As mentioned in earlier post about holiday under $10 in Jakarta, now I want to share one place in Bogor that is famous as one of the tourist spots you can visit. Bogor itself is a satellite city of Jakarta, 60 km south. Known also for name Buitenzorg which mean free of care.
Introducing Bogor – A Rainy City in Indonesia
It is near from jakarta. As I posted about tourist spots in Jakarta on the previous week, I think Bogor is suitable to introduce now. There are many things you can do in Bogor. Many tourist spots you can visit in Bogor, such as this Bogor Botanical Garden and also Curug Nangka (Nangka Waterfall).
If you want to see what’s Curug Nangka looks like – you can read it here.
The food? Hmmm, you can’t stop eat here. So many delicacy here, especially the Sundanese food. And the weather is cold – opposite from Jakarta. Bogor is located at the foothills of Mount Salak and famous as Rainy City in Indonesia. So you can imagine the weather compared to Jakarta, right?
Bogor Botanical Garden
For today’s post, I want to focus on Bogor Botanical Garden – a 87 hectares garden located in the heart of Bogor. What can you find in this big garden? Well, this particular garden was made as a conservation area in Bogor. One of the famous plant here is the Rafflesia Arnoldii (as I posted in my previous post).
It has at least 13 thousand trees and plants, belonging to 3,733 species, 1,257 genus and 218 families (ref: Wikipedia). In this garden you can see many spots such as:
Gunting Pond
Man made pond with a beautiful water-lily – the well-known Victoria Amazonica.
Water Garden
A place for water lilies and other swamp plants. I love to go here and looking at the lotus blossoming. The philosophy behind it is one that made me falling in love. How water lilies is blossoming in a dark and bad place.
Mexican Garden
This one is kind of new compared to others. This place has the many collection of cactus, agave and succulent plants from around Asia and Americas. If you want to go here, you need to bring your hat. It is kind of hot in this particular garden. But seeing those plants surviving the hot area is quite awesome to see also.
Orchids
Yes… this garden has its own orchids garden with approximately 500 species from over 100 genera. The collections are in the glasshouses area and orchidarium area. The glasshouses are used for separating the hybrid and non hybrid orchid, while orchidarium is for breeding area.
Other Spots and Facilities
Those are some of the gardens that you can see in this Bogor Botanical Garden. One thing that I remember from my childhood is the guesthouses. The beautiful old guesthouses are great spots for taking pictures and also resting if you are tired wandering around the garden. In front of the guesthouses, you can walk through the forest and do some research as if you are biologist or a treasure hunter – a fun activities for children.
Another famous spot in this garden is the Red Bridge in Bogor Botanical Garden. Many believe that if a couple walked through this bridge, they would broke up soon after. I don’t know whether it is true or not, haven’t tried it yet. Perhaps you would to try it and tell me how it is?
If you are tired walking around – you can’t finish the whole area in one day, you can take a car provided by the management (of course you have to pay for it). The car will take you circling around the gardens and seeing all the collections.
There are cafes inside the gardens – the famous one is De-Daunan cafe which located in the center of the garden. From the cafe, you can see a beautiful panoramic garden. But you have to prepare more money for this. The price is quite expensive.
Other facilities such as mosque for the Moslems are provided here. And you can find many snapshot photographer offering an instant picture for you.
What Did I Do in Bogor Botanical Garden
I, myself love to wandering around the garden and do some picnic. I have done it with my college friends several years ago and also with my sister and mother. We bought a local Sundanese food and ate it as if we were doing picnic.
Or just laying on the grass after walking around the gardens. Feeling the cold breeze brushing my face. I love it. And really want to do it again sometime. And of course, I took some pictures also. I have several pictures from this particular spot that I’ve shared before. The last one was the Weekly Photo Challenge – Forces of Nature. The waterlilies (featured image now) were taken here in Bogor Botanical Garden. Here are my other collections taken from Bogor Botanical Garden.
Adress: Jalan Ir. Haji Juanda No.13, 16122, Indonesia – Bogor – West Java.
Phone Number: +62 251 8322187
Website: http://www.krbogor.lipi.go.id/
Nearby tourism spots: Bogor Zoology Museum (consider as part of the garden), Bogor Presidential Palace.
Have you been there? What did you do there? Any favorite spot in Bogor Botanical Garden? Let’s share