Flight to Parahyangan

Flight to Parahyangan

The last time I was in Bandung was more than a year ago, to do research for an article I was writing for a magazine. Hence I was quite happy today to get the change to set foot on this so-called "Paris of Java" again.

Usually I would take the train--either Argo Gede or the Parahyangan Express--from Jakarta to Bandung. A car journey which takes more than 3 hours through the winding mountaineous roads can be quite tiring. But today, due to the tightness of my schedule, I found myself taking a flight instead to Bandung.

I had always wondered why there's a flight service between Jakarta and Bandung: who would bother to go to the airport to take a 25 minute flight? I soon realized that the service is actually quite popular; the propeller-driven plane was full when I took it from the Halim Perdanakusuma airport, which being closer to the city than the international Soekarno-Hatta airport at Cengkareng, is also an advantage. It wasn't as bad as I thought; it was quite fast, and you arrive without the usual fatigue of a 3 hour journey.

Being in Bandung is always a joy. But this is only a short one day trip for a meeting and then I'm flying back to Jakarta again. I'll probably need to be here again next week, but I'm certainly not flying again--for I miss taking the train. I'm looking forward to three hours of uninterupted reading on the Argo Gede...

But there's much work waiting for me. The delights of Bandung will have to wait. Hopefully, next week I'll get a chance to wander around the streets and perhaps convince myself for the umpteenth time that Bandung does indeed have the best-looking girls...