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.