Sep 5, 2012 - postscript on Java

Before leaving Java, we felt it was important to visit the Sultan's palace and see how the other 0.00001% of the population live. A sultan's life over the last century has been a kind of reverse inflation. The dynasty started with 75 children for the first sultan with obviously more than one wife (10 actually) while these days the present incumbent is down to 1 and 5 respectively. All daughters. Now you fathers of daughters think we had it bad but at least we did not have four day weddings for 2,500 guests. Four married, one still...

Sep 3, 2012 - Borobudur

First things first: an ATM for some reddies. But how much? 500,000 whatsits must be enough but I just hoped it would not exceed my bank's daily allowance. I needn't have worried. It was only worth about 30 pounds, so I had to splash out and become a (rupiah) multi-millionaire to get through the next few days. Java is only one of about 17,500 islands in Indonesia but pretty densely packed. It represents about 7% of the country's landmass but 60% of the population. So that is like packing the population of England south of the Wash into...

Aug 20, 2012 - Back to Java and Bali

As the winter is not the best time to visit Indonesia, we are making a special trip back to Java and Bali after many years, with side trips to our 'second' home, Singapore, and for the first time to the island of Lombok. Not nasty and boring, more Nasi Goreng.

Mar 8, 2012 - Borobudur our 3rd Wonder of the World

We had a great day today at what is the third Wonder of the World we have seen on our travels. It was truly beautiful in glorious greenery with mountains and volcanoes for an awesome panoramic background. Check the pics, look carefully and you'll see the volcano poking through the top of a cloud. Much love C & P xx

Dec 18, 2011 - Indonesia - Borobudur

Borobudur, or Barabudur, is a 9th-century Mahayana Buddhist monument near Magelang, Central Java, Indonesia. The monument comprises six square platforms topped by three circular platforms, and is decorated with 2672 relief panels and 504 Buddha statues

Feb 19, 2009 - Borobudur et Prambanan

Alex Beauvais et les Temples Maudits!! Je tenais mordicus à visiter le temple de Borobudur, le plus important vestige bouddhiste de l'Indonésie et je crois le plus gros temple bouddhiste du monde en fait. Le temple possède plusieurs étages concentriques dans lesquels se trouvent des bas reliefs relatant l'histoire de Bouddha. Il y a un sens précis dans lequel on doit le montrer. Au sommet, il y a de nombreuses stupas, des cloches à l'intérieur desquelles se trouve une statue de Bouddha. La vue était magnifique, car nous sommes arrivés et le...

Oct 12, 2008 - Borobudur

by Lora We awoke at 4am to take a sunrise tour of Borobudur - a large Buddist monument about an hour outside of Yogyakarta. It was constructed around 800 AD, and was re-discovered in 1800s. We had the fortune of having Fatah as our tour guide - he grew up right in front of Borodudur and it used to be his playground as a child! The stupa has 9 tourable platforms, which are viewed in a clockwise fashion. Each level has various reliefs which depict the life of Buddha. Fatah told us that when Buddist pilgrims come to Borobodur and climb each...

Jan 13, 2008 - Borobudur

Usually we avoid package tours like the plague, but in this case we went with it and it turned out well. For 75,000 rupiah ($8), we bought a trip to the Buddhist temple of Borobudur and the Hindu temple of Prambanan, instead of the cheaper but much more hassle do-it-yourself public transport version. Plus, the tour got us discounts on the temple entry fees, which are usually over 100,000 rupiah each. We were up before the sun, walking through the alleys around our hotel in a light rain, hoping it would clear up. We met our driver in the...