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Published: February 23rd 2021
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Borobudur
One of the highlights of the second half of my trip in Indonesia was Borobudur Fumaroles, Buddhist temples, volcanoes and an abandoned temple
The last thing I wrote about in the
previous blog entry was my visit to Krakatoa Island in Sunda Strait between Java and Sumatra. After that I went back to Java again and slowly made my way towards Bali.
Kawah Domas On the western end of Java is a city named Bandung. North of Bandung there is a volcanic area called Kawah Domas. There used to be several large geysers and boiling pools there. Geysers and pools need water. At some time underground water took a different route and the area became arid. When there is not enough water to sustain geysers they turn into fumaroles. That's what there is to find in this area - fumaroles. The area is huge and there are hundreds of fumaroles there.
Well, Ake likes volcanoes, geysers, fumaroles and pretty much everything else even remotely connected to volcanoes so he loved it at Kawah Domas.
Tangkupan Prahu Tangkupan Prahu is a volcanic crater not far from Kawah Domas. It is somewhat interesting since it has collapsed. But strictly, that is hard to see once you are
Borobudur
Borobudur is the largest Buddhist temple in the world there. It looks like a crater and in it there is a large lake with greenish water.
Kawah Putih Kawah Puti is another crater in the same region. Also this has greenish water in a lake in it.
As you notice, Indonesia has a lot of volcanoes. Some are dormant but there are also quite a few that are very active. Some of the Indonesian volcanoes are also extremely powerful and can have outbreaks of such a magnitude that thousands of people can get killed. Actually, the
volcano Toba had an outbreak around 70,000 years ago that is believed to have threatened the entire human population. Well, when I was in Indonesia I wanted to see a volcanic outbreak myself. That's why I a few days later went to Merapi.
Merapi Merapi is one of the most active volcanoes in Indonesia. And that says a lot because many of the most active volcanoes in the world can be found in Indonesia. I and two other travellers I met on the road arranged for an excursion to see the lava flow from Merapi. We arrived at the viewing point, quite a distance
away from the actual volcano, at night. The volcano can for safety reasons only be viewed from a long distance. Therefore it is best viewed at night. However, this night Merapi was not in the mood. She gave us two little puffs of lava and then no more.
Kaliurang Kaliurang is a hill resort. It was from here we arranged the tour to Merapi. Kaliurang is a nice and quiet place and I found it to be a place worth visiting as it is. When we walked through the town in the evening we found a really cool playground. It was actually closed for the day but we asked the guard at the gate if he could let us in anyway. He was kind enough to do that. It was silly of us, but it was good fun to roam around in the park and play when it was supposed to be closed.
Borobudur One of the highlights of the second half of my trip in Indonesia was
Borobudur, the largest Buddhist temple in the world. Its shape can be described as a truncated pyramid. The temple is covered with thousands of reliefs
Borobudur
Its shape can be described as a truncated pyramid. and several hundred Buddha statues.
When I was in Borobodur I also visited a temple called Kandi Pawon. Kandi Pawon is a small temple which is part of the Borobudur complex even though it is located around one and a half kilometre away from the main temple.
Yogyakarta Many people stop in
Yogyakarta only to change busses in order to get to Borobodur. I decided to stay for a little while because there were two things in Yogyakarta I wanted to see.
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Kraton Ngayogyakarta Hadiningrat: Kraton is the main palace of the Sultan of Yogyakarta. This is an active palace and in use by the current sultan. Though some sections of the palace are open as a museum and can be visited.
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Taman Sari: Taman Sari used to be a kind of recreation palace cum water park for the pleasure of the sultan. It has long been abandoned and today the buildings and the pools are slowly deteriorating. It is best described as a ruin today. But it is quite special because among the crumbling structures and in the courtyards people build houses and huts and make the place their home. It was a
Borobudur
Borobudur is covered with hundreds of stupas each with a Buddha statue in it. very interesting and somewhat surreal experience to visit Taman Sari.
Ubud The last place I visited in Indonesia was the town
Ubud in Bali. When I was there it was a slightly touristy place but had a lot of small town charm. From what I understand it is less charming today and more touristy. Ubud is a good place to stay when visiting Bali. It is possible to visit almost any place in Bali by taking day trips from Ubud. One day I spent travelling to various temples and villages near Ubud. There are plenty of them and they can easily be visited. Many of them are so close to Ubud that they can be visited on bicycle.
One of the more spectacular temples near Ubud is the
Goa Gajah, the Elephant Cave. For a while it was a candidate to be included in the UNESCO world heritage list. But it seems like it didn't fit the criteria because it no longer is a candidate.
I had a great time when I visited Indonesia and I'd love to go there again. It is a large country and there is plenty to see. Hopefully
Borobudur
Borobudur is covered with thousands of reliefs I'll get the chance to go there again one day.
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D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley
Indonesia
The architecture is lovely.