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Blogs from Borobudur, Java, Indonesia, Asia
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March 19th 2013
Early Monday morning, we boarded our flight from Denpasar to Central Java on Lion Air. Finally. The Borobudur. I could almost touch it. Our flight was fairly short and as we landed in Jogja and stepped into another world again. Java is another world so it seemed to me. With Mount Merapi hovering in the distance, the beautiful Call to Prayer sounding off in the background....Bali seemed so "far away" when we landed in Yogyakarta. The humidity was extremely high (as usual) so we decided to check into to our hotel and relax the remainder of the afternoon. We stayed at a decent hotel near the Sultan's Palace. The accommodations were good for the price and the staff were extremely friendly. Apparently, there are lots of students in this city and it's apparent with all the ... read more
January 12th 2013
Up at the crack of dawn for a 5am pick-up from my Yogyakarta hotel. I booked a tour for the temples and it takes 8 hours, but for the hassles it saves me, it's worth every penny. I know one friend who did it himself and he missed the last bus or it didn't exist... it took a long time to get back. He wasn't sure he'd make it that night. We got to Borobudur at 6am just after sunrise. It's a 9th century Buddhist temple. A group of 4 of us opted to hire a guide for 75000 R and it was money well spent. Our guide, Fatah, was fantastic. He had a lot of info and could explain things well, plus he was engaging and funny. As a child, he grew up near the ... read more
July 15th 2012
Vandaag moesten we vroeg opstaan omdat onze chauffeur ons zou komen ophalen bij het hotel. Door een foutje met de wekker stond ik al om 2.30 uur onder de douche en was Lisa al bijna omgekleed, toen Joyce opmerkte dat er ergens iets fout was. Snel terug in bed en proberen weer te slapen. Een paar uur later werden we dan wel op tijd wakker en na het ontbijt en uitchecken werden we opgehaald bij os hotel. Na ong. een uurtje rijden kwamen we aan bij de Borobudur, waarvan gezegd wordt het 8e wereldwonder. Het is de grootste boedhistische tempel ter wereld. Zoals we hadden gelezen is dit echt indrukwekkend om hier op te klimmen en door heen te lopen. Enige 'probleem' is dat we weet ik hoe vaak gevraagd werden om op de foto te ... read more
Borobudur, Prambanan, Jogja & a whole lot more
Published: July 8th 2012Asia » Indonesia » Java » Borobudur
July 9th 2012
Borobudur& Prambanan is easy tourism. Fly to Yogyakarta (Jogja, the cultural capital of Indonesia), take a cab to respective temples an hour each from the city & voila! Another note to self was supposed to be "do not forget your indonesian I card" cuz the diff between entrance fees for residents vs foreigner is 30,000 rp vs 180,000 rp! Oh boy, that was sheer stupidity! After a few snarls from the husband (who WAS carrying his "KTP") shelling out money for one cheap and one expensive ticket, we entered the gates are 6.30 am. There were plans to take the sunrise tour, ie land there at 4.30 am & be one of the few to be allowed inside before the gates officially open at 6 am, but those plans went down the drain after a "pleasant" ... read more
July 9th 2012
Our first stop in Indonesia is Yogyakarta, once we got off the plane we decided to take the 1a public bus to our guesthouse, Bladok Losmen on Sasrowijayan just off of Malioboro. It seemed easy enough and definitely cheaper than taking a taxi! However, it was really hot carrying our backpack's and the bus was packed to the brim. We missed our stop by about 1.5km which meant we had to fight our way back up the street of Malioboro; one side is mostly food stalls (or warung) and the other side is mostly shops that sell everything from bracelets and watches to handcrafted wood art and batik clothing. It seems this is not only a great place for backpackers and travellers but also a hot spot for Indonesian vacations so the streets are always packed. ... read more
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June 5th 2012
Borobudur was de eerste grote tempel dat we bezochten in Midden Java. We hadden niet echt een idee wat we van een boedhistische tempel mochten verwachten. In de LP staat er info maar geen foto's, dus we waren echt nieuwschierig naar de tempel. In gans de stad Jogja kan je tours boeken. De meeste beginnen vanaf 50.000 RP zonder toegangsticket. Dus je betaalt eigenlijk gewoon je vervoer. Aangezien wij niet van tours houden en liever op ons eentje alles verkennen namen we het openbaar vervoer. We moesten 3 keer overstappen van bus! In JL (Jalan) Malioboro neem je de bus Transjogja 2A (3000 RP) tot Jombor station en daar neem je dan een locale bus van een privémaatschappij. We betaalden 40.000 voor ons 2. Achteraf hebben we dan gehoord dat je eigenlijk kon afdingen en dat ... read more
March 2nd 2012
Bislang war es abgesehen von etwas viel Regen immer sehr warm und sonnig. Bis heute. Wir fahren auf das Dieng-Plateau, welches auch Wohnsitz der Götter genannt wird. Es liegt knapp über 2.000 Meter hoch und hier herrscht göttliche Unordnung: viel Wind, viel Regen und fast überall stinkt es nach Schwefel. Und trotzdem ist es irgendwie schön, wie sich die Reisterrassen um die Hügel schmiegen, sich türkisblaue Seen in Tälern finden, dampfende Erdspalten auftun, Schlammpfützen im Vulkankrater vor sich hin blubbern und hier und da ein alter Tempel den Wegesrand säumt. Leider hat der Mensch hier die Wälder bis auf wenige Reste abgeholzt, angelegte Felder rutschen überall von den Hängen, Hütten stehen am Abgrund - Bodenerosion erster Güte. Und damit das Ganze nicht so auffällt, deckt er die kahlen Stellen einfach mit allem Müll zu, den er ... read more
February 12th 2012
JAVAN MASSAGE. A massage is like a haircut...one of those things you need to do regularly...but often wait until you really need it...like when your hair is suddenly unruly...and it affects your wellbeing...muscles or hair knotted. And like a haircut...similar but different techniques...each time a new experience...result subjective. There we were at Pondok Tinggal... traditional Javanese style digs...in the village of Borobudur ...an oasis...a place for me to battle the wickedness of the World that had attacked my gut...a place to recover. Let me be clear...I'm no wimp...I'm a tough old rooster...never keep a good man down. But when its raining non-stop...no afternoon shower and fine up this day...no rush...got two more days here...might as well smell the flowers...and do as little as possible. So when Bari...the waiter...when serving iced strawberry jui... read more
February 7th 2012
BOROBUDUR: Universe on Earth. To reach enlightenment at Borobudur...claims to be the largest temple in the World... the largest Buddhist...the Universe on Earth...the pilgrim must cross a river...wading in waist deep water...visit a small temple...wade across a 2nd river...2nd temple...then Borobudur...the object of the quest. On entering the temple site...a ritual is to be followed. I had travelled from the land of Oz...but a few hours away...I knew I had problems...would I achieve my quest? The wading seemed out of the question..! On leaving Candi Sewu (see Previous blog), the only vendor within coo-ee, ...cold drinks...we sweating profusely...faces red as...iced tea for Den & Joe...Bintang for me...pulled from icy water under one of the piles of carved stones...I need this. This was only my second beer in Java...don't tell Cockle...but it ended up being my last. ... read more
July 8th 2011
I woke up at 5am to see the sunrise at Borobudur. Talked to a med school student from Poland while we waited for the park to open. I headed to the temple as the sun was already rising. Took some great pictures of the sunrise. I expect to post all of the pictures so far on the 18/19th when i do my dive course. I wandered around the temple. It is situated in a valley flanked by several volcanoes including the large active Gunung Merapi which erupted in 2006 devastating the region. Once done i headed for Jogja by public bus. I met a dutch couple on the bus who we worked together to get to the train station in town near where all the accommodation was. They bought a ticket and i was about to ... read more
