February 2020. On a beautiful day in February we took our Australian guest to Tangkuban Perahu volcano as part of his Jakarta tour program. Tangkuban Perahu is located 30 km north of Bandung, the capital of West Java Province. To get there from Jakarta, it is a good idea to start early in the day as the journey takes 4 hours. Ideally, visitors from Jakarta would stay a night or two in Bandung, where there are a few hotels with wheelchair accessible rooms.
For our guest, changing hotels was not an option, which is why we made the trip from Jakarta and back in one day. We started at 8 in the morning and were back at 6 in the evening, including coffee stops and lunch. The car ride was full of variety with great landscapes of green tea plantations and mountain forests.
When we arrived, the weather, although it was the rainy season, was clear and refreshing after the stuffy Jakarta. Today even the usual smell of sulfur was not so strong. The volcano is at an altitude of 2000 meters. It erupted in 2019, but has since been reopened.
A large parking lot provided plenty of space to set up our portable ramp at the minivan so our guest could get out. The parking lot is right in front of the huge crater and is well paved. You can easily get to the fence behind which the caldera with its steaming holes extends.
Some paths along the crater are a bit steep, but in good condition. We were happy to have our local guide with us to keep the souvenir sellers away, some of whom were a little too eager.
Our guest really enjoyed the experience of standing on the edge of an active volcano. Hot coffee and tea from the Javanese plantations contributed to the great atmosphere.
A visit to the Tangkuban Perahu volcano is a rewarding trip and an unforgettable experience for people traveling to Jakarta / West Java. Disabled guests should be aware of the long drive and consider combining the tour with visiting and staying overnight in Bandung if possible.
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