Rattletoo: THREE BEAUTIFUL GEMS OF CIWEDEY: KAWAH PUTIH, SITU PATENGAN AND STRAWBERRY FARMS

Tired of the traffic in the heart of Bandung City during weekend? Or too bored spending your time AGAIN in and out of hundreds of Factory Outlets (FO) just to empty your pocket? Or are you just dying to have a peace of mind sitting idling in lust greeneries of tea plantation without wasting too much money or time?

Well, guys, you should try a one day trip to capture three amazing places to please your eyes and mind. All these attraction are located in Ciwidey, a small town in southern Bandung. Ciwedey is the gateway to the beautiful highland in the slope of mount Patuha. Believe me, it’s worth travelling!!!

What’s more interesting than spending your time in the amazing white crater, strawberry pickig, then lazing around the love lake?

The Route

These three places are easily accessed either by private cars or public transportation. It’s only around 47 km from Bandung to the south side through Soreang and Ciwidey. The easiest way to go there is via toll road and exiting at Kopo. So, if you enter the toll road from Padalarang, Pasteur, Cimahi and Pasirkoja, you should choose direction to Cileunyi and exit at Kopo. This is the first exit after Pasirkoja. If you come from other access, such as Cileunyi, Buahbatu, and Moh. Toha, then you should choose direction to Padalarang and exit at Kopo.

Once you have paid the toll fee, turn right at the stop light, then you only need to follow the road until you reach the town of Soreang. You just need to follow the main road to arrive at the small town of Ciwidey, then drive several kilometers uphill to reach Kawah Putih entrance on the left side of the road.

If you continue driving on the main road, then you will pass many strawberry farms, Sindang Reret restaurant, tea plantations and Situ Patengan at the end of the road

Option to Travel

You can travel to these areas either by car, bus or travel agent.

If you drive, please depart very early from Jakarta or Bandung to avoid the busy traffic. As the day breaks, start up your engine and speed up all along the way. It’s the best hour to enjoy your day with lush greeneries area of tea plantation. I mean seriously, as soon as you pass by the city the view underway is breathtaking. The air is also cool and refreshing unlike the city air!

Also, you have control over your time and destination. If one spot captures your heart , you can just park your car at the roadside and you can climb uphill a bit to reach the tea plantation that is crowded with its tea leaves pickers.

As for me I prefer joining backpacking agent that offers me a quite cheap rate for the trip. It only cost me Rp. 210.000,- (USD 21) from Jakarta including the tickets for each location. But I have to bring or buy my own meal during the trip L. Well... I am not a big eater anyway. So, I know I can survive the day nibbling my cakes and snacks J

The disadvantage of taking this backpacking tour agent is you dont have any control of the time! We were scheduled to leave from Jakarta at 5.30 a.m but as always the rubber time made us depart at 6.45!

I was lucky I didnt take the minibus from Jakarta but from the exit toll road of Kopo as I was in Bandung already for business trip. Yup.... we were stuck in heavy traffic during our climb to Ciwedey.

Nonetheless, the view to the site is so beautiful that I forgot all the fuss and complaints. Along the way we saw the scenic route adorned with tea plantation in either side of the road. The hills are covered with lust greeneries. The air was cool and the breeze whizzed around, dancing with the leaves. I was literally drowned in wonders.

The Destination

We were scheduled to visit Strawberry farms, Kawah Putih (white crater) and Situ (lake) Patengan.

Strawberry Farm

The first stop was strawberry picking activity in Ciwidey. The cool weather and mild climate around the area is perfect for starwberry farms. There are many strawberry farms here, but they are all will be crowded during weekend and holidays. Hence, you'd better come early.

The farmer will give you a basket and you can pick the strawberry by yourself. If you are lucky, you can as much ripe red strawberries ready at your service. If you came late, all those colorful fruits were gone for good. Just like what I suffered!

The price is more expensive than buying them in the store, but strawberry picking is always fun, especially for children. One kilogram strawberry is Rp. 50,000 (USD. 5). It’s pretty expensive. But the fun in picking the fruits yourself is priceless J.

Kawah Putih

Next stop is Kawah Putih (white crater). This natural beauty is one of Sunda's hidden gem. Despite its proximity to Bandung, it is less popular compared to Tangkuban Prahu crater in Lembang.

It is named Kawah Putih because the crater and all the surrounding rocks and sands are all white. Overtime, rain fills in the crater. Now, a massive of water covers the crate that make it looks like a greenish lake. Most of the time the color of the lake is green, but sometimes a part of it becomes brownish. The hot springs make the water lukewarm. The view is amazing, but you can not stay too long since the smell of sulphur is quite strong.

The best view is in the morning. Sadly, we arrived at the crater at 12 p.m. Clouds hung midair, painting the sky dark grey. Thin misty fog floated idle in some parts of the lake. I guess it was not the best moment to take some pictures.

Hundreds of visitors flocked around the site. As it was holiday, more people visited the crater. It’s so crowded that it’s hard to get the best shot for your camera. Anywhere you turn, people were posing for a photo or couples hugged and giggled. Definitely not the best moment to visit!

Around the entrance to white crater, you can find many kiosks selling strawberry, traditional snacks and souvenirs. One small plastic bag of strawberry is sold at Rp. 10,000 up to Rp 15,000 ( USD 1 up to USD 1,5) depending on how you haggle. Remember, be very careful in selecting the bags to find the fresh and good strawberries.

The traditional snack is sweets made of orange skin. It is called 'kalua jeruk'. You can also find 'berondong jagung' (pop corn ball). It is pop corn glued together with palm sugar.Since there are many strawberry farms in this area, we also can buy strawberry sweets called dodol strawberry, made of sticky rice, sugar and strawberry juice.

Situ Patenggang

The last stop is Situ Patenggang. If you continue driving you will pass tea plantation and at the end of the road you will arrive at Situ Patengan, which also known as Situ Patenggang. Situ is the sundanese word for lake. Patengan or Patenggang derives from Sundanese words ‘pateang-teang’, meaning finding each other. This is based on Sundanese legend of Raden Indrajaya (Raden is similar to Lord in England) and Dewi Rengganis (Dewi means a beautiful lady).

We rented a boat to get to the Batu Cinta (Love Stone). Each passenger was charged Rp. 25.000 (USD. 2,5) for round the trip. We were dropped at the island for an hour before it fetched us.

At the entrance of the island, visitors waited in queue to pose in front of the stone. Inscribed in the stone wall is the love story of Dewi Rengganis and Raden Indrajaya.
Legend has it that they were madly deeply in love, but a twist of fate separated the couple.

Heartbroken, they cried a river until their tears became Patengan lake. They kept searching for each other ceaselessly. The God apparently smiled upon them finally as they were reunited at Batu Cinta (love stone) in Situ Patengan.

Many people still believe that lovers will have everlasting love if they visit this stone. Ehm ... I think I skip the legend, lol! I was more captivated with the scenic view around the Situ.

Guys, it’s so amazing! Taking all the majestic scenery into the heart is so refreshing and relaxing. It brings a peace of mind.

Lust green tea plantations were laid out bare to cover the hills intertwined with pine forest around the the green lake. I just sat upon the rock and savored each beauty in mind. It’s so relaxing.