Borobudur - Indonesia

Borobudur – Indonesia

Post published:15 October 2015
Post category:Asia Indonesia Southeast Asia

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The largest Buddhist monument in the world

On the following day after our very packed cultural sightseeing day we had at Prambanan archaeological park and nearby temples, the next obliged visit was to Borobudur temple, a little bit more far from Yogyakarta than the previous one at some 40 kilometres northwest from the city, around 1 hour away. This is the most visited monument in the entire country and also the finest, without any doubt one of the key reasons why to visit Indonesia. No wonder it is listed in the UNESCO World Heritage Site list.

Once again, as it was the case for the Prambanan complex and surroundings, a day is well more than enough to visit the entire place and the nearby minor temples. In fact, half a day is all you will really need in this case, giving you plenty of time to enjoy the site at a slow pace. It was such our case that on this same day we flew to Surabaya later in the late afternoon. In the other hand, of course, there are way too many more temples scattered nearby and all around Yogyakarta that could easily keep you busy for some days should you be looking to visit them, or at least the most important ones.

Borobudur in any case will impress you from the beginning, and the many hundreds of pictures you can take in such short time from every angle is priceless. The most spectacular one is when heading towards the exit when you will get to see the entire temple from far on two of its sides and all of its height and levels. Expect nevertheless thousands of tourists everywhere, unlike much quieter Prambanan.

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Prambanan - Indonesia

Prambanan – Indonesia

Post published:14 October 2015
Post category:Asia Indonesia Southeast Asia

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The largest Hindu temple in Indonesia

Our next move while in our Yogyakarta base would be for spending the entire day visiting multiple temple complexes located just few kilometres to the east of the city; among them, of course, the must-see world renown masterpiece of Candi Prambanan, a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its unique history and grandeur, and great state of conservation due to the many ongoing restoration projects that kicked off already during the Dutch colonial times.

If you are planning on visiting only this temple, then you will end up with plenty of free time to…coming back to Yogyakarta? Well, if you don’t really have much time then it’s fine, but otherwise don’t fall in the mistake most of the tourist do in “forgetting” this area is filled with many other temples as impressive and shocking as Prambanan itself and literally few hundred of meters away from each other! Most of them are inside the Prambanan archaeological park itself. I must admit that I personally did not know about the existence of that many other places around that near until I received an Indonesia guide I ordered online to read through about all the places we were planning to visit and prepare our trip to include as much as possible while around.

On a good side, if you have an entire day for sightseeing outside Yogyakarta then let me tell you it is perfectly possible to visit not only 1 but another 3 or 4 archaeological sites on top! And all without any rush and giving you plenty of time. (more…)

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Yogyakarta - Indonesia

Yogyakarta – Indonesia

Post published:13 October 2015
Post category:Asia Indonesia Southeast Asia

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Yogya: Suitable, Karta: Prosperous

Moving onto the second stop along Indonesia we come to the city commonly known as the center of education in the country: Yogyakarta. Also commonly seen written as Jogjakarta or simply as Jogja. Nowadays, the second most visited city by tourists after Bali due to the proximity to two of the most beautiful and impressive temples in the entire country: Borobudur and Prambanan. But it is not only those nearby temples but for the beautiful yet small old town and much history that can be seen and felt across the city. It is the center of the Javanese culture, and without any doubt, one of the best stop-overs along an Indonesia tour you could ever do.

As said before it is very highly likely that tourists skip the visit to the city as they head directly on mostly organised day tours to the temples, but is worth to spare a day in here, see the cute Dutch fort, Great Mosque and the beautiful Sultan’s Palace. A good note I can give you in here about the palace is that the first building you get to see once you enter the complex is not the true beautiful one. That one lies afterwards, and unfortunately has a limited opening hours; same as is with the Taman Sari (or Water Castle as it is also known). Why would I mention this you might ask? Well, because it happened to us and we were too late there when it was already closed, being able to only see the first buildings that are nothing special unfortunately.

All other sights were not a problem and easy to see them all. What is best is that all of them are within walking reach from each other hence no public transportation involved in between plus saving you lots of time. The city after all is quite small, and one day will be more than enough to visit in full.

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