A very long, hot and smokey bus ride finds us in Bandung, one of Indonesia's mega-cities. It is huge. It is hot, dry and oh so very dirty. Our chosen accommodation is a hostel run by a Dutch man who came to Indonesia 18 years ago and stayed. The hostel has a great communal area where the hostel's guides hang out, playing guitars and drums and dishing out advice on travel in Indonesia, whilst obviously trying to sell you a tour.
Bandung is full of once beautiful and elegant Art Deco architecture left over from the Dutch rule, it is everywhere. Most is in a dreadful state of decay, but one or two have been loved, salvaged or renovated and look fantastic. The Savoy Homann hotel is one such example, it is in absolute pristine condition. We avail ourselves of their WiFi and read The Jakarta Post whilst soaking up the sumptuous surroundings.
This is not the only luxury hotel in Bandung and we visit 3 others, being given the full VIP tour in The Grand Hotel Preanger. This results in me threatening Adrian with five-star luxury for our final night in Jakarta before we fly home. Yes I have been courted by the clean, the shiny and the indulgent.
We pay a visit to Aroma, a small coffee outlet that has been trading in coffee since the 1920s. The owner kindly shows us around the premises. There are mounds of sacks of coffee beans everywhere, labelled where in Indonesia they are from and a date. He keeps the beans for 8 years before drying them in the sun. They are then roasted at a low heat before being ground and served. The whole place smells deliciously of coffee but there's not a cup to be had. We make our purchase and Adrian makes plans for an attached coffee shop!
Our usual backgammon competition is well underway with scores being reasonably even. Our usual pattern is backgammon early evening, possibly with a beer possibly not, then out for dinner. Sadly the food here is not inspiring so we are less than hungry most evenings (I can foresee a KFC trip in the future). Our last evening in Bandung finds us thirsty. Anyone who knows us well knows that 9.30 is a late night for us, however this particular night at 11pm we are heading out with the guys. The empty streets, unlit by lights, sees our convoy of motorcycles head to Braga City Walk, a road of bars and clubs where we join Bandungs young (and not so young in the ex-pat cases) for beer (both of us) and dancing (just me). Indonesia is 86% Muslim, I think we partied with the other 14% tonight. At 1am our convoy returns and we bid the guys good night - sleep will not be a problem.
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