Galeri Ciumbuleuit Apartment Bandung

Today, I go to the reception to extend my stay for another night and am told that the hotel is fully booked for tonight!!!! I really don't want to change hotels as that will take too much time so I decide that I will leave today for Bogor. I ask at the receptionist for a door to door AC minivan and they make my reservation to leave at 1pm. There is really not enough time to do more visiting so I decide to walk to a mall close to the hotel ...

I started the day by visiting the tourist office. I really didn't get much information other than there is a tour that I can take for 500,000 and once I decide if I am going to take it, the fellow (the only one at the office) will write out the itinerary!!! It basically sounds like a rented car and driver and am told that the driver does not speak much english!!! I guess ...

... and started hunting for a decent hotel. Being that today is Friday, many hotels are booked or they are asking a week-end price which is at least 100,000 higher than during the week. After searching for a couple of hours, I finally get a room at Vue Palace Hotel for 455,000 incld. breakfast and it is the only hotel with wifi in the room. The room ...

Learned about the earthquake on Sumatra via email from the US. We didn't feel a thing and the locals don't complain to their guests, I guess.

We;re off to Bandung today. Very slow day, waiting for our ride. The route takes us thru Puncak Pass, a resort area for the locals. Its elevation makes it refreshing, but the traffic is a horror. On weekends it is so bad that commercial transport, like our mini bus, has to bypas it and take a long way around.

Today I was a bit bored and waiting for Yudi to get back to give me a lift to the bus stop to get to Bandung. When Yudi arrived I did go to Bandung, which took a couple of hours. From here I had to wait to get the night train to Yogyakarta. The overnight train was a nightmare I barely got any sleep as I was sitting next to somebody so I couldn't stretch out my legs out and sellers got on the train every hour, shouting out to try and sell food, which really ****** me off. Eventually ...

... Remembering the soup hustle from the day before, I start to walk away. He yells "Three! (means 3 thousand)" "OK, says I, and jump in. He immediately starts talking fast to me in either Indonesian or Sundanese--I think it was Sundanese, because I didn't recognize words. When I told him I did not understand, he asked me if I wanted "cewek" (girl). When I said no, he started singing louldly to me--I was ...

Pemandangan sepanjang perjalanan tren tadi memang mendamaikan, to say the least - nampak padi bukit tersusun bertingkat, petani tengah kerja, kediaman orang di tepi trek. Budak-budak semua enjoy perjalanan tren kami itu. Aku tertidur dalam lima belas minit dibuai keletuk-keletak tayar keretapi, sebelum dikejutkan Shahzad-the-tukang-sakat-orang. Seperti biasa lepas terbangun ...

... want to spend a great deal of time here, but I can assure you that this is more than just an oversized truck stop on the way to Bali. However, I must admit I was quite glad to finally get out of Jakarta and head up to Bandung for the weekend. With the pressure and stress of just staying alive in a city like Jakarta weighing heavily, it came as a welcome relief to spend some time in the relaxed atmosphere of Bandung. Even if half of Jakarta was doing the same thing. The ...

... were cracked because the foundation of the building appears to be being eroded by a nearby (2 feet away) creek. Eventually this building will collapse...hopefully no kids will be in there when it does. The building was probably about 700 square feet...I'm guessing... Much smaller than one story of a small American house. And 15 kids lived in there. They try not to do bunk beds because the materials that they have are not sturdy...they've had bunks collapse and ...

... what in the world and I doing?" However, I know that there is plan greater than me and I just hope to be able to fufill it. I love you all very much and will certainly keep you updated throughout, as I am sure it will be quite an adventure. I will look forward to hearing from you soon. Have a wonderful day. Much love, Winter