The Parahyangan Procession

I occassionally make business trips to Bandung, a historical city located about 4 hours drive away from Jakarta. It is common for people to make day trips there for meetings - departing early in the morning and returning late evening. The drive passes through some of the mountainous areas of West Java, culminating at the highest point of Puncak, a popular weekend getaway for Jakartans. The western Java region, populated by slumbering volcanoes and swathed in lush tropical greneries is the traditional home to the Sundanese people and is also known as Parahyangan (sometimes spelled Priangan or even Preanger) - loosely translated as "Abode of the Gods".

One can find many Sundanese working in Jakarta. They have their own distinct language, music and culture. Sundanese women from Bandung, also known as mojang priangan, with their fair skins and good complexion are well-known for their beauty. And Sundanese food, with its healthy staple of salad, fish and tofu, is also very popular everywhere in Indonesia. It is believed that the fresh cool mountain air coupled with the healthy diet is the secret of their beauty.

Bandung, the capital of Sundanese culture was also an important Dutch administration center. One can find many excellent examples of colonial architecture in the town of Bandung, relatively well-preserved compared to the ones in Jakarta. There are no high-rises in Bandung and instead one can find many beautiful colonial bungalows and mountain resorts within its vicinity, making Bandung the number one favourite weekend escape for the stressed-up Jakarta people. Many say the weather in Bandung is not as cool as it used to be as pollution is on the increase: the weekend Jakartan tourists being the main contributors.

The day trip by car to Bandung from Jakarta can be very tiring, especially if you have a tough day of meetings scheduled. Whenever I can, I prefer to take the train from the Gambir station and stay overnight in Bandung. There are two train services plying the Jakarta-Bandung route: the Parahyangan Express and the executive class Argo Gede. The three hour journey to Bandung on the Argo Gede is an especially comfortable ride. The journey takes you through an amazingly lush landscape of mountains and valleys. It is the quintessential tour of Parahyangan: The train runs steadily on tracks elevated above plunging valleys, like a slow procession of gods, across a delightful vista of tea plantations, paddy fields, cascading streams and pastoral villages.

Among my most pleasant memories of Indonesia is being on board the Argo Gede returning from Bandung to Jakarta, reading Sukarno's autobiography. Sukarno himself spent some time in Bandung as a student at the Institut Teknologi Bandung and started a pro-Independence movement there. He was also for a while imprisoned by the Dutch in this city. Dipping in and out of my book, visions of Indonesia's historical past streamed through my mind as the undulating landscape rushed past me. The three hours passed sweetly. And always, the strange experience of arrival in Jakarta: The procession takes one slowly from the mist-shrouded mountains into the messy urban sprawl of Greater Jakarta, slowly entering its fringe, dotted with fields and shanty dwellings, into its center of slums, canals and gleaming skyscrapers. One arrives - as if awakened from a dream - under a darkened evening sky, within sight of the majestic Monas, into the noisy bustle and sweaty embrace of porters and peddlars at the Gambir station. One steps out from the train feeling like a god cast out from heaven.