2 unbelievable places
Trip Start
Jul 05, 2008
1
14
30
Trip End
Aug 30, 2008
Yogyakarta,
Java,
Indonesia
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
I*t was a big change going from the ornateness of Bali to the starkness of Yogya. Particularly the Kraton, stark white walls with mid-east architecture, it seemed like another country.
The main roads were horrible, filthy corridors where no one would give you any peace. But once I stepped of the main arteries and went on the sidestreets, the whole world slowed down by several lightyears. Suddently it felt (and looked) like being back in the sleepy alleys of Antigua (Guatemala).
Prembenan
... is a huge complex of ancient Hindu temples. I rented a motorbike and tried to drive there once, got lost, tried again the follwing day, and was successful, yay me! I'm so glad I learned to drive in Taiwan.
The temples are from the 9th Century, but were only uncovered in 1954. I was lucky enough to have really good guides. There were some obnoxious white boys there who didn't realize that they weren't at Kuta beach anymore... they were walking around the temples, blaring music, drinking beer at 11am beside sacred statues of Ganesh, Shiva, and Vishnu. White boys suck!
somebody else's picture: http://www.flickr.com/photos/74778410@N00/360384941/
Borobodur
I took a shuttle bus there because I had only one chance to see it before getting on the train to Cianjur, and I couldn't risk it getting messed up like Prembenan. Borobodur is the whole reason I decided to come to Indonesia. It is the world's largest Buddhist monument. It's massive. It was one of those places that exudes sacridity, a place I can't describe to you. The engravings were so intricate and beautiful. The whole structure is made of huge blocks that are just stacked together, not cemented or interlocked. When no one was looking, I lifted one of them. It was easy. If you had an army of a couple thousand you could disassemble the whole thing like a giant Lego castle. Except no one who's ever been there would ever ever do that. The whole structure is a giant mandala when viewed from above. It's amazing the level of perfection and beauty that people, regular people, can design and execute. It was a perfect place, exquisite, and I think you should all go there.
somebody else's picture:
My pictures of Yogyakarta and Cianjur (see next entry)!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=50925&id=512559754&l=0515951d30
Comments
Amazing
Looking at the pictures are amazing and it sounds incredible based on your descriptive narrative. What are the roads like to drive on?. Is it risky driving also? How are the proplr?
roads
the roads are all pretty well paved, but except for the very major highways, they are all two-lane, which means that the traffic never goes anywhere. They have a long way to go in terms of infrastructure.
Driving here is fine, they are much less agressive than Taiwanese drivers. But they DO drive on the left side of the road, which makes things tricky, especially if you're trying to cross the street!