Bogor

The road to Puncak

Jakarta is surrounded by volcanic mountains, or so we had been told (you can’t really ever see them because of clouds and smog). Enjoying a holiday weekend, on Sunday, December 7 we rented an 11 passenger van and thought we would check them out on this 180 mile round trip. We went with the White family (fellow new family to SPH from Vancouver Island, BC).

Janet at in front of Presidential Palace

Our first stop was Bogor and the presidential palace botanical gardens. Besides the beautiful gardens (see picture above), the memorable event was the Flying Fox (largest bats in the world). We saw a tree full of these giant bats (wingspans of around 2.5 feet) after something had stirred them up and they were swirling around above us. This was truly eerie as they look a little like pterodactyls. You can see more at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_fox . We also looked for dead dutch relatives in the graveyard there. No luck, however.

Eric, Neil and Matthew White with tea plantation in background

Following Bogor, we drove to Puncak, which is a mountain pass of 1500M (over 4500 feet). Along the way, we stopped at a traditional marketplace, outlet mall and a tea plantation. We also enjoyed the 10 to 15 degree cooler weather.

One of many rams tied up along the side of the road

Through out the trip, we were reminded of the holiday (Eid al Adha), as we saw goats and rams tied up to posts. To commemorate Ibrahim’s (Abraham) obedience in offering Ismael (not Isaac) as a sacrifice and God’s provision of a ram, Eid al Adha sees the sacrifice of thousands of rams and goats, which are tied up to posts a day or two in advance. The meat is then shared with family and friends. There should be no shortage of goat and ram meat as we saw thousands of goats and rams tied up along the road.

Look forward to hearing from you,

sweeda

KFC dinner plate made of real dinner ware, not plastic (notice Colonel Sanders cartoon on the top of the plate).

I'm considering a set for her for Christmas :)