Borobodur...ancient Java Buddhist Temple

Trip Start Mar 15, 2008
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Trip End Jul 15, 2009


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Flag of Indonesia  , Java,
Thursday, July 17, 2008

 The biggest Buddhist temple in the world.  It was made sometime in 700 A.J. (after Jesus) not B.J. (before Jesus) and was soon abandoned.  It was basically destroyed by a volcano and later excavated by some Dutch Archaeologist, they had colonized Java.  It was attacked by a terrorist bomb in the 1980's to celebrate it's renovation(go Allah!!, no discrimination).  It was then restored again consisting of about 2 million stone blocks.  There are tons of Buddhas set in lotus flowers that represent nirvana or something.  The pyramid structure has less and less Buddhas as you go up to represent the difficulty of attaining Nirvana.
 
Overall, it was quite stunning though lacking the natural setting of a Tikal, Machu or Angkor.  The beauty was in the detail of the carvings and the absurd number of them.  The views were obstructed by the Park People burning some garbage or debris. 
We are now moving on to Jakarta dubbed the "Big Durian" because of it's size and smell.  Then we are meeting up with our friends in Kuala Lumpor, before finally getting to Thailand.
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