Borobudur Trip Oct 2019

PK - Posted on October 31, 2019 - 1,595 Views

Bodhi Travel is delighted to have the chance to host a group to visit the famous Borobudur last week. Here are the highlights of the trip. Do call us to book a trip now!

Ancient Candi - Borobudur Tour

Our friendly Bodhi host met with the group at Changi Terminal 4 before checking in for a short two hour flight to Yogjakarta (Jogja).

Landing at Jogja, we were greeted by the friendly tour guide (Agus) and the driver (Bayu). Once our luggage were safely placed at the back of our cosy 13 seater mini-van, we started off on our adventure!

Agus spent some time updating us on the weather and situation in Jogja as we headed towards our first stop. Food!

Having arrived around noon time, we needed to settle our stomachs and gather energy for the tours. Our first stop was an interesting local restaurant situated amidst padi fields. We ordered fresh young coconuts and sumptuous local dishes.

After lunch, we drove to our first major stop in the tour - Prambanan Temple.

This ancient temple complex is dedicated to the holy trinity of gods in Hinduism. The central and largest temple is devoted to Lord Shiva. The weather was warm with a strong sun but that did not get to our spirits as we made our way to the majestic complex.

There were many tourists, domestic and international, around the complex. Everyone was busy looking for decent spots to take photographs and selfies. Our diligent guide Agus took the opportunity to share and explain Prambanan and the story of Ramayana (which was inscribed in reliefs all over Prambanan).

The cute looking plump statue is a door guardian and is one of many located at the entrance to Candi Sewu, a well-kept part of the Prambanan complex.

Unlike Prambanan, Sewu is Buddhist, which can be discerned with many cravings of Bodhisattvas and Buddhist symbols. Due to the warm weather, we took a golf cart instead of walking to Sewu. The majesty of the candi can be felt despite the widespread destruction of the temple due to time and decay.

The highlight of the trip was the morning sunrise at Borobudur. Waking up at 4am, we went off to climb Borobudur before 5am in anticipation of the sunrise.

Interestingly, the sky was rather bright despite the sunrise not yet officially up. There were throngs of tourists waiting for the sunrise; there were still ample space for our group to park ourselves to wait for the sunrise.

Walking around the top of Borobudur, we could see the entire countryside of Magelang (area surrounding Borobudur). Thanks to careful park management, there was no tall buildings surrounding Borobudur to block the beautiful panoramic views.

There was a Caucasian couple meditating at one quiet corner - it is truly an appropriate place and time to reflect on the immensity of the achievement of the Javanese in building Borobudur.

The tour of Borobudur began in earnest after the sunrise with a commentary on the life of the Buddha. With 120 panels, the reliefs quickly became a mesh of cravings and difficult to decipher.

Luckily, our guide Agus and Bodhi host PK were ready to assist. Major life scenes of the Buddha were selected and PK explained the significance of these events in Buddhism. There were also sharing on the Jataka Tales located on the reliefs on the outer walls.

After Borobudur, we had a wonderful breakfast before heading off to Mount Merapi to see the famous active volcano.

The group exchanged vehicles and hopped onto a jeep for a bumpy and dusty rides up the mountain. Along the way, we could see many other jeeps going up and down the volcano. It was truly an exciting (and bumpy) ride - helmets and face-masks are strongly advised!

The destructive power of the volcanic Mount Merapi was evident through the displays in the museum - House of Memory. Exhibits and photographs of items destroyed during the last major eruption in October 2010. Agus explained the situation and the difficulties faced by the locals then.

Living room destroyed by the volcanic eruption. Photographs of the destruction at the background.

MORE ARTICLES: [Travel Reflection] Borobudur – Staring at History

The countryside that we passed by on our journey from Magelang to Yogyajakarta was filled with padi fields.

The green and vast land expanse were truly amazing to see and we requested the van to stop so that we could take some photographs. We could see farmers working hard on the fields; some stalks were already bursting with rice. It would be delightful (and truly instagrammable) to see the padi fields with golden rice stalks ready for harvest.

MORE ARTICLES: [Travel Reflection] Journey to Discover Thai Buddhism

From the rural countryside, we arrived at the busiest part of Jogja - Malioboro.

It was a Sunday when we arrived at the city centre and the bustling street was packed with hawkers and shoppers. What's being sold there? - clothing, bags, food, souvenirs etc.

The last part of our truly enjoyable tour was a city tour where we visited a street filled with pottery stores, a silver jewelry shop and a batik factory.

It was fascinating to see the traditional and painstaking processes in which the silver jewelry and batik clothes were produced. We heard that there was a new and modern pottery workshop in Jogja - it would be a place to visit during our next trip!