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Published: January 9th 2017
Let's get spiritual, spiritual, I wanna be spiritual, let me hear your ....... Oops. I was going all Olivia Newton John on myself chasing down a few temples in Java.
Islam may be the king pin religion here (in fact Indonesia is the largest Muslim nation on the onion) but a few of the other faiths still get a minor guernsey. The surprise is, given the at best boutique following of Hinduism and Buddhism on Java, the world's two largest relics paying homage to both faiths sit on the outskirts of Yogyakarta.
Prambanan and Borobodur are a mere 20 and 40 clicks respectively from Yogya's CBD and their UNESCO listings had me firing up the Nikon, more so with the brochure descriptions of especially Borobudur:
"Dating back well over a millennia. 9 levels. Thousands of intricate reliefs. Hundreds of Buddhas all in their most reverent zen poses, many of whom are tucked inside buffed-up stupas". All this hemmed in by brooding mountains, verdant rice paddies and cloaked in the type of clamorous jungle that looks as if it houses a hundred unknown diseases and a cure for hundreds more.
Sounds ethereal? Yep, but that's the good news.
Whinge warning: here's the catch.
(1) Stroll up to the main gate and you will first need to run the gauntlet of the bottom feeders in tourism. Hawkers will do their annoying best to eke some rupiahs pedalling all manner of Borobudur kitsch - plastic Buddha heads, fake stone stupas etc. Put your head down and charge for the ticket office. On exiting a few hours later, you are corralled into a 1klm maze of rustic shops selling much the same junk. I really didn't know I needed that "I heart Borobudur t-shirt or temple snow shaker. When you finally emerge that maze a little worse for wear, here come the bottom feeders again on the attack for their last stand.
(2) Opening hours/closing hours don't correspond with sunrise/sunset. In order to incorporate those ambient moments you will need to enter via a separate entrance at the Manohara Hotel. That is of course if you are prepared to fess up the additional $20 for that extra hour at either end of the day. No multiple entries. It's scissors paper rocks to choose sunrise or sunset and hope the clear sky gods are smiling down on you. Now that
$20 is on top of:
(3) The official price tag, grossly over inflated at $25. I know this hardly breaks the bank but neither Prambanan nor Borobudur compete on any level with Petra, Macchu Picchu, Giza, Angkor or Tikal. Yet they suck the plastic fantastic at similar levels. What really grates is that foreigners pay 8 times the locals. Not as brazen as The Taj where the Indians charge over 20 times the admission fee but still it doesn't really add up.
(4) At least that very reasonable fee encourages Indonesians to visit and come they do, in droves. That's all fine, you know, for the people and all. But, jostling elbow to elbow with thousands can spoil the illusion. More so when:
(5) The majority are screaming school students none of whom are paying any bloody attention to what they are supposed to be visiting. Virtually all of them race to the top of the 9 levels and then begin a modern day ritual that is one of those things in life I JUST DON'T GET:
(6) THE SELFIE. Has a generation ever wasted so much time and energy recording themselves doing nothing? I would
not be exaggerating to claim that at any one instant, 50 plus of them were staring down the barrel of their particular device, blissfully oblivious to the surroundings. With a hundred or so selfie sticks pointing skywards the whole scene resembled a troup of lemurs (yes I googled that one) prancing around with their vertical tails wavering in unison. Penny and I sat there at one stage for 30 minutes as 2 young ladies adjusted hairstyles - CLICK. Puckered-up CLICK. Altered outfits CLICK. And on it went, all in front of the same chunk of rock. They may as well have been in a studio in front of a cardboard cutout of the same rock. Are we that far out of touch with younger generations that we are left scratching our heads over this phenomenon? Please let me know, I can take it.
(7)What makes it worse, hang my head in shame, is that I was complicit in the behaviour pattern. Dozens of these students would saunter up and ask for a selfie with me. A near 60 year old complete stranger who happened to hail fro another land. "Hey, look who I met for 10 seconds at Borobudur,
some old geezer from I don't know where". I could have said no but ever the master of international relations ...... Penny on the other hand refused to lower herself to the indignity. "Move on, nothing to see here".
The mind boggles.
Have I discouraged you enough from visiting Prambanan and Borobudur? I hope not. That isn't the point. To re-encourage you, throw these ideas into your travel plan:
No whistle stops. Most visit Borobudur as a day trip from Yogya - 1 hour drive in, 1 hour on the grounds and 1 hour drive out. Do yourself a favour and hunker down for a couple of nights. This allows you first to assess the weather for either the early or late visit. When I say early/late, make that 6am sparrow fart or tough it out in the evening til shutters down at 5pm. Weather, light and crowds are more palatable. Better still, bite the bullet and fess up that extra $20. The skies may not co-operate but you will have bought an hour of "YOU" time.
Another escape the mob plan is to do laps of each level. The masses scale the main staircase straight
up and spend all their time on the top 2 tiers before descending in the opposite direction. You will be surprised how few people venture away from the main stairway. So do a lap of each strata for a hit of cathedral silence.
The surrounding areas also warrant some exploring. Grab a bike and pedal from village to village, all nestled among the rice paddies. At the end of the day, plonk yourself on the balcony with your beverage of choice in hand. Gaze over the rice paddies, muster your best rain dance and if that works the heavens will open. Millions of frogs clear their throats for the night just as the Muslim call to prayer wails across the paddies from all directions. Frogs and Islam, together at last. It may sound raucous but for us it was a seminal travel experience.
AND, if possible, try and mosey on down on a non-school day. Enough said.
So that's Borobdur and Prambanan. It's possible to access your spiritual inner self but it may take a smoke and dagger battle plan. Good luck.
More images at:
www.colvinyeates.zenfolio.com
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Nick
non-member comment
Yes, you are out-of-touch
Hi P& G! Nice story from deep-Indo! It may be an exotic place, but when you mix teenage school group and ancient spiritual surrounds, then the outcome is generally a mix of hormones and selfies; forget the grandeur, miss the iconic, the beauty,... but check yourself in the mirror! To be young and stupid. Cheers, N.