Jakarta: Trip to Bandung's Tangkuban Perahu (Volcano)

Bandung, A province West of Java Indonesia. It is about a 6 hour long drive (also because of traffic). We kinda went there on a wrong date - a long holiday in Jakarta so families are all going home or in a vacation mode. It feels like the whole of Jakarta are going to Bandung! 

From Jakarta, we were supposed to ride a van in the terminal. But since its long weekend... we ended up renting with another traveler; still not very costly for the long ride. Its like we rented the van to ourselves. Hehe. 

So anyway, when we get to Bandung, we stayed in the hotel a bit and prepared. The hotel we got was pretty decent, it is very spacious, have buffet breakfast and also a pool to help you relax a bit too. 

So from our hotel, off we went to our first destination: Tangkuban Perahu. (Tangkuban Perahu literally means 'upside-down boat'); From up there, the view is breath taking. The atmosphere is cold. There aren't as many people actually and we had a good space for our wonderful photos. 

Kawah Ratu is the biggest crater of Mount Tangkuban

There are a lot of shops here too, and some food stalls, also a passageway is in place where you can go down a bit (its like a small village steps) to take a good shot - few tourists ever went down there. 

Bring sweaters. Its cold up there!! 

Bali Tour Series C: Nature Trip (Waterfalls, Rice Terraces and Volcano)

I haven't been to our very own Banaue Rice Terraces but it sure is quite a sight in photos; I was excited to see the version of it in Bali - the Tegalalang Rice Terraces. It wasn't as wide, or huge as what we have in our country(Philippines) but it sure was a nice place. The van we rented parked in a designated area and we walked about 3 minutes to see the view. We were not able to go near it, but the place is a bit cold even in the sunny weather. We were told you can go see the place up close but it would be down another road and would take another hour or two. 

Mount Batur was part of our itinerary. seeing this on the list where we will have out lunch, well I sure did not expect to have such magnificent view while having lunch. The restaurant where we ate even have a rooftop where clients are encouraged to go up to and so you can take a photo or even a selfie. 

This is another photo we took, as much as it is beautiful in the photo, it is even more grand with your own eyes. =) This is one of the top places we visited in Bali that has surpassed my expectations. I was so happy that we have included this in out itinerary.  

Away from the city, and another hour or two of rough road drive, we head out for the GITGIT Water Falls. We inserted this in our itinerary (it was not very common in the packages that the Bali tours would give you as most of them are sight seeing that relates to the culture and these are mostly temples.

To be able to see the waterfalls, you have to walk at least 1 kilometers, perhaps up and down a cemented stairs, some with view of the forest to your right and some paths with some local houses. It was such a trek (not difficult but long for us who does not climb mountains. (^-^)

It is rather difficult to go there and take a dip. most people probably just go take some pics, feel the cool breeze and just head back. When we went there, no one actually was with us, except for our tour guide and basically no other tourists have gone to the place.