Early morning for Borobudur

What a long day it has been! I was up at 3:30am so that I could see the sunrise over Borobudur. Let me start at last night though.

At 5pm I met my new Dutch friends (Suzanne and Wouter) at their hotel to discuss our plans for today. After some consideration, we decided to take our airport taxi driver up on his offer to take us to Borobudor, etc in a private taxi. We liked the idea better than a tour because we'd be able to stop when we wanted and to stay as long as we wanted. He said he'd pick us up at 4am since we wanted to see the sunrise over Borobudur.

For dinner, we chose Via Via as it was recommended by Lonely Planet (top pick) and by Footprints. Plus it is three doors down from my hotel. When we got there most of the tables were full so we had to share with a couple (who also happened to be Dutch. There are tons of Dutch tourists here!). Every single person in the restaurant was a tourist, all with their LP books in hand. It was quite the scene. I ordered pineapple juice and a vegetarian Indonesia dish. It was tasty but definitely didn't live up to the stingray.

During our dinner the Dutch couple left and a French couple on their honeymoon sat down next to us. They are staying at the same place as me (in a nicer room). The entire night, tourists with LP books kept coming in looking for tables, but the place was so full that half of them got turned away. By 8pm we were done, and I was basically falling asleep at the table. So we said good night and see you at 4am.

I went to sleep pretty early after showering and saying hi to the folks. I didn't sleep great as I was worried about waking up in time, and at 3am I just relaxed with my eyes closed waiting for 3:30 since I'd already prepared my clothes for the day. Suzanne, W and Gidi (our driver) were here just after 4am to pick me up. It was pitch dark outside but as we drove along we saw lots of people walking around. One town we drove through had tons of people lining the streets as there was some kind of local market that started very early in the day.

Some info on Borobudur since I realize its not the most popular tourist destination (although it is the most visited tourist attraction in Indonesia). Borobudur is a 9th century Buddhist monument consisting of 6 square platforms topped by 3 circular platforms and the main dome. There are 500 Buddha statues some of which sit inside perforated stupas and was constructed with 1,600,000 andesite stones. Borobudur became known worldwide through Sir Thomas Raffles (the famous one in Singapore) in 1814. The largest restoration project was undertaken between 1975 and 1982 by the Indonesian government and UNESCO and it is now on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

We got to Borobudur in excellent time. The only way to see the temple before it officially opens at 6am is to pay a hefty fee to the Manohara hotel in the park. Quite a deal they have going, but they give you a flashlight (to keep as a souvenir) and a breakfast snack when you are done visiting the temple. After we bought our tickets I turned around and saw the woman who was sitting next to me on the plane! Teng Li and her friend (Eng Eng) were there for the sunrise too. I guess I should have known they'd be there since they spent the night in the area, but it was pretty funny running into her.

The flashlights were necessary as we walked towards the temple and up the steps to the top. As we reached the highest point and looked out, you could see a faint pink color at the horizon and the two volcanoes (Merapi and Merbabu) looming in the distance. The surrounding trees were partially covered by a white mist. The sky was almost cloudless. It was a glorious morning. So I started taking pictures. We had over 30 minutes until the sun rose above the volcano and each passing minute was more beautiful. I walked around on the top three circular levels with the stupas and one open stupa with its Buddha exposed and snapped away. There were relatively few tourists, which allowed me to get shots without tons of people in the frame.

At one point, I stopped to think about where I was. Borobudur at sunrise was my main reason for traveling to Java and Yogya and it was hard to believe that after all the planning I was actually there experiencing it. And it was incredible. As the sun rose higher in the sky, light was cast upon the temple and I got a much better view of its detail. We were walking around enjoying ourselves but also wishing that we had some guidance as Gidi was just a driver, not a guide. Teng Li offered to share their guide, Bang Bang, with us. So for the rest of the morning at Borobudur, Bang Bang explained some of its history and meaning. Some of the stone depictions have not been fully understood because they are missing a "link" but the bottom level has four tales which wrap around the entire base and are mostly "translated".

When we had seen most of the the monument, we walked back to the hotel for our breakfast. At breakfast Bang Bang told us that he met President Obama a long time ago. Not sure if its true, but makes for a good story. We thanked Bang Bang for sharing his knowledge and I said goodbye to my Singaporean plane friends.

Our next stop was Mendut Temple which was built in AD 800 and has a 3 meter high status of Buddha seated with two disciples. We ran into Bang Bang and Teng Li again, so we heard a bit about Mendut as well. From there we headed an hour east to Mount Merapi, the active volcano which we had seen from Borobudur. We didn't go all the way to the volcano, but there is an area where you can see the top of it. Our weather luck continued and it was perfectly clear. My camera battery died there, but fortunately Suzanne and Wouter (S&W) shared their photos. By the time we left it was coming on 11am and we were eager to have our next stop be lunch.

The drive back to Yogya (and to Mount Merapi) was through beautiful rice paddies, green "jungles" and little towns. I enjoyed seeing the men working in the fields sporting their triangle hats. As I expected, lunch was at one of those typical tourist stops (even though we had a private driver) where loads of mini-buses come for a meal. I ordered a rice dish with vegetables, prawns and chicken but was careful in my eating cause I'm not sure what my stomach can handle.

After lunch we asked Gidi to drive us to the Tombs of the Mataram sultans since we still had about an hour with him and were saving Prambanan. Little did we know what we were in for. When we got there Gidi mentioned that there were 500 steps to the tomb site. The books say there are 345 steps and somehow I'd glanced over this fact. We struggled to the top of the stairs but a nice breeze and shade kept us somewhat cooler (we were still sweating). We tried to walk in and found out that there were a list of rules, including that we needed to be wearing the right clothes, take off our shoes, etc, all of which none of us were interested in doing. My favorite rule was "Women may not be in period". So after spending a few minutes in front of a fan, we trudged back down the stairs. At least it was good exercise. Back to Yogya we went.

Gidi dropped us off at S&W's hotel at 3pm. We were all exhausted and decided to meet up for dinner at 7pm. I spent the afternoon doing various bits and things: sticking my feet in the pool, arranging my plans for Bromo (the other place I want to visit on Java which is very popular at this time of year and left me with only one option for a place to stay and on an organized "tour" including transfer from Yogya to Bromo [11 hours], hotel accommodation and sunrise at the volcano), starting my blog, uploading my photos, etc. A nap ended up not being in the cards so I'm now even more tired.

S&W and I went to a restaurant which the French couple from last night recommended. I had the tasty chicken satay and a watermelon juice. We sat around after eating to talk about our various plans for the next few days, and I started falling asleep at the table. It was a busy day, what can I say. Tonight I'm getting a good night sleep as I only have to wake up for breakfast. Will probably see some of Yogya tomorrow since I haven't really done that yet and go on a sunset tour of Prambanan before meeting S&W for a last meal together. Signing off.