T

he first day of the Bogor Presidential Palace tour for the public on Monday drew some 2,100 tourists from the city and beyond, as they made the most of the rare opportunity to take a closer look inside the presidential palace.

The visitors seemed enthusiastic to be able to enter the palace, built in 1744 by the Dutch, as they marched in a group from the nearby City Council to the palace gate.

As they passed through the gate, palace officers and students wearing flag-hoisting uniforms welcomed them and guided them around several rooms while expounding on the interesting historical references of each room.

"This used to be the working room of Sukarno *the country's first president*. Ninety percent of the interior remains the same as it was back then," one of the guides told visitors while showing a room in the palace's main building.

The visitors, some of them high school students, were then taken on a tour of other rooms in the main building, including the Teratai reception room, Sukarno's private library, and the Garuda room, where several key national and international meetings took place.

"The Bogor Presidential Palace is unique for its *Thousand Mirrors'. We have five presidential palaces nationwide, but you can only find the mirror here," said another tour guide, pointing out a pair of large mirrors in the main building's corridor heading to the Garuda room.

The tour was the first such experience for most visitors, as the palace opens to the public only once a year, in observance of Bogor's anniversary. This is the sixth year the city administration has opened the palace to the public.

"I'm excited about this tour because this is my first time inside the palace, although I live in this city," said Pakuan University student Husnul.

Risa and Zagi, both 12th-graders, said they joined the tour to see what was inside the palace, which had so far remained inaccessible to them.

"We can learn more about the historical side of the palace, and it makes us proud to be Bogor residents," Zagi said.

The three visitors said they hoped the palace would be open to the public more frequently, and not just on the city's anniversary.

Although visitors enjoyed the tour, some complained that it was too brief and fell short of information.

Around 23,000 more people, who reserved a place on the tour with the city administration between May 7 and May 16, are now waiting their turns to step inside the palace.

Sumantri, a PR officer with the city administration, said the program could accommodate around 3,000 visitors per day through 10 tours every 30 minutes, starting at 8:30 a.m. and running until 1 p.m. All tours embark from the nearby City Council building.