It rained in the morning and just before our excursion to Kawah Ratu. Kawah Ratu or also known as 'Queen's Crater' is located at
Tangkuban Perahu. A trip to the volcano!
Our tour guide described it as an easy trek. It was quite tedious actually. Slippery paths due to the early rainfall, made it all harder.
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| interesting looking cooking cyclinder, so cute |
It was quite a long bus ride to the mountain top.
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| a hotel in the middle of nowhere |
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| going higher and higher |
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| ok, this was where we left our comfy bus seats |
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| ticket for shuttle bus to bring us up somemore |
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| on higher grounds |
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| anyone wants a pony ride? |
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| he's so gentle |
The pony was really gentle. Such soft silky fur on its body too. It only cost Rp50,000 to ride one. The handler will hold the reins and lead the pony around the area and for the last lap, the pony will break into a faster trot. Final burst for the finale! Hahaha!
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| mountain view |
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| time to get down there |
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| bubbling hot |
The whole trip was us trekking down on a jungle trail with a guide, and towards the crater. Just need to watch where you're stepping otherwise, it was easy to fall on one's butt. Probably an hour to get down and once you're down there, it was basically relaxing and soaking the feet into one of those hot spring. The temperature of the hot springs in Kawah Domas varies. Some hot, and some not so hot. Mine was the not so hot ones, and hence, lesser people was at that area. Egg is sold and your guide will likely ask if you want some. If yes, he can help you to get some from the vendor and put it to boil in one of the boiling hot springs. The guide would also offer his service to help you massage your tired calves with mud.
After resting for about 30 minutes, it was time to trek back up again. Yes, what goes down must come up again. If you are too tired, there are people who would fetch you back to the bus parking lot area on a motorcycle/scooter. Yes, the transport service is available for a fee. It'll cost about Rp10,000 for a short trip.
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| saw this guy on the way back |
The trek downwards started around 10.30am and we were back up on our bus at 1.30pm. All, in all, we walked for about 2.5 hours.
It was then time for lunch and we were hungry after all the strenuous exercise. The sulfur hard boiled egg did help to stave of some of the hunger pangs.
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| restaurant |
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| lunch time |
The food at Balibu consist of mostly fried items. By this time, I realized that for every meal, there will be lalapan which is essentially a plate of Sundanese raw vegetable salad served with sambal. Usually there'd be lettuce, sliced tomatoes and cucumber. The sambal chili is usually pretty powerful. Loved the vegetables in Bandung as they are so fresh!
The fried chicken and fish at Balibu were dryer than the first meal that we had. I liked the beancurd skin item. Satay was eaten with a bit of fear as on the way to the restaurant, our tour guide said that the people in that area loved to eat monitor lizard satay. Eeek..
Kawah Ratu
Address: Jl. Gn. Tangkuban Perahu, Cicadas, Sagalaherang, Kabupaten Subang, Jawa Barat 41282, Indonesia
Business Hours: Daily 8am to 5pm
Wilujeng Sumping Balibu RM. Khas Sunda
Address: Jalan Raya Tangkuban Perahu 423A, Lembang Bandung – 40391 Jawa Barat
Website:
http://www.rmbalibu.com/
Contact: (022) 2789582
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