AnaMarwan.com

I flew to Bandung, Indonesia for a short weekend getaway with two of my colleagues. When I said short, I meant really short. Like, we flew after work on a Friday and thanks to the 1-hour delay, we only reached Bandung around 11pm (local time). I mean, knowing that, we didn’t really make any plans to explore the night we landed. I was sick at the time, a bad case of the flu, so all I wanted to do when we reached Bandung was sleep.

The minute we landed, my excitement made me forget that my nose was leaking. It was my first time in Bandung, so I wanted to take in as much as I can on my short trip here. That night, we had some street food near our AirBnB. I had bihun goreng and iced tea (yes, while having the flu).

The next day was more exciting. We woke up early to meet with Ari’s friend (both of them are Indonesians) who drove us to Tangkuban Parahu, an active volcano which last erupted in 2013, I think. On the way there, we stopped by Rumah Mode for a bit of window shopping before a late breakfast of a local snack called ketan bakar, which is like fried glutinous rice blocks. I had that with a side of peanut sauce and it was delicious!

We continued our journey after that, and when we finally reached our destination, the view from the top was beautiful.

The smell of sulphur was definitely strong, but that’s expected since we’re talking about an active volcano here, guise. We walked through throngs of souvenir and food shops to get to the less-crowded area for some photo sessions. What kind of a tourist would I be if I didn’t take any selfies with Kawah Ratu, the main crater of an active volcano, right?

We spent about an hour+ there before deciding to head back to the city. And because I’m the baby of the group and obviously the weakest one in terms of stamina and energy, I slept through most of the ride back into the city. But of course, I woke up for lunch. We had a traditional Sundanese food at a restaurant before heading to Jl. Trunojoyo to check out some local shops.

For dinner that night, we decided to try a fancy place perched on a hilltop. We dined at Takigawa Meatbar in the Sky. The view was amazing — we could see the whole of Bandung lighted up. While my companions opted for the set meals, I tried their California rolls, which, for the price, was amazing. With full tummies, we headed back to our AirBnB to retire for the day.

The following day, and our last day, we went cafe hopping. We went to Noah’s Barn (the big breakfast I had was huge and delicious, and their iced caramel latte was one of the best I’ve had), Blue Doors Cafe (quaint little cafe, with cute decorations and amazing coffee) and Two Cents (didn’t have coffee there but their chocolate brownies were awesome) before heading to the airport.

Even though we only managed to spend less than 48 hours in Bandung, it felt as though it was a longer trip, partly due to the fact that we managed to go to the places we planned to go. I also didn’t shop for clothes as much as I thought I would — I did buy a bunch of Nutri Saris for my parents (uh… by a bunch I mean 10 packets of them… each packet contains 10 sachets, so yeah) and 2 Good Day coffee packets (one contains 10 sachets).

All in all, it was a good trip and it made me realise you don’t really need to have a long getaway to be able to explore a different country. I guess it all comes down to good planning, and my team really did well with that. Can’t wait for my next weekend getaway!