Visiting Domas Crater, West Java.

Good evening Universe, hello blogosphere!
Happy New Year to all of you!I hope you had a wonderful time welcoming this new year.

Ooh, I'm still in the 'holiday mode' until now. Five more days to go, before we'll start our normal routine. My bodyclock is still following the 'holiday clock'; almost every day (except the 'exercise day') I wake up at 7am or more! I hope we'll not get the 'back to school/work blues' next week, ha..ha..

Last Christmas was our 3rd Christmas here since we moved back to our home in Jakarta. Following the big family tradition, after Christmas we spend time together, out of this crowded city, and have a short vacation together.

This time, we chose Cikole nearby Lembang, West Java as an outbond place to stay for 3 days. The famous camping ground is located right at the foot of Tangkuban Parahu volcano, about 25 km north of Bandung, the capital city of West Java province.

One interesting part of the short vacation is hiking!
Two years ago we hiked from Jayagiri, Lembang to Tangkuban Parahu volcano for about 5-6 km uphill! This year, we decided to have a shorter distance hiking. We walked to Domas Crater, a smaller crater of Tangkuban Parahu volcano.

Fresh air, beautiful plants around us, happy and relaxing time ...

We walked for 1.2 km through the beautiful elevated tropical forest before got to the crater.
It's a short distance, with good & well maintained walking track and stairway for family hiking. The smell of sulphur welcoming us, and confirming that we were heading to an active crater.

It was an interesting experience to visit this particular crater and the most interesting part for the children is... boiling some eggs, straight into the boiling hot spring in one part of the crater. It took between 10 to 12 minutes & the boiled eggs are ready. The raw eggs are sold there.

Other than that, we can soak our feet in warm water and explore the moon-surface around the crater.

Walking back another 1.2 km to the parking area is another 'happiness'. Heading to the crater, the track is going downhill. Leaving the crater: uphill. Don't worry, the beauty of the forest and the super fresh air give us a great experience for our body and soul.

If you have no idea where to bring your children for a short vacation, Cikole in Lembang can be a very good alternative. Hiking to the Domas Crater is a good experience for the whole family.

Just for information, we rent two cottages in Cikole Camping Ground, just beside the Bandung Treetop Adventure Park. It is a good place for family, with good facilities. We built two tents around the cottages and had bonfire & fireworks at nights.

Food? Don't worry. Lots of delicious food can be found in Lembang. The thing that we should worry more is 'gaining weight'. The cold weather give us the hungry effect all the time :)

Here are some pictures of the street food that we enjoyed around the camping ground.

All are delicious and cheap (for sure). We didn't have a problem with our stomach after eating all of this. Other than that, you can drive about 7 km to Lembang, for heavier meals. Traditional fried domestic chicken will be the good choice. Or try the colenak (fermented cassava serve with brown sugar and coconut sauce), fresh milk, variant type of tofu, and grilled corn with variety of flavors. Lembang is famous for its delicious culinary.

Have a wonderful new year, Friends.