Trip to Puncak

A day trip to Puncak, a popular spot renowned for its tea plantations.  The Jakarta traffic situation means we have to leave the house by 06.30 to have half a hope of getting there!

It was worth the effort though:

Overall landscape smothered in Tea

Hard to believe people add hot water to this and drink it!

When we left the tea plantations we had a choice:  we could either continue up the mountain, or we could sit in the traffic waiting for the road to open!  Yip, for some reason the police close the road in one direction or the other depending upon the time of day - why?  No idea - perhaps if left to its own devices traffic would flow freely which really isn't in keeping with the spirit!

So we decided to head further up the mountain.  Our driver suggested we visit "Taman Bunga Nusantara" [Indonesian Flower Garden], so that's where we head.

Along the way we pass a puzzling sight.  This gentleman seems to have decided the best place for him to sit is in the middle of the road?  What the?

Perfect place to set up your seat! err...

Eventually we arrive to Taman Bunga Nusantara:

Indonesia seems to love big impressive monuments - unfortunately maintenance is not on the agenda

 The gardens are a pleasant walk but the heat becomes unbearable and we're forced to seek the cool of the car's AC.  But not before trying a cooling ice mint coffee.  Expecting a bottle or can, we're a little alarmed when the sales assistant proceeds to boil a kettle and make an instant coffee!  This is added to a mixer and blended with ice and some flavour satchels.
Poor quality coffee, artificial mint flavour and overly sweetened (like most drinks in Jakarta).  The result was, erm, interesting.