Bandung

Bad_azz

Well-Known Member
Charter Member
Cager
Joined
Jul 16, 2016
Messages
3,747
For those looking to come to Indonesia and not sure where to locate, or for those looking around for a new home that isn't in the usual places of Bali or Jakarta, I would advise Bandung. It is a lovely and rather large city set in the mountains of West Java.

(This post is just a starter - I am sure it can be added to as people wish. Unless otherwise noted, the information in this post was written in July 2016 - for subsequent posts, be sure to check the date in the upper right of the blue strip at the top of each post to know how current the information is.)


Transport

GETTING IN AND OUT OF BANDUNG BY LAND AND AIR

  • Bandung is about 3 hours by tollroad / rail from Jakarta.
  • The rail station in Jakarta that connects with Bandung is Gambir.
  • Construction of a new high speed rail link is underway, and the intent is that in a couple of years the commute between the two cities will be around 30 minutes.
  • Many shuttle bus services run between Bandung and other major cities. My personal favourite is CityTrans travel; the drivers tend to be more safety-conscious on the roads than the other companies I have used.
  • Airport: Bandung has a busy little airport and it has international flights, which makes visa runs to Singapore fairly easy.

GETTING AROUND IN BANDUNG

  • You will find several taxi companies around the city. Bluebird tend to be the best to use. Cipaganti used to be a really good company too. I haven't used taxis for a while; maybe someone can add to this information.
  • You will be able to travel around the city using the minibus system (known as angkots).
  • If you just need to travel a short distance there are many Ojegs (motorcycle taxis).
  • NOTE: every weekend and holiday, Bandung fills up with visitors (mainly from Jakarta) and traffic becomes terrible. If you can get out of Jakarta before 1pm on a Friday you are likely to miss the worst of it on the toll road.
  • Gojek, Uber, and Grab are all operating in Bandung.

Climate/Geography

Bandung has a temperate climate, so it is much cooler and fresher than many other cities in Indonesia. It seems to rain a lot, and at night we have a quilt & blankets on our bed, and don't use air conditioning. Think along the lines of a warm British July, 365 days a year.

As the city is in a natural basin created by the surrounding mountains, it is prone to floods, in particularly heavy downpours. Hence most people who have a choice tend to head uphill a bit.

The nicer areas to live in are Setiabudhi, Dago, Ciumbuleuit, and Cigadung. Many ex-pats tend to locate to those areas. Other attractive areas are Setrasari, Setra Murni, and SetraDuta. Further out, you have Lembang and Cikole - these locations are great if you don't need to work down in the city and you want mountains, tea gardens and jungle areas all around.

All of the aforementioned areas are to the north of the city, though there are some lovely locations to the south too.

Things to Do

SHOPPING

  • There is a vast selection of malls. The most popular one seems to be PVJ (Paris Van Java) mall, located on Jl Sukajadi. It has lots of familiar shops, such as H&M, Next, Topshop, Carrefour etc.
  • Another popular mall is CiWalk (Cihampelas Walk) on jl Cihampelas.
  • Electronics, handphones, computers, etc. can be purchased at BEC Mall (Bandung Electronics Centre on Jl Purnawarman).
  • Ace hardware has two locations in Bandung, one at the bottom of Dago and one located in IBCC (Jl Sukabumi).
  • There is a Home Depot in Jl Sukarno-Hatta.
  • Bandung is well known for its factory outlets, which are concentrated in Jl Setiabudi, Jl Riau, Dago, and Cihampelas. Rumah Mode is the biggest but there are plenty more.

SIGHTSEEING AND NIGHTLIFE
  • Museums - there are a few museums around the city . Sadly I have not yet had chance to visit any.
  • The main evening entertainment areas are in Braga and surrounding streets. You will find many cafe bars and "karaoke" bars. Dago is popular in the evenings too, with lots of nightlife. Live music is popular in the city, and there are plenty of places with live bands and musicians.

DINING AND FOOD SHOPPING
  • You can get cuisine from traditional Sundanese through to Balinese, Indian to Pizza Hut, sushi to MacDonald's - a vast selection of foods to reflect the diverse inhabitants of this lovely city.
  • Imported foods (credit HappyMan, who says: "There are four places I know of that have a fairly significant selection of foreign food stuffs."):
Setiabudi Store: Jl. Setiabudi No. 42&46, Hegarmanah Cidadap, Bandung
The grocery store is on the bottom floor. I think they are the most complete shop for foreign foodstuffs in Bandung, be it fresh food or pasta mixes. They have a discount before 10 am on weekdays, unless I've forgotten.
Papaya: Jalan Sukajadi 201 (Sukajadi), Bandung, 40161
They have a good selection of fresh foods here. You can find bagged salads and other ready or prepared ingredients and meals as well. There are a good many Asian ingredients, sauces and the like. They have a second location, near the first, but I haven't happened upon an address for it yet.
Yogya at Riau Junction: Riau Junction, Jl. L. L. RE. Martadinata No. 17, Bandung
Haven't been there in a while. They had a good selection of imported snacks and cereals, best I recall. I think this place had the least foreign items of the four listed here.

Hero Supermarket at Bandung Trans Studio Mall (TSM) - LG10 (Jl. Gatot Subroto No. 289), Bandung, 40273
It's been a while since I've been there, but they have/had a good selection of dried goods and fresh veg. Prices were high.

Hotels

Bandung is filled to bursting with hotels and homestays from wonderful historic places such as the Hotel (savoy) Homann to much lower budget places. There is a wide variety of traditional bungalow styles along with the run of the mill concrete hi-rise places.

Language/People

The traditional language for this region is Sundanese, however most people speak Indonesian and many try to speak English. Being blonde & fair skinned here nets me daily shouts of " hello mister" (I am female) or "Bule."

I have personally found the inhabitants of Bandung to be warm, friendly and welcoming. they seem rather proud of the fact that they are mild mannered and more tolerant of diversity than some in other parts of Indonesia. However, use common sense and take the usual safety precautions as you would in other large cities.

The religion is mainly Islam in this area, so expect to hear the calls to prayer several times a day. Mosques are found in every community.

There is a fairly large Christian community here too, and several churches - Jl Junjunan (Dago) and Pasir Kaliki are the locations of a couple of churches that I know about.

(Other religions - please add to the info if you have some knowledge.)


Medical

There are a few really decent hospitals in Bandung. The better ones I have come across are listed below. I have had first hand experience with the first two on the list:


  • RS Advent just off Jl Cihampelas (on the right hand side just before the entrance to CiWalk mall)
  • RS Santo Barromeus - Dago
  • RS Santosa - Jl Raya Kopo
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Wow thank you for this very informative post! As a starter post it's already very complete!

I was wondering if the online taxi business has flourished in Bandung? Do you have go-jek, grab taxi, grab bike, Uber etc over there?
 
Thanks El_G, yes there are go-jek here, & Uber taxis & I am sure the other groups too.
Jaime C will likely know more about the taxis than me, I haven't used one in a long while.
go-jek has not been very well received by the regular Ojegs.
*note the "g" instead of the "k" - not a typo but what they are known as here in Bandung
 
And if the new arrivals happen to have pets, I assume there are services in Bandung to help out with that.
 
Yes I was going to ask if it was the way to write ojek in Bandung. Thanks for the clarification.

In Jakarta, go-jek wasn't too well received either by the traditional ojek and they used to bully gojeks. Didn't last long, go-jek now probably outnumber regular ojek 100 to 1, so no more bullying.
 
Yes, Mr Waarmie, indeed there are.
I was hoping for a pets section to materialise in the forum in general.
Anyway I shall pop this in here for now.


Our latest venture: a dog walking/ boarding/ pet sitting service in Bandung:


NEED HELP WITH YOUR PETS???


WE LOVE ANIMALS AND PROVIDE...


DAILY DOG-WALKING/FEEDING/GROOMING SERVICE

DOG BOARDING/DAY CARE



ENGLISH / INDONESIAN SPEAKING


REASONABLE RATES


We are professional, reliable & courteous








We love animals and know how awkward it can be to find someone reliable, someone who will fuss & play with the dogs, someone who isn't scared of the dogs and so on.
We decided to address this gap & offer a boarding, walking, feeding, grooming, etc. service.


I would post the rates etc here... but I figure it would be more discrete (& sensible?) to send them via PM to anyone who is interested. * Our rates are tailored to the needs of the pet, its size, the service required etc- so for example a "one off" visit would be more expensive than a long term / multiple booking per session.


[FONT=Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif]*Dog boarding - if you are based in Jakarta and want your dog to have a holiday in the hills of Bandung, we can offer a collection & delivery service
- BUT only for long term stays, 1 month or more OR an exorbitant charge will have to be applied for the collection. Sorry.




So if you need peace of mind that your fur-babies will be looked after to your specifications & need to communicate their needs in English (or in Indonesian)- give us a shout.




A bit about me- I have had pets- mainly dogs, for many years and I have lots of experience with dogs- be they chilled-out couch-potato pooches (usually the Labs) or neurotic drama queens (the Dobie was deffo in this category).


Over the years (more than 30yrs) I have had a couple of Labrador Retrievers, A Welsh Border Collie, a Doberman, 2 GSD... I currently have a Boxer, a Rottie and a French Bulldog.
Hubby- had dogs all his life too - loves them - to the point that he has been known to hide inside the sofa-bed (he's small) and make squeaking noises for them to try and find him (yeah- tell me about it!).






NEED HELP WITH YOUR PETS???


WE LOVE ANIMALS

CONTACT US




[email protected]
or
private message in this forum.



Thank you for reading xxx


B_a
 
Last edited:
Went to Bandung for a couple nights (first day of Ramadhan), I peeled my eyes open looking for Bad_azz...but no blondes similar to that avatar around at that time. Probably she was on vacation.....
 
Went to Bandung for a couple nights (first day of Ramadhan), I peeled my eyes open looking for Bad_azz...but no blondes similar to that avatar around at that time. Probably she was on vacation.....

Haha, you should have sent a message to let me know you were in town.
I rarely venture down into the city itself.
I like to hang out at home with the dogs, doing bits of gardening and all my other jobs.
 
Haha, you should have sent a message to let me know you were in town.
I rarely venture down into the city itself.
I like to hang out at home with the dogs, doing bits of gardening and all my other jobs.
lol i gave you a green rep and got carried away with the comment....will do next time I go!
 
Thanks El_G, yes there are go-jek here, & Uber taxis & I am sure the other groups too.
Jaime C will likely know more about the taxis than me, I haven't used one in a long while.
go-jek has not been very well received by the regular Ojegs.
*note the "g" instead of the "k" - not a typo but what they are known as here in Bandung

I've used both Gojek and Uber here in Bandung, and both seem to be fairly convenient. A friend used Grab the other day, so they are starting to spring up here as well. I speculated that Grab doesn't yet have a comparable number of drivers since my friend said they had to wait longer than for Gojek.

Gojek and Grab operate incognito with no green jackets or helmets to help you spot them. This is for the reason that BA noted above. Also, in my experience, Gojek won't go to/from the airport, which is a real shame because the ojek there are a ripoff. One time after a tiresome flight, I wanted to stretch my legs so I just walked about 1km to the main road (just past the military security) and ordered Gojek there.

Side vent: Every time I order from one of these apps, the driver seems to ignore the location info I've entered into the GPS. They always call and ask, "Dimana, pak?" It seems to really confuse them when I can't give very detailed directions because my Bahasa still sucks. Don't they have GPS? Use it!
 
Uber can be hit or miss here. If you live a long way from the main road, I'd double or triple their arrival time estimate. Other than that, they're pretty good. As 'Dude mentioned, they'll often want to call to confirm the address/directions.

I'll start another thread talking about Uber across Indonesia.

If you'd like to try Uber out, you can get a free ride anywhere they operate in Indonesia by using my signup code:​ jamesh8639ue

For taxis in Bandung, AA Taxi is my favorite. Blue Bird is fine, Cipiganti is so-so. I hate the ripoff airport taxis, and Gemah Ripah has let me down a few times.
 
The airport taxis/ojeg have some sort of "agreement" going on & other taxis/ ojegs are not "permitted" in that zone unless for drop off...
What I do (IF I HAVE ZERO ALTERNATIVE BUT TO USE THEM) is nego some cheapo price up to the main street- Pasteur & grab a taxi from there... a hassle but I refuse to pay the buggers more than I have to & I live quite a way from the airport.
Even up to Pasteur it is a crazy price in comparison to the rest of the city taxis- and I apologise to newcomers to the city that these taxis are the first impression you get- they are shoddy and often stinky and a rip-off... I might have a word with the Governor and see if he can get something sorted out. ;)
 
When I tried to order a Gojek to the airport a while back, no drivers would accept. Finally, I gave up and took a taxi. I barely arrived in time so I haven't tried again.

An old coworker told me that she asked her Gojek driver about it (after hearing my story) and he said that they won't go to the airport because of the "arrangement" that BA mentioned. It's not just the airport taxis/ojek, but also the military security at the airport.

However, I've heard about someone who was able to take Gojek to the airport. Maybe I just had bad luck that day.
 
Ok, I have set the ball rolling to have a chat with the powers that be re the taxis /ojegs at the airport.
BUT when I discussed this with the hubby he pointed out that the new airport is due to open soon..(so it might be a pointless exercise re Husein Sastranegara Int ) hell yes- I had forgotten all about that.

Instead of having the airport in the city, they have constructed a new one 100KM to the east of the city in Majalengka. It is due to open next year.
http://www.antaranews.com/en/news/102499/majalengkas-kertajati-airport-to-become-operational-in-2017

The intent is for it to be a fully international airport and for it to regenerate trade & travel in that area.
 
Ok, I have set the ball rolling to have a chat with the powers that be re the taxis /ojegs at the airport.
BUT when I discussed this with the hubby he pointed out that the new airport is due to open soon..(so it might be a pointless exercise re Husein Sastranegara Int ) hell yes- I had forgotten all about that.

Instead of having the airport in the city, they have constructed a new one 100KM to the east of the city in Majalengka. It is due to open next year.
http://www.antaranews.com/en/news/102499/majalengkas-kertajati-airport-to-become-operational-in-2017

The intent is for it to be a fully international airport and for it to regenerate trade & travel in that area.

When I first read this, I thought you meant that they would be replacing Sastranegara with this one, which would make no sense, especially after the new terminal they just built! Still working on this morning coffee...

So it'll be a little closer than Soekarno-Hatta in Jakarta, but it doesn't sound like it will be any bigger than Sastranegara in Bandung. In the article they kept talking about the runway, meaning one. That's one problem with flying into Bandung. It's not uncommon to get stuck in the air for 45 mins circling Bandung and waiting for the runway to clear.

Google Maps has it as 20-30 minutes closer than Soekarno-Hatta. The shortest route to Majalengka is 120km, but that is also 40 mins slower than the 187km route which takes the main toll roads toward Jakarta. Soekarno-Hatta is 175km from Bandung.
 
Nice to know I am not alone in being disappointed at the location.
When I saw the *100km (or more) my heart sunk- I just hope that Hu/Sa will continue to operate as normal- best route for me is to hop to Sing from there & then go to other destinations.
*that will be a bitch in taxi fares haha!
& to be fair Bandung & surrounding areas has a rather massive population, I would think enough to sustain 2 airports.
Now , if only they could do something with the roads.....
 
The airport taxis/ojeg have some sort of "agreement" going on & other taxis/ ojegs are not "permitted" in that zone unless for drop off...
What I do (IF I HAVE ZERO ALTERNATIVE BUT TO USE THEM) is nego some cheapo price up to the main street- Pasteur & grab a taxi from there... a hassle but I refuse to pay the buggers more than I have to & I live quite a way from the airport.
Even up to Pasteur it is a crazy price in comparison to the rest of the city taxis- and I apologise to newcomers to the city that these taxis are the first impression you get- they are shoddy and often stinky and a rip-off... I might have a word with the Governor and see if he can get something sorted out. ;)

Is the Governor a resident at the Summer Camp you are working at? ;)
 
When I first read this, I thought you meant that they would be replacing Sastranegara with this one, which would make no sense, especially after the new terminal they just built! Still working on this morning coffee...

So it'll be a little closer than Soekarno-Hatta in Jakarta, but it doesn't sound like it will be any bigger than Sastranegara in Bandung. In the article they kept talking about the runway, meaning one. That's one problem with flying into Bandung. It's not uncommon to get stuck in the air for 45 mins circling Bandung and waiting for the runway to clear.

Google Maps has it as 20-30 minutes closer than Soekarno-Hatta. The shortest route to Majalengka is 120km, but that is also 40 mins slower than the 187km route which takes the main toll roads toward Jakarta. Soekarno-Hatta is 175km from Bandung.
I've never waited 45 minutes to land in Bandung. Heck, even 10 minutes would be a stretch.

I honestly have no interest in going 100 km to another airport, unless they had tons of connections, and no traffic. Or free flights. :)

I hate having to go to Jakarta for my main flights back to the US. I often use frequent flyer miles, and it quite difficult to end up or originate in BDO. I almost always end up staying 1-3 nights in Jakarta before/after a trip.
 
Is the Governor a resident at the Summer Camp you are working at? ;)
Not the current one but an ex one.
In fact there are a few (ex)governors and (Bupatis) that kind of level in there (& higher).
 
BA, if you can find a way to work that little supermarket bit into the top post, I'll delete the original.
 

Users who viewed this discussion (Total:0)

Follow Us

Latest Expat Indo Articles

Latest Tweets by Expat Indo

Latest Activity

New posts Latest threads

Online Now

Newest Members

Forum Statistics

Threads
5,966
Messages
97,385
Members
3,035
Latest member
Les 819
Back
Top Bottom