Sunday, February 8, 2009

Enjoyable Ambarawa

Ambarawa is located in Central Java, Indonesia. It’s about 30 Km south of the Provincial Capital Semarang and 75 Km nort of Yogyakarta (7° 15' 28" South and 110° 24' 19" East) . It’s on the main road between Semarang to Yogyakarta. In Javanese Language, 'Amba' means wide and 'Rawa' means swamp, so Ambarawa means Wide Swamp. It's refers to Lake Rawa Pening.

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There are several tourist spots in Ambarawa such Lake Rawa Pening, Train Museum Ambarawa a.k.a Koening Willem I Spoorweg, Losari Coffee Plantation Resort, Bandungan flower market, Candi Gedung Songo at the hills of Gunung Ungaran, and Fort Willem II.

  1. Lake Rawa Pening. Rawa Pening lake is a good object for those who like photography.
    Rawa Pening in The Morning (http://www.trekearth.com/gallery/Asia/Indonesia/photo805729.htm)
    Rawa Pening in The Morning (http://www.trekearth.com/gallery/Asia/Indonesia/photo805729.htm)

    Sunrise comes out from the other side of the lake and can be seen a simple daily activity from the locals, like fishermen are sailing on their boats early morning before the sunrise to catch the fish. The hills where visitors can see the sunrise named as Bukit Cinta (Love Hills in English).

    Reflection at Rawa Pening (http://www.trekearth.com/gallery/Asia/Indonesia/Java/Jawa_Tengah/Ambarawa/photo628909.htm)
    Reflection at Rawa Pening (http://www.trekearth.com/gallery/Asia/Indonesia/Java/Jawa_Tengah/Ambarawa/photo628909.htm)

  2. Train Museum Ambarawa (formerly named Koening Willem I – open in 1873). The Museum has a collection of old locomotives. The collection in the Ambarawa Museum comprises: Mountain Rail for Tourism, Old telephone, Old Morse telegraph equipments,Old tables, chairs and cupboards, Old bells and signal equipments, 21 locomotives. Visitors can charter the 9 kilometers Ambarawa-Bedono rack-track tourism train with mostly 6% gradient. The train is driven by a steam engine loco which use teak wood as fuel. Local snacks will be served during the tour. Here can be found old steam locomotives and carriages which remains memories nowadays.
    Railway Museum, Ambarawa
    Railway Museum, Ambarawa

    The return trip for the train with the capacity of 90 passengers costs Rp 1,500,000.Motor Lorry for the 5 kilometers Ambarawa-Jambu track is also available for a relatively cheaper fare. For More information you can contact Kantor Daerah Operasi IV PT Kereta Api Indonesia (Indonesian Railway Company, Region IV Office) Jalan Thamrin no. 3, Semarang. Phone 024 - 354 5382 or Museum Kereta Api Ambarawa (Ambarawa Railway Museum)Jalan Setasiun no. 1, Ambarawa. Phone 0298 - 91035.

    http://www.central-java-tourism.com/en/home.php
    http://www.central-java-tourism.com/en/home.php
  3. Losari Coffee Plantation Resort, (http://www.losari.info) at Bedono Station, the train will take you to Losari Coffee Plantation-Resort and Spa. The resort has plenty hectares of coffee plantation. They also plant herb plants in their plantation. Enjoy your lunch while observing the landscape surrounding and enjoying the view of five mountains in its verandah. Stay overnight in this Javanese architectural tranquil resort.
    Losari Coffee Plantation Resort, Ambarawa (www.losari.info)
    Losari Coffee Plantation Resort, Ambarawa (www.losari.info)
  4. Bandungan flower market. It's lies on the edge of Ungaran Mountain at height of 900 m above sea level about 7 km from Ambarawa City, Bandungan Village of Ambarawa Subdistrict. A very nice place to visit, cool, fresh and very close to nature mountainous atmosphere. Horsen touring to view the flowers, vegetables and herb plantation. A traditional market ready to offer various local merchandises, very delicious bean cake (tofu) and fresh bean milk. Hotels, villas, bungalows, open air rest-place, restaurants, fruit market are available here. Bandungan Hill resort with suberp freshair. Visiting the market can be a very enlighr tening experience with friendly faces. At the top of this hill there are many residences as well as resorts.
    Woman selling food for breakfast at Pasar Bandungan, Central Java - Indonesia
    Woman selling food for breakfast at Pasar Bandungan, Central Java - Indonesia

    Few kilometres away, you can visit the vegetation farms on the gradients of the hills, nicely terraced, one can even find tobacco leaves. Bandungan is also the main production area for cut flowers in Central Java. Bandungan produces cut flowers of aster, roses, tagetes, gerbera, dahlia, gladiolus, chrysanthemum, carnation, lily and amaryllis.

    Early morning at Flower Market Bandungan, Central Java - Indonesia
    Early morning at Flower Market Bandungan, Central Java - Indonesia
  5. Candi Gedung Songo, means nine building (temple). It's the eighth century Hindu temples of Gedung Songo scattered along the foothills around Gunung Ungaran. The nine temples are quite simple in their architecture, but the setting offers a superb view of Lake Rawa Pening and the surrounding mountains. Lies 5 km from Bandungan (appr. 15 minutes drive) toward the foot-hills of Ungaran Mountain ,at the height of 1,300-1,500 m above sea level. The Gedong Songo group of nine Hindu temples which was built in the middle of the 9th century,songo means nine. Visitors can enjoy the fresh air with mountain view including many more attraction here such as camping ground,hot water bathing, horse ride and hotel.
    Kedung Songo Temple
    Kedung Songo Temple
  6. Fort Willem II. It is built by the Dutch. Between 1942-1946 the Japanese used it as a camp for the Dutch men, women and children. Now, the Indonesian military use it, and there is also a military prison for men inside a part of the big building. Another part is still used as houses, some families live here. There is a big gate around it. You have to go to the backside if you want to see the inside and talk to the guards first.
    Fort Willem II, Ambarawa
    Fort Willem II, Ambarawa

Ambarawa is easily accessible from either Yogyakarta (about 2 hours by car, or 3 hours by bus) or Semarang. The roads are paved and smooth — except for the one linking Ambarawa to the complex, which is steep and rather narrow. A variety of accommodation and transportation are available.

For visitor from Jakarta, Capital City of Indonesia, they can take airplane to Semarang , by train or by Bus. If you use airplane, there are a lot of airplane company that can be choose, Garuda Indonesia, Mandala, Batavia, Sriwijaya, and Lion. If they like to travel by lain, they can use executive class train like Argo Muria, Argo Sindoro, Argo Bromo Anggrek, and Sembrani or very VIP Bus like Raya Bus Company, Kramat Jati Bus Company, and Nusantara Bus Company.

Travel agents in Semarang, Solo or Yogyakarta will be able to organise private transport (car or minibus) to get you there (travel times will be about 1 hour, 2 hours or 2½ hours respectively). Long distance buses between Yogyakarta and Semarang go through the town - if you get off opposite the military museum south of the town centre, it is 5/10 minutes walk down the hill to the museum. Coming by bus from Solo, you need to get down at the small bus station at Bawen at the major road junction north of Ambarawa and transfer to a Yogyakarta bus or one of the small local buses.

The bus from Semarang to Ambarawa (40 km) takes one hour. Yogyakarta to Ambarawa (90 km) via Magelang requires about three hours. Ambarawa is a good embarkation point for Wonosobo and the Dieng Plateau. Six to eight buses a day connect Ambarawa-Wonosobo-Purwokerto, or you can take a bus heading for Yogyakarta until Secang, then transfer to a bus to Wonosobo. In all, the Ambarawa-Wonosobo route takes about two hours.

There are small local hotels in Ambarawa whose rates range from Rp 200,000 for a single to Rp 900,000 for a three-bedroom villa. The rates may increase 30 percent over weekends and public holidays, but visitors are recommended to travel up to the nearby hill resort of Bandungan (there are regular minibuses taking just 10 minutes for those without their own transport) where there is accommodation to suit every pocket and good restaurants. However, try to avoid Bandungan at weekends (and school holidays, particularly in June/early July) when it gets very crowded with Indonesian tourists. During the week and out of season it is almost deserted except for local people attending the large fruit, vegetable and flower markets.

Here some of recomended hotel that you can use:

  1. Hotel Nugraha Wisata. Bandungan. Phone (0298) 711150/711501-Fax. (0298) 711499. email : rsv_nw@nugraha-hotel.com.website: www.nugraha-wisata.nugraha-hotel.com
  2. Novotel Semarang Hotel. Jl. Pemuda 123, Semarang. Phone (024)3563000
  3. Losari Coffee Plantation Resort and Spa: Jln. Losari-Kragan, Magelang, www.losari.info, Tel: +62298-596333

The conventional time to visit Ambarawa is during the drier season which runs between May and September. As stated above it is best to avoid weekends and the school holidays. The best time is usually mid-week from mid-July through to the end of September. Even during the rainy season, it does not rain continuously! So, let's Enjoy Ambarawa!!!

4 comments:

It looks incredible. What beautiful pictures!! I can see myself visiting.

For some reason many of the pictures did not show, such as Rawa Pening, Railway Museum, and Kedung Songo Temple.

It would be nice if this problem can be fixed.

Thanks from Canada

terima kasih banyak untuk berbagi informasi, Semoga Tuhan memberikan yang terbaik buat Kita Semua

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