Five out Five for Bogor

Just returned from two nights stay in the heart of Bogor. Specific destination was Bogor Botanical Garden.

We ended up with a great stay in a semi budget hotel in front of the Garden, in a room with five star view from the window and excellent breakfast. Found an Indonesian Specialty Coffee shop that we visited twice in two days, a visit to zoology museum inside the garden, a hearty dinner in a restaurant with an-hour waiting list (for us, it was worth the wait, fyi).

As always, we were up early and got all the best worms. Bogor Botanical Garden is located right in front of the hotel. But, the gate in front of the hotel was closed so we had to circle around to the main gate, we didn’t mind at all. Bogor now has great pedestrian facilities.

We spent around three hours inside. Our first stop was bike rent for the doctor. I prefered stay on my feet. Then, we stopped by zoology museum. It was a small museum with average collections. But, it was clean and seemed well-maintaned. Ticket price is Rp 25.000/person. It is perfect museum introduction for the kid of her age.

The garden visit itself was enjoyable. Again, because we were early, we didn’t see crowd within our sight. It was far from empty, but since it is a huge garden, there is enough space to enjoy for everyone.

Next, food.

We found a specialty Indonesian coffee shop within walking distance from the hotel. We stopped by for the first time to have lunch after three hours spent in Kebun Raya. From Kebun Raya, we went here by angkot. Rode on an angkot in Bogor gave certain feeling of good old days during college.

It was quite long wait for the food, because they were short of staff, yet we enjoyed the waiting because we had nothing to do. The place has nice ambiance, we just spent talking about things. The first day coffee was great for me, I loved it. On the second day I ordered banana cake it was also good. The main dish that we ordered was just okay for me.

Just like when I went to Paris for seven days, the thought went to my father a lot during the trip. That was the fuel to make the London trip in 2017 happened. A sudden idea popped in my head during my morning walk in the garden, texted and called him for several times asked whether he wanted to join us. He said okay when I offered him to book a room. So we got company on the second day.

We chose a restaurant that we have never visited before, and of course my dad hadn’t too. Turned out it was quite full and when we came we got 13 queues of waiting list. We usually are not the type who is willing to wait that long for food, but we had no better options at that time, so we chose to wait. After an hour, and occasional nagging, the wait was over.

Two things that made up the long waiting were : the helpful and accommodating staff, until we tipped her personally, and the food came so quickly and the taste were excellent.

As always, we’re never the ambitious type for every trip that we have taken to. Specific destination yes, but not one full of itineraries. Mostly enjoyed a laid back one. Slow yet long walking. Stopped by the park for ice cream or playground, nap time, afternoon walk for food, home by maghrib or at least isya, and bed by 8-9 pm. Just like what we do at home.

In this trip, we got everything that everyone needed. Overall, it was two days stay in a three star hotel with five star experiences!