Tangkuban Prahu

Since several people posted comments on my photo, I decided I would give it a post on a non-wordless day.

The picture was taken in Bandung, Indonesia.

I hope you can find the dot. Anyway, Tangkuban Prahu is a volcano which is about 1hr30 mns outside of Bandung, my favorite city in the world. When I spent time there in 2005, I also visited the volcano and was really impressed with the beauty of the place. It really inspired me to write or to do something to capture the beauty of the place. The second time I visited was in July of 2007! Not too long ago! The picture I posted was from this past July. I am going to give you a picture tour now :-) You are lucky you don't have to smell the sulfur. For real.

Welcome to the Kampung of Bandung!! This is the kind of neighborhood where most of my Indonesian friends live. This Kampung is on the side of the mountain and next to a tea plantation. We are on our way out of town and into the mountains that surround Bandung forming a picturesque skyline from every view. We leave the city in our friend's very rustic old van with two front seats and one back bench seat. There are five of us. We pass the pineapple vendors who line the street for about a mile or so. Their pine apples hang by the leaves as far as we can see.

We've made up our mind to stop for lunch. This area, Lembang, is known for one thing. Sate Klenci.

For the past 5 Km we have been passing stall after stall with cage after cage of cute little cuddly brown and grey rabbits. It made us hungry! Wouldn't it make you hungry?

Yummy! Bunny on a stick with sambal (homemade chili sauce), cucumbers, lontong (steamed sticky rice roll), and coke! On the road again!

We finally arrive and park the van. We have to remember to be careful on our hike, because if we get outta line we have to answer to the ...

Tourism Police! Yikes!

Anyway, Tangkuban Prahu actually has several craters, and some hot springs. The top of the parking lot serves as the information center, if you can call it that. There are restrooms, tourism police, and lots and lots of sellers. This is where you fun starts, if you aren't with us, because if you are, then you are already having a B-last.

We head to the first crater, which is still considered to be active. Don't worry it won't erupt on us. There are lost of sellers lining the pathway and a tiny wooden fence to keep us from plummeting to a sulfur-y death. This is where most people stay. Lets have a look at the view from the fence. We can also hear the rumble of magma. Its very loud and sounds like the ocean!

Oh No! Did I introduce my friends to you? My best friend in the whole wide world, Roslyn. Right now, she lives in India. Then we have Amy Hack! She is a dear friend who came all the way from the states to spend a week with me! Then we have Dendy and Yan! Our friends and guides. Anyway, back to our journey. Most people stop here, but we are going to another crater where we can climb down to the bottom and have some fun!!!!

This is my favorite part. Its so surreal. We pass from the void of one crater through lush trees and vegetation. Its green, so green. The path is gorgeous. Like a fairytale. There is a mist of fireflies adding to the mystery and to the beauty. Our only hint of where we are heading is the smell that hangs in the air, and the peeks of the crater that we left behind. For this one I interpose pictures from my first visit in 2005.

Yay!!!!! We make it to the second crater after a short hike/walk of about 20 minutes. Us girls go down to the bottom where we gather rocks for one all important purpose! Spelling our initials!

The guys finally climbed down.
These guys must live in or near the volcano area, they were carrying sacks of plants or something.. no big deal.

So, that is almost the end of our journey. We just h ave to get back to the car. Lets hike out!

After we leave Tangkuban Prahu we are meeting up with more friends to go to an awesome restaurant. What a great day! I hope you had as much fun as I did.