hindu temple

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just arrived in jokja. it is much more foriegner-friendly than our previous jaunt in prambanan. there are actually places like internet and laundry service and cafes.

we stopped in prambanan to see a famous hindu temple of the same name. turns out they find a way to rake in $10 from travellers, so we saved the trip for sunrise. we went to find out where the temple is, and it turns out it was right across the street from our guesthouse. i think the town basically exists because of this temple. there is one major road and not much else. we decided we wanted to go get massages (we are all spoiled from thailand) and we enquired at a hotel, and they said they did them there (i felt like such a badass, i was speaking with them all in indonesian) but then it turned out they could only do two at a time, so i went for a walk while the guys got massages. walking on my own, i was approached by people much more. women seemed to feel a need to reach out to me, seemingly baffled by a woman travelling alone. they all asked me if i had friends and where my friends were. perhaps it is really dangerous and i was oblivious. perhaps its just uncommon.

i have found indonesians to be some of the most friendly people i have ever met.

i walked around the park surrounding the temple, and was invited to sit and chat with a man who told me (in english) that his village is nearby, and how 2 years ago an earthquake destroyed much of the city and temples, and they were rebuilding this hindu temple with stones from the ruins of a buddhist temple. odd.

i went back to meet the guys and found that the massages had been terrible, so i opted out of getting one myself. back at the guesthouse we met a japanese guy named do. do told us of a look out point where it would be good to see the sunrise, so the next morning at 4:30, just as the mosques were blaring prayer as people observing ramadan ate before sunrise, we started walking to the lookout.

we made it there for sunrise but it was grey and cloudy and low visibility and unimpressive. we could barely see the temple. so we walked back, and some people tried to charge us $10 for looking off the edge of a hill, so we refused and left. it stank of lies, and as we left we saw them laughing together.

on the way back, we went through a market. the people seemed amazed to see foreigners. most people just go to this town on a day trip, and we were here over night and up at sunrise. they loved that we bought and sampled lots of different snacks and fruits, and loved us even more when we shared what we bought with them.

then, we went to the temple itself, payed our money, and decided that with the grey stone and over-exposed-looking overcast sky, that these temples (which were under construction) were largely unphotogenic, so we tried to amuse ourselves by making funny videos and pictures with funny perspective. we walked around, since there are actually a handful of temples around the area, and saw that here, in this town, in this park of temples, was a herd (?) of deer! like easily 30 or so, just walking around! they are tame enough to eat from your hand. and there are also maybe 15 sheep! so odd! the sheep got nervous when we got near and stamped their front feet as if to scare us off.

anyways, just half an hour bus ride away, we are now in the bustling city of jokjakarta, and i have no idea what to expect next.

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