The hot springs around Lembang dan Tangkuban Perahu became very popular with the Dutch in the early 1900’s, and serious development commenced in the 1920’s when they built small resorts in Lembang. Owing to its high elevation, Lembang and its surroundings have a pleasant temperature all year around.

Lembang

This town has a pleasant climate and is renowned for its vegetables and milk. Along the main road of Lembang, called "Jalan Raya Lembang", from Bandung to Tangkuban Perahu, there are plenty of fruit and vegetable sellers. Some stalls also sell live rabbits. A few restaurants or “warungs” along this road also serve rabbits, usually cooked in the Indonesian style of curry or satay. More about "Food, Drinks and Entertainment” in Bandung, West Java, Indonesia.

Also in the Lembang area, after just leaving Bandung city on Jalan Setiabudi, people can see the home of former Indonesian president (the third president of the Republic) BJ Habibie, although rumours say he spends most of his time with his family in Germany, where he used to study, work and live in his earlier days.

A few interest places in the Lembang district include:

Buddhism Pagoda "Vihara Vipassana"

This "vihara" was constructed by a rich Thai Indonesian businessman through his company in 1992 and was inaugurated by the Indonesian Minister of Religious Affairs in 1995.

The story of this Vihara Vipassana dated back to 1985, where a monk from Thailand came to Bandung for a retreat. The local Buddhist community, together with a different monk from Thailand, finally could secure an area, where they could start building their vihara, which is where this Vihasa Vipassana is currently standing. Today, this vihara has 7 Indonesian and Thai monks, who live in this monastery for doing meditation and worship.

Villa Isola

Located in the northern part of Bandung city, Villa Isola, well known today as "Bumi Siliwangi", was constructed in 1932 and designed by Wolff Schoemaker, the same architect who also designed Museum Asia Afrika (Gedung Merdeka), Cipaganti mosque and a few other art deco buildings in Bandung.

Initially built for a rich Dutch East Indies (Indonesia) born entrepreneur, D.W. Berretty, the villa cost him a fortune. Later, this private villa was converted into a hotel before being used by the Japanese troops as their office in the early 1940’s and turned into an educational institution after Indonesia got its independence in 1945. Today it is part of a university in Bandung, Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia - Indonesia University of Education.

Historical photos of Villa Isola in the 1930's can be accessed from this link: www.sjoerdm.dds.nl

Gua Maria Karmel

It was said that originally this place consisted of a church and a dormitory for Dutch nuns, but since Indonesia declared its independence, things changed and today there are no more Dutch nuns nor dormitories . However, the old small church is still standing beautifully after recent renovations were finished in 1989.

Here in Gua Maria Karmel, there are two different “pathways” for visitors. Along the first path, visitors will see fourteen different statues, which describe the famous “Via Dolorosa” and the second path is the path heading to Gua Maria Karmel, where visitors can pray privately, overlooking hills in front of the area.

There is a market on Sunday morning at the small entrance street to the church, where locals sell vegetables and fruits grown from their own backyards.

Taman Hutan Raya Ir. H. Juanda

This first botanical garden in Indonesia, well known to the locals as "Taman Dago Pakar", is a home to 3 kinds of mammals, around 30 different kinds of birds, over 250 kinds of trees from 40 families and 112 species in a total area of about 526 hectares (1300 acres). Taman Hutan Raya Ir. H. Juanda was inaugurated on 14 January 1985 by the then Indonesian President Soeharto. Today, the forest has a new attraction, a deer breeding in the “Bantar Awi” area (located between Maribaya Waterfall and Dutch Cave, about 2 kilometers from the Dutch cave).

Taman Dago Pakar also has three waterfalls. The famous one is called Omas Waterfall, in Maribaya, or Maribaya Waterfall. This waterfall lies approximately 5 kilometers [3.1 miles] to the north of the nature reserve entrance.

Apart from flora and fauna, there are also Dutch and Japanese caves, which were built in the early 1910's and 1940's, respectively, in Taman Hutan Raya Ir. H. Juanda. These two caves were used for various reasons, such as food and armory storage, communication purposes, and so on.

There is also an inscription stating the visit of Thai King Chulalongkorn II in 1896.

Location	:	Kompleks Tahura Ir. H. Juanda No. 99 Dago Pakar, Bandung
Telephone	:	+62 22 2515895
Fax	:	+62 22 250 7891
Email	:	[email protected]
Website	:	www.tahuradjuanda.jabarprov.go.id
Operating hours	:	daily, 8am-5pm
Admission charges	:	Rp. 8,000/person (domestic tourist) or Rp. 50,500/person (foreign tourist). Rp. 20,000 (bus). English speaking local guide charges (by local people, if you'd like to have one) Rp. 75,000-Rp.100,000
Facilities	:	information center (English and Bahasa Indonesia); toilets; shops; prayer room; children's playground; jogging track; outbond area, such as flying fox and paint ball (Rp. 20,000/domestic tourist or Rp. 100,000/foreigner with minimum 30 person in a group); a small museum About Ir. H. Juanda; local guides (sometimes with limited English); there are 5 houses available for rent, each room costs Rp. 500,000 per night; a tennis court for rent Rp. 50,000/hour
How to get there	:	By angkot: from Jl. Merdeka, take angkot goes to "Dago" terminal (fare Rp. 2,500) then take an ojek (/ô-jêk/ - motorcycle taxi) to this place (fare: Rp. 15,000) By taxi: from Jalan Asia Afrika around Rp. 50,000 If you want to walk from "Dago" angkot terminal be ready for about 3 kilometers [1.86 miles] journey
Remarks	:	a good option to visit if you like nature reserve. It might be a little busy during weekends and public holidays.

Bosscha Astronomical Observatory

Situated in Lembang at more than 4200 feet (1300 meters) above sea level, the Bosscha Astronomical Observatory was inaugurated in 1923 by D. Fock, the Dutch East Indies Governor General. This observatory name was taken from Karel Albert Rudolf Bosscha who donated his piece of land for this observatory.

Bosscha Observatorium is now maintained and run by the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences of Institut Teknologi Bandung.

Bosscha is the biggest astronomical observatory in Indonesia and the only one in South East Asia. From 19-27 August 2008 Bosscha hosted the 2nd International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics (IOAA), in which 89 students from 21 countries participated.

Maribaya Waterfall

Maribaya Waterfall or “Air Terjun Maribaya” is famous for its 25-meter [82 feet] high waterfall and it is a part of Taman Hutan Raya (Tahura) Ir. H. Juanda or Dago Pakar in Maribaya area. In spite of its location in Taman Hutan Raya Ir. H. Juanda, Maribaya waterfall can be easily accessed from the entrance “door V” in Jalan Maribaya, which is located about 3 kilometers [1.86 miles] from "Pasar (market) Lembang".

Some people opt to walk from this waterfall down to Taman Dago Pakar, enjoying its interesting scenery, or the other way round. As as reference, it takes about 1 hour walk from Taman Dago Pakar entrance doors I, II and III to the waterfall (Maribaya Waterfall itself is located about 6 kilometers or 3.72 miles from Dago).

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