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Bogor Historic Sights

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Koentje3000
Koentje3000
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5 out of 5
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Bogor

  • April 14, 2006
  • Rated 5 of 5 by Koentje3000 from Hamme, Belgium
Bogor

Bogor is a pleasant garden city on the main road from Jakarta to Bandung, 60km south of the country capital. It is located around 300m above sea level, making it remarkably cooler than Jakarta and a popular tourist destination for locals and foreigners. On the downside, the city is dubbed "city of rain," because it is the town with the heaviest precipitation on Java. This means that if you are here a few days, even during the dry season, you are guaranteed to have a few heavy showers. There are 800,000 inhabitants in the city proper, but 3 million if you include the outskirts. It functioned briefly as the country capital when the island was occupied by the British during the occupation of Holland by Napoleon. Under Dutch rule it was used as the summer capital when Jakarta (or Batavia at that time) was too hot.

Main attraction here is the Istana Bogor or Presidential Palace, a nice colonial building functioning as the residence of the Governor-General to the Netherlands East Indies (currently Indonesia). Currently it is used as a summer retreat of the Indonesian president, making it quite hard to arrange a visit. Applications for a guided palace tour should be made at least 5 days in advance to the Bogor Tourist Office, but even then your application might be rejected on unclear grounds. When we were there, this was the case, probably due to anti-government protests in Jakarta that day. Within the palace grounds, and visible through the entrance gates, is a herd of deer.

The other attraction in town is closely linked to the palace, as the Bogor Botanical Gardens used to be part of the palace gardens. The Kebun Raya, or the "Big Garden" as the botanical gardens are known in Indonesian, are now mainly used for scientific research. The gardens cover an area of 87ha, and are located just next to the palace, right in the centre of the city. It is accessibly through the main gate in the south or a smaller side gate in the west. Entrance to the gardens cost only 3000Rp (30¢). The gardens are very nice with many Indonesian and world-wide plants and trees. There are ponds and an artificial river next to a huge well maintained lawn. In the east of the park is the orchid house, a greenhouse for orchid enthusiasts. You can get a walking map of the gardens at the main entrance.

Bogor is easy to reach because it is on the main road from Jakarta to Bandung. Jakarta is 60km away and reachable by bus or train (1500-10000Rp). To reach Bandung (150km) take a train or bus which will cost you 7000-30000Rp, depending on the type of bus/train that you take. Almost every hour there is also a direct bus to the Soekarno-Hatta airport in Jakarta for around 10000Rp, making it possible to stay in Bogor when you come from the airport. Jakarta can then be visited as a trip from Bogor.

From journal The Most Populous Island in the World

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