Borobudur weekend

On Friday we each went out to complete further legs of the Great Race. We have more teams enlisted than initially expected so had to add to the list. The good thing about this is that it takes us to places we haven't been before. Cannot reveal details here or someone might get wind of it.  The first points were scored this week for responses by the team captains sharing email and mobile phone numbers with me. Really, it was just to ensure we are in communication with each team on the day but it also helped to raise  interest. Each week in the lead up we will be offering points to be won.

We have had a long weekend because Wednesday was May Day, so that meant our working week doesn't begin until 5pm on Thursday. On Monday morning we went to the airport to catch the 2 hr flight to Jogjakarta. We bumped into June and travel pal Helen who were on their way to Langkawi, just north of Penang, then Pam and David Walters on their way to the Cameron Highlands. Others from work were on their way to Bali, Phuket, Krabi, Kuching ...... but not all departing at the same time. Rarely do people spend a long weekend in Sg.

We were met by Johnny and driven to Borobudur, the site of a Buddhist monument even older than Angkor Wat in Cambodia. Thevi, a friend of mine at Palmerston High Sch told me about it years ago when we returned from our Vietnam and Cambodia holiday and I have always kept it in mind that we should try to visit. Living in Sg makes it very easy to do a weekend there. On the way we stopped for lunch at a restaurant that specialises in mushrooms and had mushroom satays, mushroom omelette and massaman mushroom curry with rice. It was all delicious and the display of the different types growing from the compost bags was really interesting. Some look more like flowers than fungi.

We checked into the Manohara Hotel which we had booked because it is right on the site of the monument.  It was initially built to house the restoration party and is now a very impressive hotel. We were greeted with a welcome drink of tamarind juice and soda water stirred with a lemon grass stalk which was just delicious and gamelan music. 

 view from hotel

We did a 2 hour tour in the late afternoon with Jamal, finishing just before sunset. The monument was built around a hill, there is no internal chamber. It took 3 generations to complete between the years 800 and 1000 AD. The bottom 6 levels are square-based and the top 3 are circular. Apparently there is a strong influence from India and Hinduism reflected in the design. These religions have existed in such harmony over time. Then the major restoration was undertaken while the majority faith of the country was Islam. Jamal explained a lot of the intricate stone carvings; those on the bottom levels depict desire, fables with animals as the characters and lessons about greed and power and envy, etc. 

As you progress up to the middle level you move through the reliefs depicting the story of Buddha's life and the teachings of resisting temptation. 

Finally the top layer is Nirvana.  There are no reliefs there, just 72 stupas each housing a statue of the Buddha with specific mudras (hand positions) depicting the 5 cores of life that people should aspire to: calling the earth to witness, understanding blessings, meditation, living without fear and the most important of them all teaching. I particularly like the stupas at the top levels which seem to have such feminine forms, like the Olgas, you just want to rub your hand over them.  

In all there are 504 carvings of Buddha here, add the numerals 5, 0 and 4 and you get 9 (also 7 and 2 for the stupas). 9 is the number of infinity in Buddhism. Not long after the monument was completed, perhaps 500 years the population converted to Islam and at some point a volcano erupted and it was buried in ash, like everything else around it.  Many local people died or moved away to other locations as they were unable to produce food. The monument was forgotten and it wasn't until 1812 that a farmer was digging and discovered it, alerting Sir Stamford Raffles who was the British Ruler of the time. The major restorations undertaken in collaboration with UNESCO  have taken years and a lot of damage and theft mean some statues are not complete but it is very impressive. 

One of the most amusing things that happened to us as we ventured up and around the different tiers was when locals  plucked up the courage to ask us to pose with them for photos. They were delighted when we obliged. Apparently they are tourists themselves having travelled from other districts where foreigners are very rarely encountered. We are a novelty and an opportunity to try out the English they all learn at school.

Arriving back at the Manohara we located the closest cold Bintang fridge and had a quick refreshing beer. Then I had just enough time to do a quick scoot around the grounds before dark to look for birds. The most interesting thing I saw was not actually a bird at all but a man collecting the juice from the palm trees to make palm sugar (and perhaps toddy though I didn't press that point since Muslims don't drink alcohol). I wouldn't have had a clue what he was doing, as he had no English, except learning about this in Sri Lanka in March.

 

palm flower encapsulated in cut bamboo length to collect nectar

We enjoyed an early dinner in the open air restaurant at the hotel and then had
an early night as we will return to the stupas for sunrise. How did we manage to book ourselves up for 2 sunrises within a week? First The ANZAC Day Dawn Service and now this. That's just ridiculous, we rarely see sunrise with the hours we keep theses days.

We were advised to rise at 4am for a 4:30 departure but in retrospect we didn't need to go for another hour as sunrise was more like 6am. Wish we had known that before we ordered the early morning wake up call and made the trip under torchlight.  However, we both appreciated the opportunity to sit and soak up the atmosphere between the stupas in the early morning light. 

 

A very popular destination these days

After returning to the Manohara for breakfast I watched an audio visual presentation about the history and cultural significance of the monument and Eric had a cat nap. We had just enough time for a 2 hr morning cycling tour before checking out. We began at Omars house from which he also operates an art gallery, there are about 30 artists in his collective. His art features caricature animals with comical smiles. One artist we were particularly intrigued by uses a lit cigarette to burn the image onto the canvas. Quite a unique style and very detailed result. The tour took us along the village paths that connect the homes to the plots of land where they grow the fruit and vegetables. The is an abundant range. 

We cycled across a road through rice paddies where they were planting out the new seedlings in the same fashion we watched 30 yrs ago in Malaysia, bent from the waist and up to their knees and elbows in mud. We did see a pedal driven threshing machine though, so some parts of the process are becoming mechanised. On the road there were sheets of rice drying and also the palm fibre used for making glass noodles. Rice is grown all yr round here if the paddi can be irrigated from the river in the cooperative supply lines like we saw in Bali. If not, then during the dry season which is just beginning, the farmer will grow tobacco. Sadly, smoking is still very popular here. 

 Looks like Nepali flat

Another diversion took us into a tofu factory where we watched the process from the soya beans being pressed to fried balls from which they make crackers. Give me potato chips anytime, these were very bland. I was a tad wobbly on the big classic touring frame cycle. No trouble on the roads if there was no traffic but that is rare and the paths we took often just lead between houses where everyone wanted to say hello and wave. I had to keep one eye on the potholes and speed bumps and one hand in the air waving. We really enjoyed the chance to see the village at this speed and interact with the friendly locals.

 Tofu production

 

Original homes made of wood and bamboo can deal with some earthquake shake but people are striving to build now with brick and cement. It is not so forgiving.

Back at the hotel we had time for a shower and then checked out as Johnny turned up to take us to Plawangan Turgo Nature Reserve, Kaliurang so we could wander about looking for birds. This reserve, on the southern slopes of volcanic Mt Merapi, is over 330 hectares and home to tall trees like banyans and pines which create a shady canopy as you walk and food and shelter for many birds, some endemic to this island alone. You quickly appreciate the cooler temperature which comes with being this high. Both Plawangan and Turgo are  hills that reach to about 1200m above sea level.  But still, once you start climbing you are wet and sweaty in no time at all. Other animals that can be found roaming the Plawangan-Turgo Nature Reserve include deer and Black  Lutung as well as  Macacas monkeys. Apparently you can also find black panther too but nobody told me that before I took to the trails in my thongs. I'm sure they are very rare though. 

 More Nepali flat

On Plawangan's western side we came across a number of large, man-made caves and tunnels, said by locals to have been made under the orders of Japanese military administrators during World War II. We were thrilled to find 3 new birds to add to our list but we never did make it to the end of the trail which we guessed must give you a good outlook to Mt Merapi. The track just became too difficult and we were conscious that even when we turned back we would have been walking for 2 hours. And we still haven't had lunch yet.  What a full morning.

 Mt Merapi

 

A better view of Mt Merapi out the plane window

We returned to Jogjakarta and checked in to the Grage Ramayana in the Malioboro district. After a very quick clean-up we made it to a little cafe across the street for lunch at 3pm. We found  Chicken Cap Cay (Hokkien pronunciation Chap Chai) on the menu which was one of my favourite meals Ah Bouy cooked for us at Butterworth. Cost us all of Sg $10 including 2 large bottles of beer. We slept and caught up on emails or wrote up this blog in the afternoon then had an early dinner and early night.

Wednesday morning Johnny took us to Prambanan Hindu Temple, about 30 mins through town. Jogja is the cultural and education centre of Indonesia so there are hundreds of tertiary students on motorbikes and scooters like swarming mosquitoes on the roads. The 9th Sultan of Java (the one before the current one) made an agreement with the Govt that free tertiary education be provided for any students in Indonesia to travel from the other 13,600 islands here to Jogja. At first this was made available in his palace and now there are something like 183 colleges and universities here. All the students live in boarding houses which in itself helps create employment.

 They have to be fed too

The Prambanan  temple was quite different in style to Borobudur being Hindu and built as Borobudur was being finished. Once again it has suffered from earthquakes and volcano ash however it has never been completely buried and forgotten. The restoration goes on and in the main temple of Shiva you have to wear a hard hat.  In the grounds we saw sooty bulbuls, sunbirds and spotted doves. Gosh it was hot that morning, we had to keep ducking for shade. 

 See Mt merapi in the background?

Next we visited the Sultans Palace. He still resides in the private quarters when he is town but the rest is open to the public so we were able to be guided through the various collections and museums devoted to past sultans. The current sultan is 66 and has 5 daughters so without a male successor the title will fall to his younger brother on his death.

 

We were just in time to catch a puppet show

 The musicians

 

Ornate decorations combining Hindu, Buddhist and Islamic colours and designs

 The daily tea ceremony

 

The security forces are not too busy today

Then we drove through an area that was once a community of fine batik designers but this tradition is dying out. We visited one local batik factory and I bought another sarong at special, special price. 200,000 rp about $25. At last we drove by a banana seller on a corner and I was able to buy a hand of king banana, the prized type. About 20 of them for 20,000 rp, $2.50. Then we stopped for lunch of grilled chicken and rice with iced lemon tea. Johnny dropped us at the Melia Purosani Hotel where the rare Javan Sparrows nest between Sept and Dec. We couldn't find any today but were very impressed by the lobby and gardens so if we ever do return we will stay here. We walked home along Malioboro Street which is famous for shopping. I managed to be talked into buying a batik print along the way. Something to brighten up the walls of Cherry Hill. We managed to resist the offers of trishaw rides, cheap shoes, bags, t-shirts, junk jewellery and batik fashion. After the last 2 days of walking and step climbing we decided we deserved a massage so both of us took the opportunity to try Javanese Traditional Styles at Monggo Relax across the road from our hotel. I chose reflexology foot and back for 90 mins at 75,000 rp and Eric indulged in the 2 hr Javanese massage with jasmine  oil including back, front, ear candling and face tapping.  Fabulous!
Thursday morning was another early one, we flew back to Sg arriving about 10:30am so with plenty of time to unpack and be ready for work at 5pm.