Volcanic Splendor - West Java

Jakarta from our hotel.

This trip just happened so sudden and spontaneously that within a few hours of discussion, we had booked our tickets to Jakarta. Our primary objective to go to Jakarta was to check out Iron Maiden playing Live at the grounds. My friends and I are huge Iron Maiden fans and we have been looking forward to this for a long time. They were playing in Singapore as well but the tickets were too expensive for front row standing. So when I checked out that the tickets for the Jakarta concert were 120 dollars and the flight was 40 bucks return from Singapore, we immediately clinched the deal. 

Jet Star has frequent flights everyday to Jakarta and booking it a few weeks in advance will ensure that you get the cheapest of tickets. 

Manas Monument - Jakarta

We had great fun in Jakarta at the concert which took place at Ancol Bay - Dreamland which is a freaking huge recreational area full of hotels, restaurants and bars. We stayed at the Jalan Jaksa. I had heard a lot of unpleasant things about staying here with prostitutes and transvestites troubling you, but honestly we had no problem even in the middle of the night when we returned back to our hotel. We had a really enjoyable stay at Le Margot hotel. This is a little upscale for the backpacker quarter it is located in but quite a good value for its price. The rooms were quite simple with a TV which gets most English channels. Watching the Maidens play on stage was awesome! Chanting to the songs of "Hallowed Be Thy Name", "Blood Brothers", "Dance of Death" among others was truly an unforgettable experience. The night after the concert we went to Club Stadium. This is a place you wouldn't wanna miss though the details of what happened in the club can't exactly be revealed in this blog.. :)

View of the crater - Papandayan

We moved on to Bandung from Jakarta to check out the volcano landscape surrounding this interesting city. The first night in Bandung was spent strolling around Braga which is an area known for its clubs, karaoke and live music bars. Entering most of these clubs/karaoke bars you find yourself taken in and shown a group of beautiful girls waiting amongst the misty interiors. However, tonight we would restrain ourselves and head back to our hotel. We stayed at Patradissa hotel which is conveniently located very close to Bandung Train station.

Smoking sulphur rocks 

Exploring the crater

Deposits of sulphur and boiling water

Panaromic crater

More Volcanic rocks and Sulphur deposits

L-R: Hari, Shiva and Dipak on the crater

Sulphur deposits on a volcanic rock

We rented a car with a driver and drove up to Gunung Papandayan, This is  a very active volcano which is about 90km south of Bandung. The car goes all the way up to the entrance of the climb towards the crater. Its a real easy climb and you are able to walk across the huge crater which is about 2 km wide. Walking across the crater, you find yourself in the midst of boiling water, smoking rocks and sulpur deposits. We came across multiple fumaroles and climbing down one of them, I could really feel the heat raging beneath the surface. Standing close to one of the fumaroles, I was lost in the water vapour and sulphur smoke that was coming out from the earth towards me. We walked around for a few hours exploring the crater. I have climbed a couple of volcanoes already but this was something different and truly unique. Being in the crater made me realize the awe of the energy that is churning under our feet at this very moment. We found black and red volcanic rocks all over the place including bright yellow sulphur deposits. We broke off some sulphur samples clinging to the rocks to take back to Singapore as a souvenir. 

During this night each of us in the group had our own unique experiences. Like we say "What happens in Bandung, stays in Bandung".