Tropical Botanical Gardens, The Rare Giant Corpse Flower and Gongs Galore in Bogor.

I recently thought to myself "it has been some time since my last post here". Much of this, of course, is due to work related distractions and not really going anywhere to write about, but last weekend I decided to change all that and take a weekend trip to beautiful Bogor. Bogor, being just 60km outside Jakarta, is famed for its amazing botanical gardens with a host of rare tropical plants and trees having the claim to be one of the oldest and largest in the world. The Presidential Palace is situated right in the centre to boot. Jokingly nicknamed by locals as "the rain city", Bogor is said to have more rainfall than any other city on the Island of Java, though on my trip, thankfully, the rain subsided long enough to allow for an unhindered experience of one of Java's best bustling urban gems.

Getting There
The fact that Jakarta's incessant urban sprawl is growing ever steadily to encompass its neighbouring cities into one massive concrete jungle has its benefits for travellers. Transport to and from Bogor is extremely easy and efficient. While it's recommended to avoid as much bus travel as possible, due to the slow grinding nature of Jakarta's traffic, the trains are your best option by far. For the tiny price of 17,000 Rupiah (only £1.10/$1.70) you can take the train from Jakarta Kota or Manggarai terminals to Bogor in under an hour with trains leaving as frequently as every ten minutes. Be aware though, that in the evenings and at peak times, this train can get very busy but no more so than the London Tube. This is also more likely on the return journey to Jakarta on Sunday evenings when everyone is coming home.

Our journey there left from Bekasi, a suburb now absorbed into greater Jakarta. Most of the scenery along the way consists of red tilled buildings in various conditions, showing the growing expanse of mega Jakarta, slowly engulfing each little town along the railway route. You have pause to think of what these places must have been like before their amalgamation as countless suburbs. The people on the train mostly keep to themselves, as in most cities, but quietly staring at the strange Bulai (white person) travelling with them. We found ourselves staring somewhat too when we saw one Muslim woman sporting a South Park hijab (Muslim head cover), of all things. We quietly wondered to ourselves if the irony was lost on her.

Another strange occurrence on this short journey was the encountering of an Indonesian man we had met before on the train into Jakarta. This seemed very strange to us given the fact that, in a population of over 10,000,000, on the major commuter train, we should encounter the same individual sitting next to us. He found it strange too no doubt as we began to chat about what to do in Bogor and the best places to stay.
In under fifty minutes, our train had arrived at it's destination.

 Where to stay

(fig 1) Twin room in the IPB Convention Hotel 

Plenty of hotels exist in Bogor of various standards. You can get anything from basic (and I mean basic) accommodation for about Rp200,000 per night ($20) if on a budget, or get something a little more comforting with all the modern facilities for that bit extra. Most hotels are walking distance from the city centre with the botanical gardens in range. Public transport is most commonly found by the local green angkots which go all over the city. We stayed in the very nice four star IPB Convention Hotel on Jl. Pajajaran. For Rp550,000 (about $55), you get a very nice twin bed room with flat screen T.V. and western style toilet and it includes breakfast. Also, having spent a while in Indonesia now, the hot showers were a godsend! Other hotels can increase up to 1.5million Rupiah a night but for much better quality.


Botanic Beauty

With over 15,000 species of plants and trees, the Botanical gardens of Bogor are by far it's major pulling factor. Built originally sometime in the 15th C, what exists there today was mostly built and landscaped by Stamford Raffles, the British Lieutenant Governor of Java, back around 1811. Pamphlets and signs throughout the park attest to this. In the centre stands the Neoclassical (quite Palladian influenced) Presidential Palace. The original was built in 1744 in imitation of Blenhem Palace in Oxford by the Dutch Governors but, after an earthquake in 1834, it was almost completely rebuilt to it's current fashion (http://www.indonesia.go.id/en/palaces/bogor-palace).The gardens are quite enormous too, spreading outward from the centre of Bogor for some 80 hectares and totally enclosed by a large cast iron fence. This means they are certainly easy to find and you can get one of the many green angkots outside the train station that circle the perimeter road, right to the main entrance. 

(fig. 2) The Neoclassical Presidential Palace in the Botanical Gardens. Rebuilt in 1834.

Entrance to the gardens is interesting. Approaching the main ticket office, you see what quickly becomes a common sight in Indonesia. There is a price for the locals and there is a price for Bulais or foreigners. This is something you just have to get used to. Needless to say, if you are not from here, you pay more. Fortunately for us, we had our KITAS or residency permits so we did not have to pay the 25,000 Rupiah (which still isn't bad) Bulai price, but got the much nicer 14,000 Rupiah domestic price. Inside the enclosure, the atmosphere is much like being in a tropical jungle, but with an unusual variety of plant and tree species not usually known to cohabit the same environment. There are clusters of bamboo forest right next to jungle trees and over 400 varieties of palm tree alone (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bogor_Botanical_Gardens) coming in all sorts of odd and beautiful shapes, sizes and colours. The landscape is breathtaking, particularly where you have an elevated view of this man made paradise. One of my favourite species of plant there is the

(fig. 3) A view of the gardens from a platform

Pandan plant. This little plant is extremely versatile and useful in South East Asia. One of its primary uses is as a flavouring in cooking, giving the wide variety of foods it is used in (such as bread, pastries, pandan pancakes etc.) a very vanilla like flavour. One of it's other major uses, according to signs at the gardens, is in the weaving of roofs and floors in rural areas.

The Rare Corpse Flower
One of the major attractions of the gardens is the every interesting and decidedly rare Amorphophallus Titanum, or more commonly known as the "corpse flower". The unusual nickname for this giant tropical plant comes from the strong odour it emits when in bloom to attract carrion insects which, in turn, help in the pollination process. It's rarity stems (pardon the pun) from the fact that it is only endemic to the jungles of western Sumatra in Indonesia. All other examples exist only in private collections. Furthering the intrigue of this monster plant, it only flowers once every three years and when it does so, the bloom only lasts for a few short days. Needless to say, when the flower finally does bloom after years of lying dormant, it attracts more than just insects. Thousands of people descend on Bogor to view this huge and colourful example of natures ability to amaze. The dark purple-red leaves open up around a large, yellow, tower-like inflorescence reaching over three meters in height (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amorphophallus_titanum). It's image adorns a multitude of signs and leaflets around, not just the gardens, but the whole city as well. I guess it's no surprise such a striking attraction is used as the symbol of the city. Sadly, on our visit, we arrived on one of the dormant years and did not have the privilege of seeing it, in what could be described for many as a once in a lifetime opportunity. The toothless old Indonesian guide, devoid of any English whatsoever, made this clear to us in a series of enthusiastic, animated gestures. When a group of passing students, snagged by the old man, assisted in confirming to me that I was too late (or indeed early), I quietly wondered how many times has he himself seen this rare and beautiful event of nature.

Other attractions
Aside from the immensity of the beautiful gardens, which you could spend a whole day in alone, and the golf and country clubs on the city outskirts, there is not a great deal else to do. This is why a trip to Bogor is more suited to a weekend trip or even day trip for most. Again, as this is Indonesia, if you are looking for clubs/bars, this is not the place for you. Bogor is more about experiencing Indonesian urban culture at its best. For many of those seeking to immerse themselves in this, a wander through Bogor's winding streets and kampungs (poorer areas) is greatly rewarding. While the same can be said of colossal Jakarta, Bogor reveals its charms in a decidedly less overbearing way. Most of the buildings are only two stories, complete with red tiles, and, though it sprawls quite a bit, you never get the sense of the big megalopolis that you do in Jakarta. This makes for less claustrophobic exploring.

One little gem in the kampungs just about a twenty minute walk south-west from the centre is the Bogor Gong Factory. Located on Jl. Pancasan, the workers here claim that the factory (if one could call a large shed with about eight guys a factory) is one of only two remaining on Java. The other is in Solo in central Java. The external, expensive looking sign and (as we later found) website for the factory are deceptive indeed, however. Inside, the eight or so workers perilously and arduously hammer out the shape of a single gong with no protective gear at all and in total darkness, apart from the glow of the red hot metal (copper and tin) as it slowly takes shape (fig. 4). The hammers they use weigh seven kilos, they tell me, and they get paid very little. Their only real income is from the tips tourists leave them on a metal plate in the corner. Considering their dangerous and tiring task, working in such heat, we tip them well. Their English is not great, which is to be expected but they do seem to have rote learned some descriptive phrases like "one gong, one day" and "only two factories, here and Solo". Any questions outside of these topics fall on deaf ears. These gongs are produced for use in the Indonesian traditional gamelan orchestra of Java and Bali. It seems that this once common trade has decreased massively in recent years, and given the length of time it takes to make one (one per day), they have become a rarity in themselves. We were glad to have the chance to see the craft before it totally dies out into obscurity.

(fig 4) The Gong Factory workers beat out the shape of a gong resting on soft banana tree bark. They work with no protective gear and in almost total darkness to make a finely crafted gamelan gong.

Outro
Bogor is indeed a great place to visit, if you are planning a short weekend break. While not for everyone, it does offer, in its botanical gardens in particular, a little taste of the beauty of Indonesia's natural treasures; its wild tropical landscape and extensive flora and fauna, so rare to the rest of the world. They could inspire anyone to explore more of what the natural world has to offer. Even the somewhat dated exhibitions of the zoological museum, in the grounds of the gardens themselves, display the vast array of mysterious and curious creatures endemic to these islands, opening the eyes and minds of the many tourists that throng its halls on a daily basis. Just before leaving the museum on our last day I noticed something. The portraits of past governors and curators that line many of the buildings walls hint at the long and turbulent history of Indonesia itself, both politically and culturally. Up until the 1950's, the portraits show moustached white westerners, mostly with Dutch and English names, stark reminders of the peoples oppressed colonial past. But beyond this point, with independence won, the faces change to those of a more local people, of true Indonesians. The country and what remains of it's untouched natural treasure is in their hands now. May they watch over it carefully and see it flourish as a haven safe from western interference.