Thursday 20 August 2015
Today was our day to visit the 9th century Borobudur Temple, the largest buddhist temple in the world, which UNESCO calls “one of the greatest Buddhist monuments in the world.”
The monument consists of nine stacked platforms topped by a central dome. Borobudur is decorated with 2,672 relief panels and 504 statues of Buddha. I climbed up to the top level, the realm of Nirvana, to walk among the 72 bell-shaped stupas each with a statue of Buddha inside.
There were beautiful views of the green tropical plains and Javanese mountains surrounding Borobudur Temple. After spending time at the top, it was a steep descent back to ground level.
The group walked to a station and we boarded small horse-drawn carriages for a ride through a local village to visit several ‘cottage industry’ businesses.
The first place we stopped was a rice cakes business owned by an older woman who employed several local women and family members. The entire operation took place in her tiny facility and she sold the packaged cakes to a retailer in Jakarta.
The second home industry we visited was an artificial eyelash business. The proprietor and his wife were present as we watched several young women knot human hair on tiny threads.
We went to the Sekar Kedhaton Restaurant for lunch and afterwards visited their shop and silversmiths.
We returned to the lovely modern Santika Premiere Hotel to rest up for our ‘Farewell to Java’ dinner. Later we walked to the Dowa Honje Mangkubumi Restaurant. Crossing streets in Java are a real challenge because there are few traffic lights and the traffic does not stop for pedestrians.
Near the major intersection of the hotel, we passed the Tugu Yogyakarta monument and saw it brightly illuminated against a dark night. The stark white obelisk was built in 1755 by the Sultan I as a symbol of unity between the people and the authorities in their fight against invaders. The monument was rebuilt in 1889 after the original was destroyed in an earthquake. People believe that a visit to Yogyakarta is not complete without a stop at the monument. We bid our fond farewells to our excellent local tour leader, Josh, and then prepared for our morning flight to Bali tomorrow. Thank you, Josh!
