Tangkuban Perahu

Tangkuban Perahu means upturned boat, and the elongated flat-topped profile is the reason - the Sundanese legend of Sangkuriang has a rejected suitor kicking over the boat he had been building, which becomes the mountain. It stands at just over two thousand metres north of Bandung with a road running almost to the rim, which makes it one of the most accessible active volcanoes anywhere and accounts for the crowds and the stalls. Kawah Ratu, the main crater, is a broad grey bowl with sulphur vents; Kawah Domas below can be walked into, with boiling pools where visitors cook eggs. It erupted in 2019, throwing ash over the car park area, and access closes when the alert level rises. Sulphur gas accumulates in hollows and can be dangerous.

History

The volcano erupted in 1826, 1829, 1842, 1846, 1896, 1910, 1926, 1929, 1952, 1957, 1961, 1965, 1967, 1969, 1983, 2013 and 2019, and a study of 2001 found that it had erupted at least 30 times in the previous 40,750 years (Wikipedia, Tangkuban Perahu).

Highlights

• A drive-up crater rim - the road running almost to the edge of Kawah Ratu.
• Kawah Domas - the lower crater with boiling pools, walked into.
• Sulphur vents - fumaroles and yellow deposits across the grey bowl.
• The upturned boat profile - the shape the Sundanese legend explains.

When to go

May to September; early morning before cloud and crowds. Half a day.

Good to know

It closes on volcanic alerts and erupted as recently as 2019. Sulphur gas in hollows is genuinely dangerous. Foreign entry prices are several times the domestic rate. Stalls and touts are relentless.

Nearby

Lembang and Bandung are south; the Ciater hot springs are east.

Key facts