With the best friend, AO, in February 2024.
Of Gaia Bandung, and the return home.
Sunny skies greeted us the second morning at Gaia Bandung and our final day in the city, made even brighter by the presence of Ustazah Z.
After a long breakfast with a spread less of food but more of conversations (where Ustazah Z too remarked about the personal hot tea haha), we then decided to take that walk together around Gaia’s huge grounds.
Walking up the green slopes towards one of the few greenhouses available – after more than an hour frolicking around the beautiful landscape and feeding the fishes in the pond – it now made sense what the owners of the tea house at Pasar Cihapit said yesterday. When we asked for recommendations on places to go around Gaia, they laughed, “Mau nature? Di dalam Gaia aja sih. Di sini, kalau orang ke Gaia, maunya duduk di dalam Gaia aja, ga perlu ke mana-mana.“
But alas all good things have to come to an end, and we all soon had to return to our rooms to get ready, and to head home. This was really one of the nicest accommodations I’ve stayed in, not so much because of the room (which is nice of course), but because of the interesting architecture, the nature that surrounds the hotel, and the amazing staff who were all so helpful and friendly mashaAllah. It is also very children friendly, with many activities and even a dedicated playroom for the children. Would recommend anyone visiting Bandung to visit (and perhaps following their instagram would be helpful because that’s where we got a 50% off discount code hehe).
Our plans to take the high-speed train back to Jakarta was foiled by the same three reasons the entire city was in gridlock, and so we had to take a car instead. The journey was longer – it rained heavily en route –, but we managed to swing by Ustazah Z’s pesantren for a bit and pick up our favourite mie ayam frozen before flying home to Singapore.
Alhamdulillah. My heart and tummy is full, as always after a trip to Indonesia.
So where to next?