Friday 28 September 2012

Living the high life in Bandung

It sounded like a fairly routine work trip with three colleagues yesterday: two meetings at different offices in Jakarta, then a three hour drive to Bandung in the afternoon to be ready for a 9.30 meeting this morning.

An unexpected encounter with this exotic beauty was just the icing on the cake during my visit to Bandung

I had been quite keen to visit Bandung, the capital of West Java. It is higher and cooler than Jakarta and surrounded by spectacular mountains, including the very recently active volcano Mount Tangkuban, which reopened on Saturday after being closed to tourists since 3 September. Normally, it would have been tempting to stay on for the weekend to have a look around, but that wasn't an option this weekend with another 'adventure' already slotted in.

Thanks to Jakarta's infamous traffic, it was after 8.30 p.m. when we arrived at Hotel Padma. Out of the car, into the hotel foyer, and you could almost hear the sound of four jaws dropping. This was not our regular standard business hotel. We passed the restaurant on our way to our rooms and agreed to meet there in five minutes for dinner. The whole way to our rooms there was a chorus of wow, wow, WOW! It even warranted a 5.30 wake-up this morning, so I had time to head out and explore.



Dawn at Hotel Padma


From the restaurant

From the pool deck


I have posted this lovely semi-aquatic plant several times, eg Kebun Raya, but have still to discover its name


The plant above was used here to border the pool terrace


This shows how the hotel is positioned on a forested ravine






Heliconias




African Tulip Tree


Bananas


Potted bromeliads

And my 'exotic beauty'? The exquisite Jade Vine Strongylodon macrobotrys




Clerondendrum

A final view looking across the ravine from my room before heading off to work.  If you are passing this way, all this for less than $150 for the room, which seems amazing for the standard of accommodation.




4 comments:

  1. What an amazing location. That's a very cool flower on that vine.

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    Replies
    1. Isn't it beautiful? Such an amazing colour.

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  2. Marisa, are there any job openings at your office? I am a bit envious that you travel to such exotic locations for work???
    When I worked in the corporate world, I mostly traveled to the US and Canada, nothing like these gorgeous locations that you are privy to.
    I am learning so much from your posts...thanks.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Virginia, to me living in Barbados is the ultimate exotic location, and I have yet to visit the US and Canada. Sadly, I have only two more weeks of this contract, and then I will be back home living my usual humdrum existence with only my photos and memories to remind me what fun I had.

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