Traveblogs: Afternoon in Cipanas

Monday, June 12, 2006

Afternoon in Cipanas

Having deferred my grand plans of doing a Michael Palin , first filming and then writing Sahara , I make my first post with pics from Circa 15 months ago.

Cipanas is a tea garden town outside Bandung,Indonesia.
Bandung is 2 hours from Jakarta on a freeway which can be a parking lot on weekends and public holidays.

Thanks to outpourings from the active volcano - Tangkuban Perahu, its a 'hill station' with a to-die-for weather.

Theres a perennial nip in the air , much like Bangalore's pre-monsoon breeze.

If Bangalore had the SAARC summit in 1988 and forgot about it,
Bandung had its Asia Africa summit in 1957 and to this day , children are named Asia Africa.
Apparently, Nehru did his thing there and laid the groundwork for the Non Aligned Movement.

Pic above: Road to the airport lined for Asia Africa Redux

Anyway , Bandung is a charming city .
Famed for its factory outlets,steamed Brownies and Sundanese food . Its a memorable place.

Weekend drive down to Cipanas yielded some..

# Solpa like Mannina Ooru

# Made with Clove - Gudang Garam.

# Green is the colour.

Until I was 10 , lived in a house where we and the neighbour each had Guava trees , the fruit of the neighbours tree was the best. They thought our was.
All those who trip on pink guavas - say Aye.

# Chettiar Bommai - 2 thumbs up