Transportation from Jakarta to Bogor

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.

Street-wise Tip

From Airport to Bogor (about 70 kms), you will pass through five toll-gates. Expect to pay the following amounts, which is excluding the metered fare.
1st gate Rp. 2.000.
2nd gate Rp. 2.000.
3rd gate Rp. 3.000.
4th gate (get a Toll Card)
5th gate Rp. 4.000.
For your convenience, you could give the entire fee to the taxi driver and let him to arrange the payment.

Blue Bird is a reliable name in taxi. Blue Bird has consistently being mentioned as good and safe even though the company operates several taxi names, for example, Siverbird. To call a Blue Bird taxi in Jakarta, the telephone number is 7989000 - there is minimum charge for phone booking.

Traveling west via Tangerang, you arrive at Anyer (photo) and Carita. Here you have marine recreations such as wind surfing and sea diving. Further down, you have the wildlife jungle of Ujung Kulon or the remote area of the isolated Badui community.

Traveling east, you see mostly flat padi fields (photo) as you pass the small town of Jatibarang, with its only hotel and a good ratio of Chinese, Christian and Muslim communities.
Cirebon, a historical coastal town, is the last major West Java town facing the Java Sea before entering Central Java.