Today was a pretty spectacular day, and it’s only 2 pm.
We woke up early again this morning, packed and had breakfast. We met up with Ary and Dichi and waited for our driver to take us from Wonosobo to Borobudur Temple. If you’re not familiar, just Google it – it’s a place that is on the list of Unesco World Heritage sites. It’s an 8th-century Buddhist Temple, the largest in the world.
When the car pulled up, I was a little concerned, as it was a compact mini-van. However, with a little ingenuity, we were able to fit all four of us plus our luggage without being too uncomfortable. The road was curvy, and much more scenic than the northern route we took to get to Wonosobo two days ago. It cut through the mountains, and the traffic was much lighter but no less chaotic. By the time we got to Borobudur we were ready to be out of the car for a while.
Borobudur Temple is the most visited tourist spot in Indonesia. However, today was lightly attended, probably because it was the Monday morning after a holiday weekend. Whatever the reason, we were grateful. As we got out of the car, we were swarmed by some merchants. I had just finished saying we needed to get hats, and the first lady that walked up to us was selling hats. She had exactly the hat I wanted, and offered on to me for 150,000 rupiah. I said that was too much, and she asked how much. I offered 100,000 ($7 US) and she accepted gleefully. Ary told me later that I paid too much, and I should wait for her to help bargain. However, I was pleased with the deal because I saw nearly the same hat in Singapore for $35 two days earlier. Diana also bought a hat to protect her from the sun.
It seemed quieter and more serene as soon as we cleared the security checkpoint on the way in. This was the first time since arriving in the country that I experienced wide-open spaces and large walkways. It’s also the first time I was able to get a significant walk and some real exercise in since arriving. We took some pictures as we approached. The place was breathtakingly beautiful. The weather was nearly perfect, in the mid 70s, and there was a nice breeze. We stopped on the way up to check out the carvings and take more photos. We climbed to the top and admired the view. A local tourist asked Diana if she could get a picture with her. I figured she looked like Meryl Streep in her sunglasses and hat. I got a good chuckle out of it.
We worked our way back down after admiring the carvings and statuary for a while. The walk back was much different than the walk in, as we had to go through the market area, which was a maze with stalls and tarp on the roof. It was like Indonesian small-business Ikea. Shopkeepers would call out to us to ask us to purchase their goods. I used the phrase, “lain kali” a lot, which means “another time,” the polite way of saying “no”. If they persisted, I said “tidak,” which is “no” directly.
We emerged from the covered stalls to see more stalls, these uncovered. They reminded me of sales tents at a carnival or festival. There were horses pulling carriages, and a trolley hauling tourists. We made our way back to the parking lot and departed for lunch.
The restaurant was only a few miles from the temple, and had delicious food. One thing that unnerved me a bit was that the waitress came to the table and stood there until we ordered, rather than giving us time to look and coming back. After lunch we hit the road to Yogyakarta.
After about 45 minutes, we arrived at the Hyatt. Immediately after turning into the lot, we were in another world. The Hyatt houses a golf course and is one of the most luxurious properties I’ve ever visited. When we exited the van, we were given necklaces made from jasmine flowers. Our luggage was taken and we were escorted across a stone walkway suspended over a large koi pond. We entered the lobby and were given a seat while they processed our visit. They dropped off cold towels and tropical fruit juice for us to enjoy.
Once the rooms were ready, they brought the keys to us and shared some information about hotel amenities. We were then personally escorted to our rooms where we had some rest and I wrote this post. I apologize for the orientation of the photos – I’ll fix that when I get home.
Borobudur! I’m so glad you visited there, and even more glad that you got to do it with Ary and Dichi.
The young folks in our family have sometimes chastised us too for being out of touch with reality when it comes to bargaining. I think you did very well!