Overcharged But loved It!

When planning our trip to Bali, we realized that we would be very close to the ancient temples of Borobodur and Prambanan on Java, so we arranged for a 2-day visit. We toured the temples, and enjoyed a quick look at the crowded city of Yogyakarta (Yogya for short). Borobodur is one of the most magnificent, awe-inspiring temple complexes in the world. Prambanan, just 100 years or so younger, is a wonderful Hindu temple complex nearby. All this and more is on the Indonesian island of Java, just a very short flight away from the tourist mecca of Bali.

US agencies wanted a very high price for a prearranged excursion to Java from Bali, so we decided we'd take our chances and make our arrangements in Bali. In retrospect, this was a mistake, as we probably wound up paying more, and way more than we should have. We did try to arrange a flight ourselves using travel agents in Kuta, Bali (2 different ones), but they told us the flights were sold-out for about every day. This was in August, the peak tourist season, but the number of tourists was down because of the bombings 2-years earlier.

We really wanted to go, so we went through one of the tour agencies with a desk in a hotel. They were able to find space, and arranged a flight-hotel-tour package at a price which we still feel was a total rip-off. But we really wanted to go, so we paid it.

The temples were fantastic, everything we expected. Yogya was an interesting place. Our package included a city tour, which included the sultan's palace, and a very nice batik workshop where our children had fun trying their hand at the batik process.

Yogya was a very interesting city. Traffic included everything from becaks (pedal-powered rickshaw kind of things) to donkey carts, and of course, millions of mopeds everywhere.

On our own, I attended a Wayang Kulit (Shadow puppets) show in the evening, and on a the second day we went hiking near the volcanoes through some interesting terrain, although we weren't really that close to the volcano. (We had a great view of smoke coming out of Mt. Bromo on the flight over from Bali.)

Quick Tips:

If you want a souvenir book of Borobodur, buy it at the airport. The airport book shop had the best prices we saw anywhere. (And a decent selection.)

Bring a hat, it is hot!

We had to ask repeatedly to find out about the Wayang Kulit show, which was at the city cultural center. Someone at our hotel (the Novotel) was finally able to confirm there was a show that night, so I went, leaving the wife and kids in the hotel to rest.

Our hotel was next to a multi-story modern shopping mall, which proved to be a good place to shop in a low-key environment, get some food for reasonable prices, and talk to a couple Javanese.

Best Way To Get Around:

We had a prearranged driver and English-speaking guide. However, after being in the airport, we could tell that it would be very easy to arrange a driver and guide with no problems, either through someone at the airport or through your hotel.

Taxis in the city are amazingly cheap. When I went to the shadow puppet show at night, I think it cost a total of about round-trip to get across downtown.

Borobodur temple is one of the world's best ancient constructions, and should be on your list of places to see in your lifetime. It's not quite as famous as the Egyptian pyramids or Mayan temples, but it is definitely one of the best ancient treasures this world has to offer.

Borobodur was built during the 7th and 8th centuries. It is technically a Buddhist stupa on top of a layered Buddhist shrine. Built onto a hill, its six-square and three-round terraces reach a height of about 35m. All the stones were expertly carved and set without any mortar. As you walk around each terrace, the walls are covered with intricate stone carvings that show stories from the life of Buddha and other moral teaching stories. As you ascend from one terrace to another, the stories and moral tales in stone also take you closer to the Buddhist ideal of enlightenment.

In the exterior walls are niches for hundreds of statues of Buddha in various poses, a different pose for each compass direction. At the top, you are free to wonder at the work that went into creating all this while taking in the views.

We were the only western tourists we saw at Borobodur, or anywhere else on Java during our brief stay for that matter. But there were several Indonesian school field trips at Borobodur, and we had fun talking with the students at the top and taking photos with each other.

Mendut temple is a small temple near Borobodur with a large Buddha statue inside, and a large banyan tree to swing on outside. If you're on a guided tour, it will probably also stop at Mendut, since it is quite close to Borobodur.

Beware: The entrance area and exit paths after Borobodur have many VERY persistent souvenir sellers. On the way in they're selling water, hats, film, and guide books, and on the way out, they sell all that, plus the usual souvenir t-shirts, postcards, etc. They will not take "no" for an answer and will follow you all the way to your car... and a little more. (And this was with a guide to help clear our way.) They weren't threatening in anyway, just very, very persistent. The vendors aren't allowed in/on the temple itself, thankfully.

Borobodur is one of the top ancient constructions in the Orient, worth making a detour to visit especially if you are anywhere close by in Indonesia like Bali.

After asking several times at the hotel desk, I was able to confirm there was an Indonesian Wayang Kulit shadow puppet show on for the night we were in Yogya. Since these shows are famous for going on for a long time, my wife stayed in the hotel with our daughters, since they probably wouldn't appreciate the long show as much and it would have gotten too late after our long day of touring.

The show is held at the city's cultural center. It isn't a huge auditorium, but an intimate setting.

In the show I attended, each night they show another chapter from a Hindu epic. It lasts a couple hours. (I believe in the traditional showings, they'd show the whole epic and it would go on all night long.) But, my two hours was enough, and very enjoyable.

There is, of course, musical accompaniment from the traditional Indonesian instruments, such as gamelans. For part of the show, we viewed the show "backstage," watching the puppet master display the puppets, and then for the remainder, we watched the traditional shadows on the screen.

It was really an amazing experience, and I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. I was a little apprehensive about going out after dark by myself in Yogya, but I just took a taxi there and back. There was no problem getting a taxi for the return to the hotel, and the taxis were amazingly cheap.

While at the show, one old gentleman sat beside me and explained a little of what was going on. It turned out he was a master shadow-puppet maker, and his ancestors had been master shadow-puppet makers to the Sultans. He invited me to come to his shop the next day, but I was unfortunately not able to because of our limited stay in Jogya. The cynical viewpoint is that he was just trying to sell me something, but if so, it was probably the nicest sales job I have ever been given, and I enjoyed the conversation with him.

Tickets were really cheap (and I think they included a soft drink), and the crowd was small. It seemed they were really making a commendable effort to keep this art alive. I hope they are able to succeed, because it really was a unique show.

Prambanan is a Hindu temple complex built around the 8th and 9th centuries A.D., a couple hundred years younger than Borobodur, and quite interesting also.
You're free to wander among the temples at Prambanan, poking into wherever you like. Our guide pointed out the more famous statues, and we explored around a little.

There isn't close to the level of high-pressure souvenir sales as the people at Borobodur.

At Prambanan, there is even a small "train" to take you around the park if you want.