fri day 56

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So Rebecca and I decided that getting up at 4am was a really good idea to go and see 2 temples - ive seen enough temples to last me a life time but these 2 you just have to see - apparently! We got picked up sharp at 04.45 and being the 1st on the tour bus we were then taken round to collect the others. Sitting next to a lovely lady from India we chatted for the hours journey to the 1st temple - Borobudur. This is a Buddhist temple built in the 9th century by the Saliendra dynasty - covering an area of 200 sq metres by many tiers of 35 metres high and so being the largest Buddhist monument in the southern hemisphere. Theres not so much of an inside more a walk round it and covered in an early morning mist it looked quite eerie. The temple is surrounded by 3 huge volcanos so the scenery is beautiful and the grounds are well manicured. Of course the main parts are the Buddha's all surrounded by stupas and the whole temple is very dark stone, but looking closely theres some interesting detail. Half an hour in and there seemed a sudden influx of school children wanting our photo and to interview us to practice their English - when a 10 yr old has chance to talk about British pop music it's far more interesting for them than an old temple to look at! After having some breakfast we said goodbye to half the group ( some had done the next temple already) and we headed onto Prambanan temple - a Hindu temple about an hrs drive away. Very different to the 1st one but with a fair bit of volcano damage and so a lot of it being just ruins, we had a walk around the grounds. 3 huge rocket shaped temples being the main focus were built in 832AD dedicated to the main Hindu deities - Shiva, Brahma and Vishnu. Again being built out of very dark stone it was difficult to see all the detail - but being the largest Hindu temple in java was definitely worth a visit. On the walk back to the mini bus having many hawkers in your face desperately trying to sell you any cheap tatt they can, can kind of take the edge off what you've just seen. So not buying anything but giving some money to a blind lady instead we made it back to the bus. The 5 of us decided to stop off for some lunch together where one of the group was meeting some friends. Trying various traditional Indonesian dishes for £2 and having a great time meeting some lovely people from Spain, Hong Kong, Germany and Yogyakarta ( and swopping names for fb) it really made the day. Squeezing into a rickshaw and being peddled by a man in his 70's - and feeling rather uncomfortable about it we were taken the mile or so back to the hotel. After relaxing for an hr or so Rebecca and i headed out to book flights and to catch some air before settling down after a long day.

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