We spent 3 days touring the area around Bogor and found it interesting from a cultural standpoint. Curiously, we saw few other westerners. In the Bogor Botanical Gardens we were approached three times for photographs by groups of Indonesians holidaying in the town. We were later told that some people like to display photographs of themselves with westerners as proof of their cultural experiences whilst on holidays. Hmmm, interesting paradox.
Travel Diary Details - Bogor Area
Jakarta to Bogor
Our priority was to avoid Jakarta and head straight for the mountains of Puncack, using Bogor as a stopover before travelling east.
Taxis abound at the airport and you can catch a registered one to Bogor via the tollway for 200,000rp (harga pas - standard price), or you can barter for an "illegal" black-plate car - they will come down to around 120,000rp but take a much longer route, avoiding the busy tollway (because they are not licensed to travel on it). Our trip to Bogor in a black-plate car took around two hours through endless rural villages of quaint tiled houses.
Bogor area
The Wisma Permata is directly opposite the gardens in a prime location close to the markets, shops and most conveniences. It has large, comfortable and clean rooms in a tropical garden setting with a good restaurant (Mutiara) serving well priced Indonesian food (around 8000rp) and over priced steaks.
This is probably the best place to stay in Bogor that we saw, although there are a few nice looking places further away from the main drag behind the Lebak Kantin district on the north side of town. We were in Bogor during Idul Fitri and therefore paid top dollar ($US25 with breakfast), but prices come down 20-25% after the celebrations. You get hot and cold water, aircon and fan. Even at this time of the year we had no problem finding the accommodation of our choice - most places seemed to be around half full.
Probably the best way to get the layout of the place is to walk the length of Jalan Juanda, which makes a complete circuit of the gardens. Go early in the morning and catch the activity of the vendors and hawkers on the north side of the gardens, beautiful Dutch houses and tree lined avenues, and a wonderful local market on the south side where you can buy almost anything at good prices. There's a lot of traffic around Bogor these days, but if you pick your times and stay off the main drags it's still a relatively pleasant place to wander. The town centre is also quite small and easy to negotiate on foot. This place used to be a quiet and quaint hill town - not any more.
TIP: don't get caught in the open after four o'clock. Each day we were here it rained (more like a tropical downpour), as if on command, from about four o'clock to six o'clock. We were told that if the surrounding mountain-tops were covered in cloud in the morning, then it would rain that afternoon. We never got to prove or disprove the theory because they were always covered!
TIP:Remember, Java is a Moslem island; female tourists are not often spoken to when in male company and wonderful top-40 mosque music abounds from dozens of speakers placed around the town - sometimes at five in the morning! When you're looking for accommodation, make sure there isn't a speaker in your area.
The Botanical Gardens are spectacular and the entrance fee is about 1500rp; allow a few hours to have a decent look and don't stand in one place for too long, the people seem to come from everywhere to take your photograph! (see introduction to this entry) Although you can't get access to the Presidential Palace, there are many good vantage points from around the gardens. Hundreds of roe deer roam wild in the palace grounds and are most active first thing in the morning.
There is a three-level shopping complex on the Jalan Gunung Gede corner with Jalan Raya Pajajaran (just up from the Wisma Permata) with stalls, bistros and even a Pizza Hut! There are also two well-priced Nasi Padang places and a good supermarket for stocking up on essentials.
There's a Tourist Office on the south side of the gardens and they'll dispense basic hand-drawn maps and scant information on the area. They seem to be open pretty much all the time. You'll be much better off hiring a guide (the Tourist Office can recommend one, as can many of the local hotels and guesthouses) and relying on your Lonely Planet/Moon/Rough Guide handbook.
To make a collect call back home you will have to go to the Wartel down a lane near the shopping complex. Take plenty of patience - nobody seems to speak much English but somehow they get through in the end. Allow about an hour.
Talk to ‘Aris’ at the Wisma Permata - he is a friendly and knowledgable young bloke who can provide an impromptu tour service. He speaks good English and some French, German and Japanese, and will be happy to take you on excellent tours of the area for a few dollars.
Go and see Dase the puppet maker in the quaint and friendly Lebak Kantin district north of the gardens (ask the directions, everyone knows him). Dase and his wife are lovely people and you can see real quality Wayang Golek puppets and watch them being made - most people say he makes the best puppets in West Java. They are usually carved from hardwood, sometimes even from citrus tree trunks. If you want to buy any puppets take cash - they don't use credit cards out here.
I WOULD RECOMMEND A STOPOVER IN THE BOGOR AREA IF YOU'RE TRAVELLING THROUGH