Unseen Bandung: Kampong Party at The Cikapundung River Bank

This is a scene that many visitors to Bandung would not probably see:

Just across the river where I took the fishing photo (see previous post), I saw a small party going on. The party, with dangdut music and dancing, was apparently part of a political campaign held by a candidate of the municipal legislature who sought votes from the slum river bank community in the recently held general elections.

As you can see from the picture, sanitation at densely-populated kampongs along the Cikapundung river is a big environmental issue in Bandung. Open sewer and garbage flow into the river which in turn flows into one of the dirtiest river in the world: The Ciliwung.

Fishing at Cikapundung

Photo caption: a group of men fishing in a makeshift pond set at the bank of the Cikapundung River.

The Cikapundung is the main river that cuts across the city of Bandung from the north to south. It flows and merges with the Citarum, the longest river in West Java, that flows to the Java Sea.

An Electronic Appliance Repairman at Work at Cikapundung Electronic Market

An electronic-appliance repairman at work in his shop at Cikapundung Electronic Market.

Cikapundung Electronic Market at Cikapundung street is a traditional market that specializes in the trades of electronic components and used or second hand electronic appliances. You can also find many repairman's workshops here.

A couple of weeks ago I had to go there to have my old record player repaired. I brought it to this man's shop. In less than 3 hours he fixed it. He did a good job and for a reasonable fee too. I was happy with the result.

Seorang tukang reparasi barang elektronik sedang bekerja di tokonya di Pasar Elektronik Cikapundung. Pasar Elektronik Cikapundung yang terletak di Jalan Cikapundung di pusat kota Bandung adalah pasar yang khusus menjual barang-barang bekas dan komponen ekektronik dan jasa reparasi barang-barang elektronik.

"Kukuyaan" at Cikapundung

If you are not Sundanese, chances are you won't have any idea what 'kukuyaan' means.

'Kukuyaan' is derived from a Sundanese word 'kuya' which means 'turtle'. Hence, 'kukuyaan' means playing turtle. Of course it's not a real turtle that's being played. It's just the name that the Sundanese gives to playing inner tube in the water.



The mass and national record-breaking 'kukuyaan' in these pictures was held last Sunday (19/6/2011) at Cikapundung river as part of the campaign to clean up the river.



Photos were taken by Sudarmanto Edris, a local photographer, and were used with his permission. Thanks Pak Sudarmanto.