Dago Pakar

If you're in Bandung and missing green space, Dago Pakar (also known as Dago Park) is probably the place to go. Situated beyond the end of Jalan Dago, it's possibly the only place in all of Bandung where you can go for a walk. Apparently you can walk from here all the way to Lembang in the north-east, but I'm not sure how you go about this.

There are maybe three ways to get to Dago Pakar:

1. Get someone to drive you there. This is definitely the easiest option and is the one we opted for;
2. Take a taxi. Probably easy, but you might get ripped off or run the risk that your friendly neighbourhood taxi driver won't have a clue what you're on about;
3. Take an angkot to Terminal Dago, then look for an ojek (motorbike taxi) to take you to the top. I've never tried to negotiate this, but try to get a price first. Apparently 15,000 rupiah will do the trick.

Once there, it's 50,000 rupiah per foreigner to get in (substantial discounts are available for locals). The best thing about Dago Pakar is that there are trees, birds, plants and green space. It's pretty nice. There are lots of stalls selling food, drink and snacks too, so you could spend a whole day here in exploration. There aren't loads of paths to follow but check out the maps near the entrance anyway - follow the signs for the Japanese Cave (Jepang) and the Dutch Cave.

These two caves were constructed by the Dutch and Japanese during their occupations of Bandung. Why exactly escapes me (the explanatory signs are in Indonesian) but they are extensive bunker systems leading back into the rock from the main path.

The Japanese bunker is massive and very, very dark - if you go in, you can hire a torch for 5,000 rupiah from one of the many guides outside. We didn't hire a guide but if you're a foreigner you'll be accosted with offers of tours and torches. It's not terrifically exciting unless you go quite deep into the cave system where you can see absolutely loads of bats. Hold the torch near your eyes and you'll be able to see the reflections from their eyes. You can also watch their ears twitching as they echo-locate, and even hear their relatively low social calls. There are also some small lizards who live in the air vents of the cave, but beware because these tunnels are pretty small and don't lead to path-level exits in the rock face.

The Dutch bunker is a little further along the path. There is an entrance on either side of the rock face and some side tunnels, so you only need a torch if you're going to explore these (note that if you want a torch, you'll have to pay again for one here). There are some bricked up parts of this tunnel which have been broken into (or out of...), which is kind of creepy. Apparently some torture of revolutionaries took place here during Indonesia's struggle for independence against the Dutch and their allies.

The path continues through the park along the main river, which runs far below you between the trees. The path can sometimes be quite rough so it's worth wearing decent footwear if you're going to explore past the two bunker systems. Alternatively you can get a ojek (again, you'll be accosted by these) along the path - watch out for these as you're walking along, but they do make quite a racket. The cyclists, however, do not (and they don't equip themselves with bells, either).

There are quite a lot of macaques who live in the park, often fed by the stalls who use them to bring tourists in. Whilst they seem quite tame, they can be violent if they think you have food, so be careful, and try not to carry food in your hands or plastic bags. Feeding the monkeys isn't strictly discouraged by the park, but it's not advisable - macaques see the handing over of food as a sign of subservience, and they're eventually going to twig that humans are basically a subservient species who they can run all over; this is how they get so violent and aggressive.

Further down there is a beautiful waterfall that passes through a natural stone arch. Unfortunately the view of it is broken by trees, but you can still just about see it and get a classic Indonesian photo (Gents: Serious face on. Ladies: Point to your super-smile).

There's a fork in the path that leads to an interesting diversion: One of the hydroelectric dams/weirs which supply some of Bandung's electricity. If you're a geeky engineer like me, you can go and see this, look at all the valves, filters and sluice gates. Whilst it ain't exactly pretty, it's pretty interesting. There are also some very large piles of rubbish at either side which are screened out of the river. Sad to think of people chucking rubbish in upstream, but there you go.

The path continues through the park to more waterfalls, woods and ultimately Lembang, but we turned back before we had a chance to explore. But if you find yourself craving the natural world, it's a great place to spend any amount of time.