Unexpected stopover in Bandung

We left Cimaja early in the morning to catch the first angkot (local mini bus) to Telamadan Ratu’s bus terminal. Our plan was to reach Cipanas, a tranquil base to explore volcanoes and hot springs in central Java. However, with the Ramadan holiday, we knew to expect a lot of traffic.

A local woman stopped the angkot to shop for chickens today. After 10 minutes of carefully deliberating, she came back with these two!

From Telamadan Ratu, we took an air-con coach to Sukhabumi for 2 hours, where we could transfer to Bandung. The bus to Bandung was supposed to take 3 hours but we got there 6 hours later. Without air-con and stalled in insane traffic jams, inhaling the fumes, it was a tough ride. Luckily, cute local kids on the bus kept us entertained, but a lot of passengers were vomiting and the bus was more than full, many families had to stand in the isle while holding their children.

Once we got to Bandung, we were hoping to get a connection to Garut right away. Although feeling less than enthusiastic with the thought of another bus ride, we figured we’d push through. Unfortunately, the people at the bus terminal weren’t very helpful and were trying to charge us ridiculous amounts of money to drive us. Therefore, we decided to call it a day and stop over in Bandung for the night. Once again, a lot of bargaining was required to get a taxi to a hotel, but all parties were (sort of) happy in the end.

It turned out to be a pleasant evening in Bandung, probably the nicest city we have visited in Indonesia so far. When you get away from the bus station, it gets nicer. We had dinner in a lovely café with live music. We had an early night as we had another long day of travelling the following day!