Phew, that was a close one. After arriving at Jakarta airport to make my way south to Jogyakarta I sat down in the allocated gate lounge and started to talk to a Indonesian lady and her daughter. After a while, having not heard a call for my flight, I decided to ask at the desk - the flight had moved to another gate! I ran round to see it was the final call and just got on the bus to the plane!
It's a gorgeous day today and flying across Java was a treat as, unlike most days on this island, it was not overcast and I got a splendid view of the coast line then the countryside as we made the hour long flight to the city on the south side of the island, as well as numerous volcanoes and, as we were coming into land, Borobudur - the entire reason for this journey out East.
I arrived at Jogyakarta airport and headed straight for Borobudur, the ancient Buddhist temple. The journey from the airport took around an hour but went through some magnificent countryside, farmland and rural towns.
As you arrive at Borobudur you could be excused for thinking that you have been had, as all you can see is a vast market selling the usual tourist aimed tat and cheap food - not to mention traders who will not take no as an answer, but as you wander across this space you eventually see the International Visitors Centre, cut off from the madness of the outside. I did immediately wonder though what the Indonesian visitor centre looked like and how visitors were treated there.
After stowing away my rucksack I met with a guide and they took me around the wonderful temple. Firstly, compared to the madness across the other side of the fence the tranquil gardens surrounding yhr temple (former farmland but now a national park) are a much needed tonic.
From a distance the temple is staggering. The sheer size of it is enough to stand your hairs on end. Approaching it from the West the area surrounding the temple is full of trees, flowers and perfectly green grass, though only five months ago a nearby volcano erupted and covered the entire area in ash - the clean up job is still going on. All of the vegetation around the temple was destroyed and the nearby agricultural industry was destroyed. The temple was covered in inches of ash, ironic as the stone used to make the temple was sourced from the volcanic rock.
The temple itself was built as a place for Buddhist meditation and pilgrimage. It's name actually means temple up above. The temple though infamously 'lost' centuries ago when the then inhabitants of centric java was chased out of the area. Volcanic explosions and years of neglect meant the temple was lost under the ash and plant growth until it was rediscovered by the British in the early 19th century.
My guide went into far too much detail to be put down here but the temple is built on ten levels, with each level representing a stage in a buddhist path to Nirvana and the sins they must resist to reach this. Eventually we reached the top of the temple and the view is amazing and, fortunately, I had picked one of the finer days since I had been in Indonesia to visit.
Upon leaving the temple I again had to fight off the approaches of traders and also figure out how I was to get back to Jogyakarta - there is no public transport from the temple nor any obvious taxi rank. Thankfully I was able to catch a lift wih one of the other tour guides from the visitor centre who drove me back to the city, dropping me off by the train centre where I entered yet more madness.
My hostel was delightful, a small room in Eastern boutique styling and located two minutes away from the madness that is Jalan Maliboro, yet another place where I was constantly stopped for photos and harassed to buy goods but this city has a charm that Jakarta lacks and with winding backstreets with small restaurants, bars and shops hidden away from the main street it was a delight to explore.
I had a simple dinner whilst watching the football (nothing funnier than watching the locals despair when Man Utd conceded a goal) and sharing some beers with some other British backpackers before I explored the streets around the town and I wandered through the crazy Jalan Malioboro with endless night market stalls, reaching the Yogyakarta House of Representives before making my way back towards the hostel, stopping in a bar where there was live music a number of backpackers enjoying a beer (or a few). I then hit the bed as I had to be up early to catch my flight back to Jakarta before making my connection to get to Phuket in Thailand.
