Bandung, Indonesia

Bandung is the capital of West Java province in Indonesia, and the country's fourth largest city, and 2nd largest metropolitan area, with 7.4 million in 2007. Located 768 m (2,520 ft) above sea level, Bandung has relatively year-around cooler temperature than most other Indonesian cities. The city lies on a river basin and surrounded by volcanic mountains. After the bottle-green hills of the Puncak Pass, the sprawling bulk of Bandung hits you like a baseball bat across the back of the head. Once the ¡®Paris of Java¡¯, the city is now a twisting throng of congested streets and endless suburbs, and any romantic notions of colonial glamour have long disappeared. This is Indonesia¡¯s fourth-largest city and West Java¡¯s capital, and it likes everyone to know it.But not everything has gone to pot. Among the shopping malls and business hotels you¡¯ll find a dynamic, major city that¡¯s on the move. It attracts workers, intellectuals and artisans from across the archipelago, and its industries, bars and restaurants throb with life. Today, grandiose Art Deco buildings, heaving market stalls, becak and multiplexes jostle for space in a city where past, present and future effortlessly coexist. It¡¯s also the centre of Sundanese culture, which plays a supporting role in the city¡¯s identity.