jokja and borobudur

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here i am on the infamous 9-11 in a muslim country no less, having just visited the biggest buddhist temple in the world.

jokja, aka yokyakarta, is a sweet little city. perhaps not so little. i am appreciating that even the touristy places do not have very many tourists. it has never been the overwhelming experience of khao sahn road in bangkok, or anywhere else i have been, really. there are always people trying to sell us a ride on a becak (pronounced "beh-chick", same as a vietnamese 'cyclo') or horse and buggy, or motorbike, and travel agents trying to lure us into shops, and apparently this town is famous for its batik style prints and painting on cloth. but there are not that many foreigners i see walking around, even at this famous temple. which is nice, since tourists always spoil the shot when i am taking pictures.

there were no buddist monks here. it was strange to go to a buddhist temple and see no monks. i have become so used to monks everywhere, that it feels like something is missing in indonesia. our guide was a dear little man who charged about $2 for a full english speaking tour of this massive stepped pyramid of sculpted stone. he explained that 70% of people are java muslim, which is somehow liberal enough that people can also be buddhist, since buddhism isnt considered a religion here, but a mindset or an ideology. only 5% of people are what he called "holy muslim", more like the middle east.

he was also apparently studying feng shui, as well as a few other things. he read our palms. apparently i will have 2 children, good fortune, i have excellent intuition, and someone in my recent family history (previous few generations) actually has supernatural powers, which have been passed on to me in a diluted form. so if you are reading this and you are my sibling, yeah. rock those supernatural powers.

bodobudur is 80% original stone, and what was reconstructed was not carved. it is certainly more impressive than the earthquake-ravaged prambanan. you can see many of the buddhas, like almost every temple i've been to in SE asia, have had their heads cut off for selling or trading by foreigners, a long time ago.

it has been nice to just stay in one city for a few days without packing up every day, which can be quite exhausting. but, as the time ticks on, and the end of my SE travels is well in sight, i am wanting to see as much as i can before i leave. i think tomorrow we leave for a nice beach in south jakarta, since none of us have been to the beach since thailand (the two guys were in thailand at the same time as me, though we didnt meet til jakarta). and then i leave for dublin on the 14th and the guys leave for london on the 16th.

the local bus will be here any minute, with their tiny seats too close together (my knees dont fit ANYWHERE) and travelling musicians playing guitar and asking for donations. beach tomorrow!

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Comments

[Emily]

Awesome! I demand the viewing of lots of pictures when you get back.