Borobudur

 
These days, I have been talking too much about Japan considering I wanted to use this blog to talk about our trips around the world! Therefore, today I will come back to Java in Indonesia. Some weeks ago, I talked about Prambanan. Today, it is the turn for Borobudur, one of the great ancient sites in the world!

If I am not mistaken, Borobudur and Prambanan were built at the same time. At that time, there were two kingdoms in the area of the current Jogyakarta. One of them was Hinduist and the other one, Buddhist. Prambanan was built by the Hinduists and Borobudur by the Buddhists.

Borobudur can be described in one single world: amazing! It is a Buddhist temple located in a valley surrounded by volcanoes in Central Java. It is a huge temple with many floors and it represents the Buddhist image of the world. The closest you get to the top, the closest you are to enlightenment.


 


The lower floors have beautiful relieves showing teachings of the religion and also the life of Siddhartha. Then, the upper levels are built with a higher simplicity with Buddha statues and small stupas to make a difference with respect to the previous levels. The temple is crowned with a simple stupa representing perfection.

The temple can be visited from Jogyakarta and most hotels there can organize tours in the morning. However, to see the sunrise, something Borobudur is famous for, you really need to stay around the temple. The Sunrise Visit is actually managed by a hotel in the temple premises: Manohara hotel. The price of one night in this hotel is a little expensive compare to other hotels in Jogya. However, it is a really nice hotel and the expensive ticket to the temple is included in the room price, which actually makes the price really competitive. We decided to stay there and enjoy the temple as much as possible and we did not regret! The stay in Manohara and the visit to the temple in the early morning were probably the highlights of our trip to Indonesia!Staying in the hotel also allows you to have a second look at the temple later in the day, so you can visit this amazing place twice. And you can also see it at night with nice illumination!

The sunrise tour starts really early, at around 4.30 am. It takes a lot of effort to wake up at that time! you are given a torch and join the pack of tourists heading towards the temple entrance. At night, everything is pitch black. Entering the temple in absolutely darkness in the calmness of night and with everybody so sleepy that cannot make noise and break the atmosphere, is simply amazing. You feel you are getting into somewhere really special. And then, the Sun slowly starts making its way up, and the shadows and shapes of Buddhas and stupas start showing up in clear contrast to the sky being lit up with thousands of colors.

The mist and the volcanoes in every direction, wherever you look, contribute to the atmosphere.

And then, when you think the experience you are living is unforgettable, then, the Sun rises over the horizon and no more words or thoughts are necessary...

Borobudur, definitely one of the most impressive places I have ever visited!

Prambanan

In Japan, there are national holidays in most months. However, in June there is none. Actually, from Golden Week in the beginning of May until Sea Day in mid July, there are no holidays at all. It is two months and a half just working amid the Japanese rainy season. This routine sometimes makes you feel slightly blue, specially when it has been raining for days without stopping!

Last July, we decided to break routine and have a 5 day holiday to go to Indonesia. Direct flights to Indonesia take around 8-9 hours, but we had quite some miles from Delta/KLM and decided to use them for a Tokyo-Singapore round-trip flight. From Singapore, it was easy to get to Indonesia using Air Asia or any other cheap company. The aim of our trip was clear, we wanted to visit Borobudur and Prambanan in Jogyakarta, Central Java, and the island of Bali.

Upon arrival in Jogyakarta airport, the heat and humidity of the tropics welcomed us to Indonesia. We left the airplane in the middle of the tarmac and walked to the arrivals building by ourselves in a very chaotic way. That was the first sign we were back traveling! Next to us, in the visa counter, there were the typical westerners traveling for a long time in South East Asia: big backpacks and some T-shirt with the local beer of some neighboring country... after getting our visa on arrival, we were greeted by a taxi driver I had chartered for the day. Yes, traveling from Japan, time is minimal, so I had to give up on cheap options and I had to go for the most time efficient solution. Anyway, chartering a taxi for a full day is less than 3000-4000 yen (around 30-40 euros). 

Our first stop was Prambanan, but on the way we stop to see some smaller temples like Kandi Kalasan

 and to taste the local food:

After lunch, we visited a nearby temple, Candi Plaosan which turned up to be really impressive, specially since we were craving for cool temples!

 

Just a couple kilometers from Plaosan, the UNESCO World Heritage site of Prambanan stands in all its magnificence. This Hindu temple complex is composed of several massive temples made of stone which seem to try to reach out for the sky.

The first view of the site is surely breathtaking, but the crowds and the high price (slightly less than 20 USD per person) make this place less out-worldly.

 

When the Sun goes down, the contours of the tall temples shadow the sunset sky and dwarf all the crowds watching the day agonize away.

 

Next to Prambanan, there is another small temple which is well worth visiting, Candi Sewu. It is a Buddhist temple and that contrasts quite a lot with Prambanan. Architecture is quite different and most importantly, there are many Buddha statues! ;)

From there, our taxi driver took us to our hotel for the night: the only hotel within Borodupur, the Manohara hotel, which turned out to be one of the highlights of the trip, together with the temple itself. Without any doubt, one of the most impressive sites in Asia and probably in the world.