West Java (Jawa Barat) is one of the 27 provinces in Indonesia and has
Bandung, a city of about 2 million as the capital of the province (Jakarta is the capital of the Republic of Indonesia). Bandung is 180 km from
Jakarta. See Map of Jawa Barat for orientation.
Bogor
(map)is about 70 km from Jakarta's Sukarno Hatta Airport. Traveling
by taxi, Bogor is easily accessible through the toll road that takes
approximately 40 minutes (normal traffic). Bogor is beautiful for its
own sake and not because of famed tourist spots. There is the Bogor
Palace, built in 1745 by a Dutch Governor and the Bogor Botanical Garden
which covers an area of 111 hectares and was built in 1817. The garden
is said to have about 20.000 species of plants from Indonesia or from
abroad. Enjoy the view of mountains Gunung
Salak and G. Pangrango/Gede massifs (map) about 25 km away.
If you are energetic, a 40-minute taxi and 3-4 hour walk takes you to
the top of Gunung Salak.
Puncak Which means 'summit', refers to the pass that is 1482 m above sea level. It is about 1 hour's drive from Bogor(25 km). The pass between the mountains runs from Bogor to Puncak to Cipanas. Popular with Jakartans, there is a profusion of hotels, restaurants, weekend cottages, conference centres and roadside stalls. On the Cipanas side are stalls where sellers of fruits, vegetables, plants, puppets and other souvenirs ply their trade. Sometimes, hang-gliding takes place at Riung Gunung on the Bogor side of the pass.
Cipanas This is a resort town on the eastern slopes of the Puncak. It is named after a hot spring. The sulphur-rich water is said to be therapeutic for rheumatism and skin diseases.