Blogs from Prambanan, Java, Indonesia, Asia

A gust of cool wind brings a respite to the early afternoon heat. I squint into the sun at the sign that should tell me I’ve reached my destination. Then a young Indonesian man asks me in the local language, which I answer with nothing but a clueless look, slightly slack-jawed. “I’m sorry, I don’t speak Indonesian,” I tell him. “Oh, where are you from?” he asks again. “The Philippines.” “Ah! But you look like an Indonesian.” I learn that it’s a conversation I’m going to get a lot here. As for now, I’m trying to withstand the heat while trying not to get lost. The man was asking if I would like to ride his ojek (motorbike taxi) to Prambanan. I tell him I can walk but will appreciate it if he can tell me ... read more

Von Yogyakarta aus nehmen wir das Angebot einer der tausend Reiseagenturen in Anspruch und lassen uns, gemeinsam mit anderen Touristen, zur Tempelanlage Prambanan bringen. Die große Parkanlage gleicht mehr einem Vergnügungspark mit alten Tempelruinen an Stelle der Attraktionen. Viele der kleinen Tempel befinden sich noch mitten in der Restaurationsphase. Das hält uns jedoch nicht davon ab, sie, ins rechte Licht gerückt, auf ein oder zwei Fotos einzufangen. Abends besuchen wir dann das Ramayana Ballet neben der Tempelanlage Prambanan. Während die Tänzerinnen und Tänzer in ihren aufwendigen Kostümen quasi in Zeitlupe über die Bühne gleiten, machen es uns die vielen unruhigen und unaufmerksamen asiatischen Zuschauer (keine Einheimischen) schwer, dem Geschehen auf der Bühne zu folgen und den roten Faden des Stückes nicht zu verlieren. Zurück in Yogyakarta frönen wir dem lässigen und... read more

I have wanted to see this classical Ramayana ballet for so long that when I finally had a chance, I felt so excited about it. And the most exciting part of it is, it was held at open air theatre, with the figures of three Prambanan temples as a far-away background. The air was so magical, felt like we were brought back to the ancient time with palaces and soldiers and prince and princess and magic, all together came into life. An eternal love story between Rama and Sinta, and Rahwana who tried to separate them by kidnapping Sinta, and the battle to bring her back in the name of love was reminding me of many other beautiful love stories around the world. This story, along with beautiful Prambanan temples on the background, created magical moments ... read more

As soon as we landed in Yogyakarta, I received a text message from Paul. The message read: "I guess it is not that difficult to spot a long-haired man with a beard." And it wasn't. Piece of cake. ;-) Paul drove us straight on to the Hindu temple complex in Prambanan . Just before entering the complex, we decided to buy our hats. This is when I remembered I forgot to bring my sunscreen. Oh well, let's hope the hat does the trick. Best sunny than wet. Prambanan Temple This ancient masterpiece is unquestionably the greatest Hindu architectural wonder in all of Indonesia. Just like the temple at Borobudur, Prambanan is adorned with bas-reliefs depicting the Ramayana epic. Built around the same time as Borobudur , this 9th century heritage site is only 17 kilometers from ... read more

Prambanan Statutory Warning: This blog contains the ferocious Komodo Island dragon. Open the blog at your own risk. http://www.heptune.com/komodo.html You must be wondering, how the reptile got in the blog at all and more importantly, how we managed to lock him in. I mean that sort of thing should happen only to people like Gerald Durrell, Frank Buck and Steve Irwin (May his soul rest in peace.) and not to poor old Charu and Avi, who are a most mild and unassuming couple, not even remotely connected with zoology. It happened like this. Some 5-6 years back, we had decided to visit Indonesia and I was ‘reading up’ on it. Suddenly, I came across an advertisement, that promised to take the tourists to Komodo Island from Java and more importantly, ALSO to ‘bring them back ... read more