Kawah Putih (White Crater)

Kawah Putih means White Crater, located at South Bandung (West Java). It took about 2,5 hours drive from Bandung. There are several tourism objects near Kawah Putih such as Situ Patengan, Ranca Upas, Strawberry field (that we can pick our own strawberry), so make sure you visit several places when you go to South Bandung, due to it's quite far distance from Bandung.



Before being discovered in 1837, the people who lived around Mt. Patuha believed that the mountain top was a sacred place, haunted by the holy spirits of their ancestors. They would never venture anywhere near the mountain top's forests. A trespass like that would mean bad luck or even death. They also believed that on certain nights these spirits would have a meeting discussing the security and welfare of their people and the conservation of the forests and the natural recources that supported their livelihood.

Kawah Putih can have different color in their lake, because it is covered by an active (fumarolic) volcano which has been dormant since 1600. As such they water is typically acidic, saturated with volcanic gases, and cloudy with a strong greenish color.

Near the entrance gate we can find hut to take a rest. It has a fresh air and in the morning you will feel breeze. Its a rare situation that we can get in the busy & crowded city. Entrance fee is quite cheap, only Rp 3.000 on 2005 (about 30c) for domestic tourist, and another Rp 3.000 for car parking fee. Too bad, it does not have good facilities for tourist such as clean restroom, canteen, tourism information, etc. We hope soon the local government will have more concern to provide world class
tourist attraction.