After our ripped sheets, cockroach, no fan living experience in Bandung, we decided to move on rather quickly. We probably didn't give Bandung the time it deserved, but the 24 hours we were in town was uninspiring to say the least,... and moving on seemed the logical step. Our bus ride to Bogor took us over the scenic Puncak pass -- a steamy hillside full of beautiful tea plantations and rice terraces. Arriving in Bogor we quickly found that the city lived up to it's nickname... "The city of rain,"  but the drenching was refreshing in it's own way.

Bogor was once a hillside retreat for the Dutch during colonial times and they built a large palace here in 1856. Sir Stamford Raffles continued the European feel by creating a large botanical garden around the palace during the British period of rule in Indonesia. It's these two "attractions" that draw tourists to Bogor.We spent the day wandering the botanical gardens which... whilst they'd probably had better days were still not bad. The orchid house was the star of the show with the whole range of Asian orchids in all colors. (It reminded us that we'd chose Orchid corsages for our mothers on our wedding day!) We were also impressed with the HUGE roots of some of the indigenous trees that towered up to 8 feet from the ground.

While the botanical gardens were good, the highlight of our time in Bogor was our evening meal. We opted for the traditional cuisine of the Western Javanese people. It was an eat with your hands affair. A big bucket of rice was plumped down in front of us and we were able to select our main and side dishes from a menu. This is where it got interesting. One of the dishes that Mark selected was Ayam Peprak (Translation: Extra Super Mega Hot Spicy Chicken with about 2 million hotter than Hades chili peppers thrown in for good measure.) Mark, of course, dived right in.  Heide meanwhile really thought something awful was going to happen. Mark's eyes were watering, the outside of his lips and chin turned a neon red color more frequently seen in Las Vegas and he was completely unresponsive to questions for about 30 minutes. When he finally did come around Mark declared that the dish was actually quite enjoyable, but Heide sampled only the tiniest taste.

Nevertheless, we survived our dinner and were able to take the local economy train to Jakarta the following day. Everyone we've met along this journey has talked poorly of Jarkarta, so we were expecting the worst. As it turned out, we were pleasantly surprised. Sure, Jakarta is a city of contrasts. It's high sky scrapers are surrounded by rubbish piles and slums. Well dressed office workers confront abject poverty as soon as they step out of their air-conditioned offices and onto the streets. There are smells of rot and yuck but there are also the sweet smells of fresh markets and florists. Street vendor carts are on the pavements outside world class restaurants. It's the contrast that makes Jakarta interesting.

We ventured out to the Kota district in a orange three wheeled vehicle with an engine that would have been better equipped to power a hair dryer. Somehow we made it to our destination but not until Mark had taken a massive splash to the face from a bus passing us through a massive rain water puddle. Our goal was to visit the Jakarta History Museum but it was closed for a "holiday." (We're not sure what holiday it was as the post office was open,... but okay....) However, we did get to see the clearly Dutch architecture in Kota which was interesting enough.

From here we'll fly to Singapore where we will rest for a few days before heading overland to Malaysia.