The town lies on the outskirts of Garut, 75 kilometres southeast of Bandung, and the area was a favoured hill retreat of the Dutch colonial elite. It’s still popular with local tourists, but the resort itself has a somewhat tawdry, downmarket vibe.

The surrounding area however, offers beautiful mountain scenery, active volcanos, ancient ruins, traditional villages and some good hiking opportunities and thus makes a worthwhile stopover between Bandung and Pangandaran or a slight detour from Bandung to Yogyakarta.

Cipanas literally translates as hot water or hot river in the local Sudanese language, and hot water is everywhere—you can sometimes even see it steaming in the drains in the street although it’s a little disconcerting to have hot steaming water in the toilet bowl.

In Cipanas, it is the hot water that entices the punters into the rather ordinary resorts and hotels, as most pump the therapeutic spring water directly into their bathrooms and some have swimming pools filled with the restorative waters. The warm water is very relaxing and hard to resist, which makes it easy to forgive some of the below average facilities, and offers the perfect antidote to ease weary muscles after hiking one of the nearby ... Travelfish members only (Full text is around 600 words.)