Bandung
Where Twenty Nine Newly Independent Asian And African States Met In 1955 And The Non Aligned Movement Began; Also One Of The Largest Collections Of Tropical Art Deco In The World · Bandung, West Java
IN APRIL 1955, TWENTY-NINE NEWLY INDEPENDENT ASIAN AND AFRICAN STATES MET IN A BUILDING ON BRAGA STREET - Nehru, Zhou Enlai, Nasser, Sukarno - and declared that they would not line up behind either superpower. THE BANDUNG CONFERENCE IS WHERE THE NON-ALIGNED MOVEMENT BEGAN, and for much of the decolonising world it is one of the most significant meetings of the twentieth century. The hall is now the ASIAN-AFRICAN MUSEUM and is free. THE OTHER BANDUNG IS ARCHITECTURAL. The Dutch planned to move their colonial capital here and built accordingly: the city holds ONE OF THE LARGEST CONCENTRATIONS OF 1920s AND 30s TROPICAL ART DECO ANYWHERE - Villa Isola, the Savoy Homann, the vast Gedung Sate - which is why it was called Paris van Java. It sits at seven hundred metres, is genuinely cool, eats extremely well, and empties of Jakarta every weekend - which is the single most useful thing to know before booking.
Bandung, West Java, Bandung, West Java, Indonesia
BANDUNG IS A CITY OF TWO AND A HALF MILLION AND IS ALWAYS OPEN. THE ASIAN-AFRICAN MUSEUM in the Gedung Merdeka keeps daytime hours, is FREE, and CLOSES ON MONDAYS. GEDUNG SATE, the provincial government building, has a small museum and a viewing level. VILLA ISOLA is part of a university campus and is viewed from outside. BRAGA STREET runs day and night. THE WEEKEND TRAFFIC IS SEVERE - Jakarta empties into Bandung on Friday evening and the toll road and the city centre both seize up, so COME ON A WEEKDAY IF YOU POSSIBLY CAN. Tangkuban Perahu and Kawah Putih are the standard day trips, an hour and a half to two hours out in opposite directions. Trains from Jakarta take about three hours and beat the road comfortably.