Located 300m above sea level and just an hour's train journey south of Jakarta, Bogor enjoys a cool, wet climate - the Guinness Book of Records notes the city for the "most days per year with thunder" - and famously lush Botanical Garden, which were founded by Sir Stamford Raffles in 1811. In the gardens, pathways wind between towering bamboo stands, climbing, bougainvillea, a small tropical rainforest, and ponds full of water lilies and fountains. Perhaps the garden's best-known occupants are the giant rafflesia and bungu bangkai, two of the world's hugest (and smelliest) flowers.

Near the gardens' main entrance, the rather dilapidated Soological Museum house some 30.000 specimens, including a complete skeleton of a blue whale, a stuffed Javan rhino and a Komodo dragon. Wayang golek puppets are made at a workshop to the northeast of the gardens ; ask for Pak Dase's place. If you're interested in gamelan and Javanese gongs, visit Pak Sukarna's factory on Jalan Pancasan to the southwest of the gardens. Here the instruments are forged using traditional methods, and are also for sale.