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Published: November 18th 2006
Gunung Merapi
...what a pre-historic shot!!Java's Two Major temples
There was a unsubtle knock on the door at 5am by the bloke we hired to take us to Borobudur (the largest Buddhist temple in Indonesia), and Prambanan (the largest Hindu complex in Java)...
Twenty minutes later we were racing trough the streets of Yogya narrowly missing motorcyclists (sometimes four people on one moped!), stalls, animals, etc.. Towering on our right was Gunung Merapi, a MASSIVE, and very active volcano.
Few of South East Asia's volcanoes are as evocative, or as destructive as Gunung Merapi - which has been erupting continually for decades. the last eruption was in July this year..ekk! At 2911m, this monster volcano looms over the surrounding plains, Yogyakarta, Borobudur & Prambanan. It makes for a great picture too!
Borobudur
Like Angkor Wot in Cambodia, Java's Borobudur makes the rest of South East Asia's spectacular sites seem cruddy. Soaring over a patch work of green paddy fields, swaying palm trees, and huge active volcanoes this Buddhist relic is pretty damn cool. It has survived terrorist bombs, Gunung Merapi's lava/ash flows, and worst of all, billions of flip flops!
It was built 1200 years ago using two million blocks
of stone, many of which were hand carved to make slotted 'jigsaw' pieces that would withstand strong earthquakes - which are also very frequent in Java.
Our hired guide told us that although Borobudur is impressive for its sheer bulk, the delicate sculptural work is exquisite. There were 1460 stone carved panels which portray a virtual textbook of Buddhism, history of the Buddhism, and the big man himself...Buddha
Prambanan
An hours drive east were the temples at Prambanan village, these are the best examples of Java's early Hindu development. Not only was it the largest Hindu temple in Java, but apparently the wealth of sculpture detail on the 'Great Shiva Temple' makes it easily the best example of Hindu art...I actually prefer those 60's grey office blocks in Bristol...oh well!!
Prambanan was built in the ninth century, about 50 years before Borobudur. But little is known about its history...so i'll stop there!
Unfortunately for us, and evidently the temples, Prambanan had almost been completely crumpled by the huge earthquake that hit in June this year! It
was sad to see the remains of this ancient relic in pieces - after surviving for over 1000 years! Unlike Borobudur, Prambanan did not have the multi-sided 'jigsaw' stone, this being the reason it collapsed.
Prambanan is the visual proof of Java's turbulent and naturally destructive phenomenon's. When a monster volcano is not erupting, a huge earthquake hits, if not another tsunami hits....their last tsunami was also in July this year on the South coast...killing 600!!
If that isn't bad enough, the Bali blombs have obliterated the (what little) tourism industry they had. A great example would be that outside each temple are masses of market stalls, presumably to sell to its visitors. When we arrived the locals swarmed us, begging us to look in their stall, as they only have (literally) a handfull of tourists a day! Many tourists that come are Eastern, people from Java, who can't afford to be buying t-shirts saying: "F**k Terrorists"!! We did our bit by purchasing a bamboo hat, two postcards, and a small tacky Budda... It cost us ten times the price to send it home!
The temples were both fascinating, as were Gunung Merapi. It was a
proper doo!
Love to All
Nick & Ally
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Gran & Granpy
non-member comment
Marvellous
Hi Nick & Ally We are so impressed and proud of everything you have done. Looking forward to the next but more importantly seeing you in 4 months.