Temples and giant cockroaches
Trip Start
Aug 24, 2008
1
81
129
Trip End
Jul 07, 2009
Yogyakarta,
Java,
Indonesia
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
The next day we took the bus to Borobudur to look at the Buddhist temple that was built in the 9th century. David was very excited because Dan Cruikshank had been there. We were not amused that our entry ticket cost 10 times what it cost an Indonesian to get in, but at least we got free tea on arrival. The temple is shaped like a large square pyramid with round stupas on the top. We walked up it, stopping at each level to look at the carvings of monkeys and elephants, and the bees that were nesting in the stones. Nearer the top were lots of stupas that were hollow, and they had little holes that you could peer through and see the Buddhas inside. The way you had to look in meant you had to lower your head, therefore showing respect to the Buddha, as David informed me (from Dan Cruikshank). We were accosted at the top by schoolchildren wanting to practise their English on us, and by curious Indonesians who wanted to take photos of the strange white people. The views from the top over the mountains and forests were very impressive, and we took lots of photos. Back down on the ground we went to the museum, just as it began to tip it with rain. We sheltered in the museum for a while but we were hungry so eventually had to make a run for it to the nearest restaurant. We were soaked! The ground was like a swamp and the rain didn't stop until we were halfway back to Yogyakarta on the bus. Back in town we had pizza for dinner. We were horrified to find 3 enormous cockroaches in our room when we got back, and even more horrified that the man at reception laughed when we told him. They flew as well. Horrible!
The next day we took the bus to another temple, Hindu this time. It was called Prambanan. When we got there we once again had to pay $11 to get in when the locals paid about 70p. The temple had been badly damaged in an Earthquake than happened here in 2006, so much of it was structurally unsafe and therefore out of bounds. But we walked around some of it, that looked like a small version of Angkor Wat. We had lunch at the restaurant and admired the deer in the field, who were very timid. The complex was made up of 4 temples so after lunch we looked at the other three. They were mostly all crumbled down but we still took photos and walked around them.
Back in town we walked to the Sultan's Palace, which was closed so we could only see the outside of the building. The gardens looked like wasteland with children playing football on them, and the building was made of concrete. maybe it's better inside. We walked down to the water palace which was mostly in ruins but it was interesting to walk among the maze of houses within its complex and there was even an underground mosque with lots of staircases radiating out like a star. We couldn't see the pools, which have been reconstructed, because they were closed, but we looked at the outside and disturbed a bat in a deserted old building. It was getting late and we were tired so we went back and had dinner, after which, David had a Big Mac.
The next morning, after a cockroach-free night, we left for Gunung Bromo.
