About Tasikmalaya

Tasikmalaya is by locals considered as a small city, although it has a population of over 700,000. The city is well known for its abundance of Islamic boarding schools.

The city is very Islamic in general. The percentage of muslim population here is even higher than in other indonesian cities and the government is strictly following the rules of Islam. Therefore Tasikmalaya does not have any kind of nightlife at all.

Tasikmalaya is not a very popular destination for tourists, although there are occasionally some foreigners here to go to one of the city's universities.

My experiences in Tasikmalaya

I don't know exactly why I went to Tasikmalaya. It's not really a place, that is often visited by tourists. However that kind of made me want to go there. Also the train I had to take to get to the east of Java stops there, so I figured, that I might as well just go there.

That was actually a pretty dumb decision. Tasikmalaya (or Tasik how the locals call it) doesn't really have much to offer to visitors on first sight.

However, I got really lucky when a random guy saw me sitting at the side of the street and invited me for a coffee to his friends coffee shop. I agreed and we started talking about my journey, Tasik, Indonesia, politics, life in general and so many more things. After we were done drinking coffee, we headed to a bigger coffee shop, where Tasikmalaya's creative scene meets every evening. In other words 20 or so people who all work in the creative industry are in one huge and really cool friend group, to which I now got introduced.

I couldn't really believe my luck. Everyone was so kind and welcoming and we had some really nice conversations, where I could learn a lot about Indonesian culture. Later that evening we had some traditional Javanese food together. Not only was it incredibly tasty, I was also so happy to have this cultural experience (having dinner together is an important part of Javanese culture).

I went to bed late and tired but also very happy that night. We had also already made plans to head out early the next morning to a nearby bridge from the colonial era. So we got up the next morning at around 6am and went there. The bridge is actually really interesting, not only because it is so old, but also because it consists of 2 stories. The lower one is for scooters and the higher one is for the train. I even had the opportunity to cross the bridge on the back of a scooter and it was pretty scary. Not only is the steel really rusty after about 200 years, the floor also consists only of loose wooden planks, that move when you drive over them.

After we had seen enough of the bridge, unfortunately we had to drop off some of my new friends, because they had to work. We still managed to get some lunch before though. While the others were working, I got to see a clothing factory in action, because one of the guys from the friend group hired the factory to produce clothes for him. For me it was really interesting to see how and in what kind of environment the people work in Indonesia compared to Germany. In the evening the others were luckily done with work and we could head out to a nearby volcano called Galunggung. I was really happy to go there, because I had already planed to hike this mountain, but I did not know how to get there. After seeing a stunning sunset near the crater and taking some pictures, we headed back to the coffee shop.

Unfortunately that was already my last night in Tasikmalaya. Nonetheless I had some really great time. I was provided with free coffee, stories and legends, a lot of cultural knowledge and some good music. To top off the evening, I was shown around the biggest mosque in Tasikmalaya. That was quite the experience, because I don't really have a lot of experiences with Muslim culture in Germany. After saying goodbye to everyone, I got dropped off at my Guesthouse, which concludes all the interesting events in Tasikmalaya.

I have to mention though, that I am incredibly grateful for all the cool things I could experience and all the nice things I could see and eat during my stay in Tasikmalaya with all of these super welcoming and helpful people I met.

What to do in Tasikmalaya

To be honest, this city really does not have too many things to offer. Some of my favorites where

• Hiking the Galunggung volcano
• Visiting the Jembatan Kereta Cirahong bridge
• Checking out some of the local parks and monuments
• Visiting the city's biggest Mosque

Most importantly though, what I enjoyed most was talking to the locals. However, this is obviously not something you can plan in advance.

Conclusion

For me, my stay in Tasikmalaya was one of the best on my trip so far. It was also one where I learned and saw a lot. However, I was really lucky and don't know if every visitor will have such a nice experience. There are no other tourists to do stuff with and you have to rely on hospitality of the locals (which worked for me). I would definitely recommend going to Tasikmalaya but not for too long and ideally also don't set your expectations too high, that way you will feel happier, when everything does work out.