100k for 6 pax (Citizens price ); Sari Ater Hot Spring - Complimentary



Day 3
Monday - We spent our morning at the resort enjoying fresh air and had an hour horse ride at the tea farm at Ciater. Checked out our hotel at 10 am in the morning and went to play Flying Fox. Some other outdoor activities can be done around hotel areas as well. We then moved on to Bandung town for hotel (Ottenville Boutique Hotel) check in.

After checking in, we went to have Nasi Bakar recommended by Angga. It's a well-known restaurant where a lot of their local celebrities visited. Price is very cheap and yet very good food served! After which we went for shopping at Jalan Riau while waiting for Saung Angklung Udjo performance at 3:30 pm. During that period, Angga helped me our with my proposal plan (yes, I did my proposal to my gf on that night at Bandung ), he brought me to some florists and bought some roses there.

Saung Angklung Udjo was next where we spent about 2 hours there watching the performance there and earning how to play their traditional instruments. Next stop - The Peak Restaurant where I spent one of my most important moments in my life there.

The Peak Restaurant is a posh restaurant at the highest peak in Bandung where you get to see the city of Bandung at night. Very romantic! It's a fine dining place and I booked a place at SkyPrivat where you get to see the entire Bandung city. Very comfortable atmosphere, superb food at affordable price. I proposed there and she agreed! After that we went back to hotel and rested early.

According to Angga, The Valley Restaurant is more accessible, has better ambience, and cheaper. However, nevermind, I did my proposal at the peak of Bandung


Cost Breakdown: Driver - 400k (Offer price); Flying Fox 25k/pax for 2 ways; Saung Angklung Udjo - 100k/pax.


Day 4
Tuesday (Last Day) - Had breakfast and checked out hotel at 9 am. Went for shopping at Rumah Mode and Jalan Dago. I personally preferred to shop at Rumah Mode. More selections and seems like the clothings more fashionable too. Price is probably 10k-20k higher than Jalan Dago though. Due to restrictions of time, we did not spend our time at Jalan Cihampeles. Left for an evening flight at Jakarta at 1 pm.

Cost Breakdown: Driver - 600k (to Airport)


General tips: Prepare a lot of 2k for parking and tips. There will be people sheltering for you when it's raining, stop the traffic when you are crossing the road, sing to you when you eating on the street etc.

Anyway, thanks to Angga who takes roads which will avoid the traffic. Feel free to contact him and say Seng's recommendation and probably you may get a discount?

This post has been edited by Seng007: Nov 18 2012, 02:24 PM