Wednesday 11 June 2014

Day 291 - Road Trip to Mt. Papandayan


When the guy at the reception told me about Mt. Papandayan he was hoping to sell me a tour but since I rather do things myself I decided to just rent the bike for another day and drive the 80km myself.







When someone tells me about a dangerous road and that it's too far to go here by bike, I am even more intrigued and keen to do this just to see what the fuss is about.




The first part of the road was a bit boring and simply lots of traffic with buses and trucks you had to overtake and squeeze past. But once I was off the main road it became more scenic and less traffic.





The dangerous road turned out not to be dangerous at all but just a very bad road before reaching the volcano so if you're a bit careful on driving through potholes, gravel and lots of loose rocks there is no danger at all but good fun to have even with a full automatic bike.




Now, if you thought Tangkuban Perahu was impressive as a volcano then this one will blow your mind. As a still active volcano and a much bigger one it looks amazing with all the smoke coming out and the noise is great.





You can also go hiking where you please so can really feel like you're on a different planet and just go take in any view you want.


I spent quite a lot of time taking photos and due to it taking me almost 4h to reach the volcano it was almost dark by the time I set on y way back to Bandung in darkness and some rain at times so the drive back was not the most pleasant but Mt. Papandayan was well worth the way there and back.

You can always sign up to a tour but doing it yourself is more fun as long as you don't mind riding a motorbike in Asia although if you just look not to drive into anyone or anything you'll be fine.


2 comments:

  1. I would've recommend to go to Ciwidey area. The tea plantation is beautiful, and the mountain area is cold :D... but, on second thought, you probably already see tea plantation and rice field on the way to Tangkuban Perahu.

    Next stop: Yogyakarta? How are you going to get there? Would suggest to take the train if you have time. And rent bike there. Enjoy!

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  2. Thanks for your comment!

    I did see the tea plantation on the way to Tangkuban Parahu but I would have also been happy to check out the Ciwidei area.

    I did take the train to Yogyakarta and enjoyed the journey and views from the train.
    Did also rent a bike here to make getting around easier.
    Thanks! :-)

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