Indonesia 2000, Part 10

Ok, another two day of Indonesia...( a lot to read for those of returning to work on Monday!)


TUESDAY 4 JULY

The first direct bus to Yogyakarta (sound the Y’s as J’s and you might get the pronunciation
right!) available was for noon. That was too late so I went via Magelang. From Wonosobo, had
phoned the Jakarta friends to find out their whereabouts. They were in Yogya and by coincidence
had met Mustafa the previous day! So I went to their youth hostel.

They weren’t there but a shower, the Internet, a curry, and they’d made their way back to the
guesthouse. I was pleased to see them of course but it was the end of solo travelling for the time
being, a short but great stint. It was particularly good for improving my Indonesian. Mustafa, the
language guru, knew more than I did and so when travelling together I let him do all the talking.
But when alone of course I had to use the very little that I knew. And it felt great! It’s amazing
how much one can improve with regular practice. I improved tremendously in the few days I was
alone. 

Mustafa, North Sumatera and East Java II hadn’t lunched so I went with them and afterwards we
headed for some royal palace or something but ended up at a masjid where we prayed maghrib. Went
for a walk along the main street in the centre of town, stopping for me to buy the most fantastic
baju Melayu! The turquoise colour, the marble effect batik design, the soft comfortable material
all made it irresistible!

Didn’t really do much that evening, just hung around, talked, window shopped, tried out the
awfully tasting durian fruit - they look much like jackfruits, only much more vicious, but taste
nothing like them! 

Had dinner near where we stayed, booked on to a morning, starting before Sunrise, tour of
Borobudur and Prambanan, only to be told after we’d made our way back to the guesthouse that the
tour was full! Before going to bed we made a decision to make an early start anyway.


WEDNESDAY 5 JULY

As planned, woke up early to go to Borobudur, 40 km North of Yogya, but not early enough to catch
the Sunrise there. So we took our time, had breakfast outside the complex, and then leisurely took
a couple rickshaws, the driver of one of which was astounded that I knew his name (I’d seen it
written on the back of the seat!), to the ancient Budhist temple.  

The entrance fee for locals was 4,000 rupiahs (13,000=1GBP) but for foreigners it was 35,000! Of
course, having a couple of Indonesian friends meant we paid the local rate! It was a good thing
that the tour we’d booked the night before was full for I’m sure we wouldn’t have been able to get
away with paying the local price when in a tour group with Westerners.

And so on to Borobudur, built in the 9th century and reputed to be the biggest Budhist temple in
existence, (but in not use). Unlike the temples of Angkor, this was a single temple and not a
whole complex of temples.

The temple has the general form of a giant pyramid, larger than the Great Pyramid at Giza in
extent but not as high, or maybe it didn’t look so high because the base was much bigger. (It was
certainly not as steep). Built on a hill, it is terraced in to 9 levels, each one of course being
smaller than the one below it to give it the pyramidal appearance. The first six levels, which are
square, hold 432 images of Budha on the terraces, whilst the three circular upper terraces contain
latticed stupas with 72 more images of the same guy. It was quite elaborate, as I hope you can
imagine.

It’s quiet a site, but because of it’s shape it’s difficult to see the whole thing in one vision
and so one can’t fully appreciate it’s grandeur. You’d need to take a helicopter ride to get the
best views. Nevertheless, it was a unique site though I was much more impressed by Angkor Wat

Returned to Yogya at about noon, had showers, ate lunch (at the same great place that we’d had
dinner the night before), and then went shopping again! Yogya is great for shopping, and
everything seemed to be at rock bottom prices (and you’d bargain them even lower!). I would’ve
bought tons of stuff had I had plans to return (to London) in the near future. Went to a local
masjid where Mustafa and I both bought loose batik trousers, for 80 pence each (he green and I
blue).

It was time to part from North Sumatera and East Java again, and this time without the faintest
hope of seeing them a few days later. (It would be at least 2 years, I’m afraid.) Took a couple of
rickshaws to the agency with whom they’d booked their tickets to Bandung only to be told that the
bus was cancelled due to mechanical problems. This momentarily made me happy as I thought they’d
have to stay another day in Yogya but soon realized how much East Java II needed to get back to
Bandung. Went to the train station but no luck there either. Failing that we then went to the
public bus station and fortunately there was a bus to Bandung. And so we parted (for two years at
least).

Mustafa and I took a bus back to the centre of the city and returned to the guesthouse by way of
more  (light) shopping! He bought a dazzlingly funky traditional Javanese hat; I bought a batik
bandana and a belt. Dinner, zzzzzzzz.