Bogor

Introduction

The Palace in Bogor

© Jakarta007

Located about 60 kilometres south of Jakarta, Bogor is most famous for its botanical gardens. Explore the beauty of Bogor in the days before independence. This was the most important Dutch hill station, midway between the mountains and the heat-ridden plains. Governor-General van Imhoff is credited with its discovery in 1745. He built a large country estate which he named Buitenzorg ('Without a Care') until 1811 it was first used as a country residence by Sir Stamford Raffles, during the British interregnum and many years later Bogor became the semi-official capital.

Bogor has become an important centre for scientific research, including botany, agronomy and forestry. Though Bogor stands at a height of only 290 metres, it's appreciably cooler than Jakarta, but visitors in the wet season should bear in mind the town's nickname: the 'City of Rain'. Bogor has probably the highest annual rainfall on Java.

Sights and Activities

Botanical Gardens

Botanical Gardens, Bogor

© Neil-Sonia

The Botanical Gardens (Kebun Raya) of Bogor are huge, world class gardens with more than 15,000 species of trees and plants. The botanical gardens are situated in the city cenre of Bogor adjacent to the Istana Bogor (Presidential Palace). The gardens cover more than 80 hectares and were built by Java's Dutch Governor-General Gustaaf Willem, Baron van Imhoff who was governor of Java at the time. The gardens officially opened in 1817 as 's Lands Plantentuin ('National Botanical Garden') and were used to research and develop plants and seeds from other parts of the Indonesian archipelago for cultivation during the 19th century. This is a tradition that continues today and contributes to the garden's reputation as a major center for botanical research. Today the garden contains more than 15,000 species of trees and plants located among streams and lotus ponds. There are 400 types of exceptional palms to be found along the extensive lawns and avenues, helping the gardens create a refuge for more than 50 different varieties of birds and for groups of bats roosting high in the trees. The bats can be easily detected by the noise they make while competing for space under the canopies. The orchid houses contain some 3,000 varieties.

Other Sights and Activities

• Puncak - Highlands and tea plantations along the road to Bandung and a great place where you could see and enjoy the natural beauty and do some sport activities such as paragliding, etc.
• Presidential Palace (Istana Bogor) - A building which was formerly the official residence of the Dutch governors-general before becoming the palace of the president.
• Zoological Museum - There is an interesting collection of zoological oddities inside.
• Safari Park (Taman Safari) - Many kinds of animal inside.
• China Town (Pecinan) - Chinese community in old city.
• Orchid Garden (Rumah Anggrek) -

Weather

Bogor is one of the most rainy cities on Java, and also it has the record of the highest number of days with thunder: over 320 days recorded in one year!

Getting There

By Plane

The nearest airport is in Jakarta with easy connections in about an hour to Bogor.

By Train

Regular trains connect Jakarta with Bogor.

By Bus

Buses connect Bogor with Jakarta and Bandung (3 hours).

Sleep

Upscale

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Keep Connected

Internet

Internet is becoming more widely used in Indonesia, and warung Internet (warnet) - Internet cafés - are emerging everywhere. A lot of restaurants and cafés in big cities normally have wireless internet available for free. Internet connection speed in Indonesia varies between ISP and location. Prices vary considerably, and as usual you tend to get what you pay for, but you'll usually be looking at around Rp3,000 to Rp5,000 per hour with faster access than from your own mobile phone. In large cities, there are free WiFi hotspots in many shopping malls, McDonald restaurants, Starbucks cafes, 7 Eleven convenience stores, and in some restaurants and bars. Some hotels provide free hotspots in the lobby and/or in their restaurants and even in your rooms.

Phone

See also: International Telephone Calls

You can use 112 as an emergency number through mobile phones. Other numbers include 110 (police), 113 (fire) and 118 (ambulance).
The international phone code is 62.

If you have GSM cellular phone, ask your local provider about "roaming agreement/facility" with local GSM operators in Indonesia (i.e.: PT Indosat, PT Telkomsel, PT XL Axiata). The cheapest way is buying a local SIM card, which would be much cheaper to call and especially use internet compared to your own cell phone's sim card.

The Indonesian mobile phone market is heavily competitive and prices are low: you can pick up a prepaid SIM card for less than Rp 10,000 and calls may cost as little as Rp 300 a minute to some other countries using certain carriers (subject to the usual host of restrictions). SMS (text message) service is generally very cheap, with local SMS as low as Rp129-165, and international SMS for Rp400-600. Indonesia is also the world's largest market for used phones, and basic models start from Rp 150,000, with used ones being even cheaper.

Post

Pos Indonesia provides the postal service in Indonesia. Pos Indonesia is government-owned and offers services ranging from sending letters and packages to money transfers (usually to remote areas which have no bank branch/ATM nearby) and selling postcards and stamps. Sending a postcards, letter or parcel is relatively expensive, but fairly reliable. It takes several days at least to send it within Indonesia, at least a week internationally. It is recommended to send letters from a Pos Indonesia branch, not by putting it inside orange mailbox (called Bis Surat) in the roadside, because some of the mailboxes are in very bad condition and aren't checked regularly by Pos Indonesia. Opening times of post offices usually tend to follow general business hours: Monday to Friday from 8:00am to 4:00pm (sometimes shorter hours on Fridays), Saturdays from 8:00am to 1:00pm, closed on Sundays. Bigger cities, tourist areas and central post offices tend to keep longer hours, into the evenings.

Private postal services based in Indonesia include CV Titipan Kilat (CV TIKI), Jalur Nugraha Ekaputra (JNE), Caraka, and RPX. There are also foreign postal services that have branches in Indonesia, including DHL, TNT, UPS, and FedEx.