BOTANICAL GARDEN (KEBUN RAYA BOGOR)

A magnificent, well-kept garden, a place for leisure, walks and meditation: Sunday picnics with the whole family, admiring the beautiful fruits and intoxicating the fragrant woods and aromatic essences. This vast 87-hectare park is home to over 15,000 species of tree and more than 5,000 varieties of orchid. Bogor has remained true to its vocation and today boasts no fewer than 17 botanical research institutes, although a closer look (from the suspension bridges, for example) reveals a certain abundance of garbage in the river. However, the thousands of different plants and flowers are definitely worth the detour. In particular, the rafflesia, the largest flower in the world. You have to be very lucky, however, as you can't predict its bloom or its location. You have to flush it out like a mushroom, except that it measures up to 1 m in diameter and can weigh up to 10 kg!

To the north-west of the park is the Presidential Palace (Istana Bogor), once (1870-1942) the summer residence of the Governor General of Java, now the President of Indonesia. It can be visited by appointment at the tourist office. You'll need to book well in advance. This palace was the residence of the Dutch Governors General. Today, it houses the art collections of Sukarno, who liked to rest here. Some will tell you that the ghost of the former president can sometimes be seen riding around in his Rolls!

At the north-east corner of the park, the orchid garden (Rumah Anggrek, closed from 4pm) boasts a superb collection. And don't forget to take a look at the beautiful collection of bamboos and cacti.

The zoological museum appears to have remained unchanged since the departure of the Dutch in 1949. The collections include stuffed animals and a gigantic skeleton of a whale that washed up on the Javanese coast.

Among the rocks on an embankment, you can also admire a Hindu statue of the Nandi cow, probably 600 years old. Some guides would have tourists believe that it was discovered in the river that runs through the garden, the Ciliwung, and thus confirms the location of the ancient Hindu capital of the Pajajaran kingdom. Others will tell you that it's a good joke and that the statue comes from an Indonesian museum.