Borobudur - Central Java

After a well earned lie in we had breakfast and rented some push bikes and went for a pedal around the local area. They cost us Rp20,00 each for 10 hours thats an incredible £1.50 This place is amazing! It is so busy with people all doing their own thing. That makes for such a colourful and vibrant place. The high street, the market, every street is full of traders, horse taxis and rickshaws. Manic comings and goings with mopeds everywhere. You see mopeds piled high with all sorts of stuff i’m surprised they don’t fall off! Through all this road chaos, you don’t see any accidents. Everyone drives as if everyone is about to pull out in front of them so they drive with care (as much as that seems possible!) Oh and they drive on the left the same as England. So far the only countries to drive on the right have been America & Canada. It seems the rest of the world is on our wavelength! So off on these bike - a bit scary at first but we soon got the hang of how they drive - just pull out and they go round you! We went to a small temple first about 3 miles away, followed by another tiny temple a bit nearer. The street sellers at these places just pounce as soon as they see you. And heaven help you if you buy something because then all the others come running. “nice price for you” “morning price” “how must you give me” it’s really tiring trying to be polite but firm with them all. We loved it really. Borobudur Temple is a stunning and poignant epitaph to Java’s Buddhist heyday. Constructed in the early part of the 9th century AD, about the same age as Cricklade! Early night as we were due to be up for sunrise to visit the Borobudur Temple as soon as it opened at 6am. So next morning bright and breezy (Bryan told Jody it was 6am but actually it was 5.45am!)we arrived at the ticket office got our discounted price of $13 (Rp135,000 each) only to find out later that locals pay £1.40 (Rp20,000)to get in The temple was fantastic, so much detail on the stone work and restored so well. We did well arriving early as the temple was quite empty and easy to go around. We watched the sun rise above the clouds from the temple and took loads of photographs. We headed back to the guest house for breakfast and all the way back being hassled by street sellers, simple answer now. “We already have one of those” work a treat! Breakfast and back to bed for a sleep, as we wanted to visit the temple in the afternoon too. We packed our bags as we leave Borobudur today and headed off towards the Temple again. When we got there Bryan wanted to take Fred up it to show him the views and as it had got much hotter, Jody decided to go for a wander instead. No sooner had they split up than Jody found the stables. Elephant stables!! She followed them around the base of the Temple hill and eventually ran into Bryan who had come to tell her about the elephants! so that was certainly a highlight finding the elephants and they look great in the photos too. we took a traditional horse and trap to the bus station with our bags and what a rickety old bus it was. it soon filled up with people and we found ourselves sitting next to an old chap who worked as a tour guide at Borobudur. Amazingly he told us that only 4 months ago, the Temple was covered in a thick layer of ash when the local volcano erupted and they had to close it for 2 months whilst they cleaned all the ash away by hand. He was very funny and kept us entertained the whole way to Yogyakarta. Once there we transferred to the train station via another bus then had to kill more time as our train wasn’t until 10.00pm. We liked Yogyakarta. It was alive and vibrant especially as theday turned to night. The street vendors, the horse & traps, those mopeds again. It gave it all an air of chaos but fun. At no time in Indonesia have we felt threatened or unsafe and this place was the same. When the train arrived it was smart and clean inside and they gave us blankets and pillows. we needed the blankets as they had the air conditioning turned up so high! So off to Jakarta - the capital of Indonesia and our last port before heading to Vietnam. We had to spend the night at the airport and was asked to leave a couple of times. once we had talked to the security guards for a few minutes, they changed their minds and let us stay. Have you ever spent the night in an airport when it is closed? we mean closed rather than just nothing open. just a few cleaners and some workmen, Lotus 1 Guest House Room rating: 6/10 -fits a need(2nd room lovely - 1st one dingy) Location: 10/10 - perfect for the temple & everything else Staff: 7/10 - friendly and helpful Value for Money: 9/10 - £6, room with breakfast and free tea & coffee all day & bottle of water each when we left - cheap!! Other comments: Perfect for visiting the temple Stay again? yes if in the area & on a budget (2nd room though) Overall experience: 10/10 Java is a beautiful island and the Indonesian people? - wonderful