For today, it was a visit to the famous Borobudur and Prambanan temples close by. Having arrived in Yogyakarta yesterday, Borobudur was more or less the only reason I stopped in Yogyakarta in the first place. But how to get there from Yogyakarta? I didn’t know, but luckily the receptionist at the place I’m staying did, and suggested hiring a driver. Cool; the plan was to have the driver pick me up at the hotel at 5am along with other backpackers, and drive to Borobudur an hour away.
When we arrived, it was still early morning and you could still feel the damp, wet feeling in the air from the rain the night before.
There weren’t that many people yet, but today is the Chinese New Year, a holiday in Indonesia, so doubtless the temple would soon be oveflowing with visitors in a few hours. No time to delay, must follow the yellow brick road.
Borobudur temple soon came into view, and with the residual fog it cast quite a scene. My camera doesn’t do it justice.
Front view.
The temple has several staggered platforms to reach the top, it’s easier to see it from the side view.
All along the sides, there were a lot of carvings made into the stone walls and buddha statues looking out. I’m not hindu so I didn’t really know what they were depicting, but ‘twas interesting to see all the same.
Unfortunately, looters had managed to cut away parts of the temple and take them away for sale on the market; you could see the damages done to the temple all over, like this buddhist statue with the missing head right here.
Up on the ramparts, with carvings all over.
img_0096
Closer view of the relief carvings.
Raaaargh, said the gargoyle.
Because some of the carvings had been cut away and lost, new stone blocks were added to cover up the damage.
This guy at least was okay.
Another view of the relief carvings.
It’s hard to appreciate the detail that went into these carvings until you look up close; the carvers even put detail into the hair.
Raaargh, said the stone dog.
And here we are at the top of the temple.
Nice view.
One last shot before moving on.
Now on to the next stop. We picked up some more backpackers before leaving for the next destination, Prambanan which was another hour’s ride away. Prambanan is a Hindu site like Borobudur, but instead of one massive temple Prambanan is a cluster of smaller temples.
Closer view.
Like Borobudur temple, these temples had relief carvings cut into the walls.
View from one of the temples.
And that is all. Tomorrow will be my last day in Yogyakarta before moving on to another place.