My First Solo Trip

It was 5 April 2010, I knew that I would have term break that weekend. I had three days off. I made quick decision to have my own adventure, alone. It was going to be my first solo trip. I was thinking, “Where should I go?” I wanted to go somewhere near Bandung. I did not want to go Jakarta, too crowded. Then Bogor was the popped into my mind. I have a friend who lives there. Great! I called her and she was agreed on hosting me. I booked travel from Bandung to Bogor by Cipaganti travel.

My mom dropped me off in Cipaganti Travel Bandung Trade Center on 7 April 2010. I brought small black bag and some sweet treat for Elsa. She would love it. I sat on the bus for around 3 hours before I arrived in Bogor Trade Mall. I waited for Elsa and watched sunset from balcony where I had my dinner. It was so peaceful to see the mountains in front of me. It would be awesome adventure for 2 days ahead.

Elsa picked me up and we went to her house. We watched Hatchiko that night and ate ngo-hiang, fried pork sausages with sauce. It was good. The movie was so touching especially when Hatchiko was waiting for professor on the train station. We thought about adopting a dog.

Next morning, Elsa prepared lunch box for me and a small note on how to get around. I walked and took green public transportation number 02 and went to Bogor Botanical Garden. It cost me Rp 11,000 for access all parks. I was amazed with variety of plants there. Giant trees with long and strong roots, I tried to swing myself like Tarzan. Cactus my favorite plant in Texas garden, orchid garden and many more.

I went to zoology museum and paid Rp 1,500 I saw shark skeleton and plenty of animals. I was stunned by tiger, because I born in the year of tiger (Chinese calendar). A man came by and started conversation with me. He was taxidermist, the person in charge of all displayed animals to make sure they still look good. That day planned to buy some dye for tiger. He offered me ride to some other museums.

Our first stop was beauty salon to get his thing then to a military museum. It was too bad because they did not let me in, they only opened for groups with a minimum of 25 people. I took picture with my favorite General who planned guerrilla war toward Dutch imperialism even though he had tbc. His name is Soedirman.

We went for lunch, I tried toge goreng, steamed rice covered with banana leaf and cut into small pieces, fried tofu, bean sprout with peanut sauce. It cost Rp 10,000. We headed to war museum. We were the only visitors there. The museum looked old, dusty, creepy and haunted. I felt nervous when I walked in there. I saw all diorama, bullets, blood on army uniforms, guns and some old text.

It started raining and we stayed and talked with curator. He told me the war story in Bogor, some street and its history. There was a man statue stood in front of us. He told us that he was the youngest fighter in Bogor. He was 16 years old when he joined army. He got killed by the Dutch.

When the rain stopped, I hopped on public transportation and met Elsa in her workplace. We went to Botani mall and met her friend. We had dinner and she drove us home. I shared to her how I spent my day and she told me that it was dangerous to hitch hike and talk with stranger. I promised her that I would try to not do that again, at least in Bogor.

My last day in Bogor, I went to go to see deer in Presidential Palace. Then I went to Venus bakery to grab some tiny breads for my family at home. I walked on famous street in Bogor where I could find MP, baked macaroni and other local gastronomy. There were lots of factory outlets and in the end of the road, there was small botani park to educate kids about plants. It was organized by Institute Farming Technology Bogor. They had another booth in mall that I visited last night, I bought some herbal soaps for my coworkers.

I had to wait for the bus to take me home, so I wandered around in Bogor Trade Mall. It was bad idea to stay in mall. Everything looked good on me so I ended having two bags at the end of trip.

Anyway it was good first solo trip. It was not difficult to get around and I made new friends that took me places. I learned a bit about history and brought tons of souvenir home. Wonder where would I go after this.