Tangkuban Parahu (Bandung, Indonesia)

If you find yourself in the city of Bandung, Indonesia, do make it a point to make a quick trip to Tangkuban Parahu, an active volcano located some 30 km north of the city. It’s interesting because the main crater can easily be accessed without involving any climbing and is wide and not that deep, thus offering a good view of its depths with the naked eye. Contrary to what you see in movies, you won’t find red hot molten lava in its centre; only gray sand and a thin wisp of smoke in one corner.

The drive from Bandung or Lembang to the Tangkuban Parahu area is a short one if during a weekday. I can’t imagine how bad the traffic can get on weekends or during peak season.

Entrance fee is a nominal Rp30,000 (less than USD3/RM10) per person and also covers the ride on one of these shuttle vehicles to and from the main crater (kawah).

There is a fence all around the crater but the spaces in between are still large enough for a toddler to slip through, hence, it’s a good idea to keep an eye on your children at all times.

“It is forbidden to park your vehicle here.”

The tourists included both Indonesians and Malaysians, and the occasional Caucasian.

Peddlers are plentiful all around and will descend upon you like a swarm of bees even before you alight from your bus or car. If you don’t plan on buying anything, don’t even look at them. Otherwise, they’ll be following you around like flies. If you do plan to buy something, haggle, haggle, haggle. Ask for at least half of their initial offer price. Or pretend not to care…then take your chance at the very last minute, when you’re about to leave, and they’ll be so desperate for a sale that they’ll offer you their rock-bottom price.

Here’s a tip: the strawberries sold by the peddlers are super-duper-mega-ultra sweet (to borrow RoundBoy’s way of expressing superlatives).

Twin2 showing off his prized strawberries

The children couldn’t stop eating them! We bought 10 boxes for Rp100,000 (a little over RM30, less than USD10), which were promptly devoured by everyone.

RoundBoy savouring strawberries while enjoying the view

After having had our fill of photographs and strawberries, we took the shuttle buses (?) back to our bus, then drove to another entrance that leads to Kawah Domas (Domas Crater). From the unassuming entrance, it’s a 1.2-km walk to an area where there are small pools of bubbling hot water.

The walk itself is not difficult, as evidenced by the fact that (1) my children walked the whole way and back without much effort…

…and (2) I wore my brand-new Skechers for the walk and they emerged unscathed afterwards.

Original price: Rp499,000. After discount: Rp200,000. Approximately RM62 or USD17. A real steal!!! Can you blame me for buying 2 pairs? ;)

A word of caution: some portions of the trail are a bit steep so it’s good to have some able-bodied adults to assist the little ones.

Once you get into Kawah Domas, you can buy eggs from the shop down there. They’ll provide you with a long-handled plastic basket to hold the eggs in while they’re being cooked inside the boiling hot volcanic pool.

The terrain is uneven and rocky. Small bubbling, boiling-hot pools abound all around.

There are a few smaller pools whose waters are not as hot, but pleasantly warm to soak the feet in. You’ll see some tourists helping themselves to the volcanic mud, smearing it all over their feet and legs, letting it dry, then rinsing them off gently with the warm water.

I decided to take it one step further and smeared some of the mud on my forehead, nose and chin. But I’m not gonna post that pic in here :) Everyone else initially laughed at me but after I showed them how smooth my skin was after my ‘spa’ treatment, they all ended up having mud masks themselves, including MyEldest.

MyEldest enjoying a volcanic mud facial and  foot soak

We even brought back some of the mud in an empty mineral water bottle. Bottles of the volcanic mud are also available for sale at the shop.

It’s worthwhile noting that the volcano got its name from its unique shape that closely resembles an overturned boat.

Image from Wikipedia

Legend has it that the volcano was the hull of a boat built by a man named Sankuriang, who wanted to prove his love to the beautiful Dayang Sumbi. Wikipedia recounts how the volcano got its name as thus:-

The name translates roughly to “upturning of (a) boat” or “upturned boat” in Sundanese, referring to the local legend of its creation. The story tells of “Dayang Sumbi”, a beauty who lived in West Java. She cast away her son “Sangkuriang” for disobedience, and in her sadness was granted the power of eternal youth by the gods. After many years in exile, Sangkuriang decided to return to his home, long after the two had forgotten and failed to recognize each other. Sangkuriang fell in love with Dayang Sumbi and planned to marry her, only for Dayang Sumbi to recognize his birthmark just as he was about to go hunting. In order to prevent the marriage from taking place, Dayang Sumbi asked Sangkuriang to (1) build a dam on the river Citarum and (2) build a large boat to cross the river, both before the sunrise. Sangkuriang meditated and summoned mythical ogre-like creatures -buta hejo or green giant(s)- to do his bidding. Dayang Sumbi saw that the tasks were almost completed and called on her workers to spread red silk cloths east of the city, to give the impression of impending sunrise. Sangkuriang was fooled, and upon believing that he had failed, kicked the dam and the unfinished boat, resulting in severe flooding and the creation of Tangkuban perahu from the hull of the boat.