As much as I like to think I'm a travelling jack-of-all-trades, I'm not. Quiet serene landscapes? OK, maybe I'll snap a few shots, then lets get back to civilisation. It's the city life for me. Pollution. Congestion. Swimmin' pools. Movie Stars. Hard times. The city, for me, is what life is all about. But, there aint no Borobudur or Pramabanam in the heart of the city. I guess that's what travelling is about. Being taken out of your element, and being placed in the middle of countrified hell.
I'm a huge fan of ancient, Indiana Jones styled, temples. Unfortunately most ancient temples seem to be located smack bang in the middle of the country, not the city. Nice planning, guys. When travelling, it's pretty easy to be "templed-out", let alone having to visit the country-side to see them in the first place. That feeling you get when you arrive at another ancient, monumental, temple, and think "yeah, I know this is two thousand years old, but, can we go back to the city and get some fried chicken? Oh look, there's a cat" Templed-out. Borobudur was built around 800 AD. Located near Yogyakarta, Java, Indonesia, it was good enough to visit twice. We did. 504 buddha statues. 2,672 detailed stone relief panels, UNESCO world heritage, spectacular Borobudur sunrise, torrential rain (yes, the camera did survive)... whats not to like? Maybe I would be happy in the country. Nothing fancy, maybe a small farm set within the valley of six or seven volcanoes, with a lush tropical forest and an ancient monument or two. OK, I'm converted. I love the country.
As for the utterly mind-blowing temples, I did manage to take a few photos. For the archaeologists amongst the noplanes readership, here is a technical description of the photos: the tall skinny pointy hindu temples are the temples at Prambanan. The huge blocky temple of bells with buddhas inside is Borobudur. Enjoy.
6 comments:
Dude, good to see you made it to Borobudur...it's amazing. Looks like your having an awesome time, and for that, I hate you :) Be sure to have some Ayam Goreng Kampung while ur indo, nice work with the blog. Peace - Aaron
HEY FUCKER! Glad you found the blog. Indo was fantastic.... much better than expected. Bakso Soto Ayam was a favourite of mine! Say whatup to Paul, and Karol the Kenyan, see you when I return, catch up for a beer then. Nate.
Nice.stop. where next?. stop.
hurry up and get norther. stop.
Hey would-man .. heading norther tomorrow... still a long way from you guys, but we will make it!!! Looking forward to the good old days being re-lived...
label: fried chicken ... you funny
Dude!
Really very nice to see the Temple of Dooms pictures. I will come soon to visit directly.
Visit weekend breaks and plan your weekend!
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