{Visit Indonesia} Day Trip to Ciwidey, West Java

Right now, we're gonna take you to our day trip to Ciwidey, West Java. I called it "day trip" because it took us one day to do the trip, meaning we leaved our house in Cimahi in the morning (not too early) and came back at night time (not too late either).

Not very many foreign tourists visit West Java compare to Central Java. I'm not sure why, but I've been to Central Java & East Java and the places that I visited in West Java were also beautiful, plus it offers cooler weather than most places in Central or East Java. Personally, I prefer cooler weather, meaning less mosquitos bites as well.

Rice fields along our drive to Ciwidey

On the way to Ciwidey, we passed lots of rice fields. Above is one of the rice field photo that we took straight from our car's window without stopping ;)

Our boy enjoyed picking the strawberries

Our first stop was strawberry picking place. The kids had a great time. The sciccors & baskets are free to use, you just have to pay by the weight of the strawbery that you get.

We also visited Situ Patengan (Patengan Lake) which is located 1,600 meters above sea level. It is located around 47 kilometers from Bandung to the South, and the site is in the area of Rancabali tea plantation.

Situ Patengan (Patengan Lake)

This place is a national natural conservation land and has been open for public since 1981. This natural conservation measures about 124 hectare (306.4 acre) and the lake measures about 45 hectare (111 acre) . The depth of the lake is about 3-4 meters (13 feet).

This is a lovely site for boating, the lake looks a green carpet, and tea plantations surround the lake and has an average temperature of 10 degrees Celcius (50 F). It offers hot spring water swimming pool, restaurants, a recreation park for kids, and bungalow as well as other supporting facilities. The lake also is also a habitat for different kind of fishes. The lake itself is open for 24 hours but the recreation facility is normally open from 6 AM - 6 PM.

Our daughter on a peddle boat (with us off course),
this is how far we went from the edges of the lake

We rented a peddle boat & just cruising along the edges of the lake (but not the whole lake, just a small part of it). The kids had a great time on a boat, and so did we. If you want to go further distance to the other side of the lake & stop by to a big rock called Batu Cinta (Rock of Love) and a small island located in the middle of the lake, called Sasaka,by renting a bigger boat along with other people or your own group. I'm sorry, but I forget the cost for renting these boats, I think is about IDR 30,000 to rent the peddle boat.

On the way down to the crater

After Patengan Lake, we visited Kawah Putih (White Crater). We chose to drive the car from the front gate to the inside parking lot. It cost IDR 200,000. You can also leave your vehicle & take special "angkot" for a lot less (or free?). You can also take your motorcycle to the top as well, which also cost less (about IDR 20,000, I forget). But when we were there, the angkot drivers (all of them I would say) drove so fast. I'm talking about driving in narrow, lots of turns, and hazy/foggy road. Off course there's no seat belt in the angkot, so I would suggest to take your car, instead.

Watching daddy taking photos

There's a small gazebo if you want to rest/sit down

Part of the crater

Our last stop from our day trip was visiting Ranca Walini Hot Springs. We got there around 4 PM. This was perfect, because after all the trips all day, our body needs to relax a little bit ;) This hot spring offers a different atmosphere because it is located in the middle of tea plantations with views of the mountains all around, it's just georgeus & relaxing.

This one is the pay pool. Look at the background at this hot spring (photo courtesy of BandungWisata21)

There are three hot spring pools that have different depths. We paid around IDR 5,000to get in (a car) & it doesn't cost anything (yes, it is free) to use the hot spring, unless you want to use a little more secluded "swimming area" which has a small spiral water slide for a small nominal fee (I think around IDR 10,000). But to be honest, the free one is just fine and it wasn't crowded at all, especially if you come during the weekdays. This hot spring is close on Monday & Tuesday for cleaning.

If you want to stay at Ranca Walini Hot Springs, you can do so. They have Villa for rented for IDR 770.000/night and Cottage for IDR 440.000/night. There were a lot of people who were selling fresh strawberries too here. They cost about IDR 10,000 for a decent size box (about 1 pound).

These two pools are free (photo courtesy of BandungWisata21)

If your husband forget to bring swim shorts, they have one for rent for IDR 5,000. You can also rent a locker for your belongings for IDR 5,000. Just to let you know that the water is quite hot here. We and the kids were quite surprised by the heat at first, and after a while, you will get used to it ^_^

While your body is relaxing, your eyes can also relax by enjoying the natural view surrounding this hot springs... If you never visited Ciwidey, I would recommend you to go there and enjoy these lovely places. Don't forget to share your story if you have had visited these places.