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8th Wonder of the World |
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This photo gives an indication of the scale of Borobudor - it is one mighty big heap of stones! |
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Besides the monument itself, the location is fantastic - surrounded by mountains and fields of rice and coconuts. A 100dpi website photo simply cannot do this site justice. |
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At the top of the monument are a number of stone stupa - myth holding the promise of all sorts of nice things if your arm is long enough to reach through the holes and touch the statue of the Buddha inside. Tall Westerners have a decided advantage. |
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This is a close-up of a panel showing the Buddha in Bhumisparcamundra attitude ('calling the earth goddess to witness' by touching the ground with the tips of the fingers). There are hundreds of such panels lining each level. |
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Another part of any trip to Borobudor you may well enjoy are the mobs of Indonesian school children who for some bizarre reason seem to like taking photos of Westerners...the taller and blonder the better.But be warned, they also like taking photos of the ugliest tourists they can find. Which they regard you as you will need to judge carefully! They find fat, hairy Westerners with large noses and in shorts the most grotesque...but then again, don't we all?You can always try out "Satu photo, seribu" on them if they become too pesky but generally they will shyly and nicely approach you and indicate that they would like to photograph you with their friends.You will often hear them refer to you as Londre, a term which goes well back to when only English tourists where game or mad enough to travel the tropics for fun. Oh, and they will also often follow you around just to see what odd things you may do - like eat your nasi goreng lunch with a fork (Indonesians use a spoon). This can present all sorts of opportunity for mischief... | |
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The erotic temple |
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Set high in the hills outside Solo is a small temple famous for it's unusual design (it reminds one of Mayan), some suggestive reliefs and the wonderful view from the top. The temple can be quite easily reached by bemo from Solo (it took about an hour with one change) and you travel through some very pretty countryside on the way. There is a walk from the road up quite a steep hill which on a warm day and at this altitude is a struggle - you will be passed by smiling and bare-footed old women carrying huge loads of firewood on their heads. It was at this point that Grant said "Oh God, I'm out of breath...I need a cigarette". Yeah, like that would really help! | |
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The unusual flat topped design can be (clearly) seen in this photo. One of the sites more attractive features are the large stone turtles dotted around. If only we had a garden big enough... |  |
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And here we are, being subjected to obscene illustrations of blatant heterosexuality.Legend has it that any new bride who can pass over the relief without having her sarong tear is a virgin. The site does not record how many failed the test, or how many new husbands were surprised by any failures. |  |
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Wandering around the site with us was a Yogya family up on a day trip. Their very cute 3 year old daughter kept popping her head around and saying her one word of English "Hello!" - at this stage we were missing the girls a bit and we just fell for her. The family invited us to sit with them and share a snack of chicken sate prepared by a street vendor (yes, even up here men continue to push carts of food around!) and later drove us back to Solo. We found this gesture to be typical of what to expect in Indonesia. |  |
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Inspired Hindu architecture |
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At much the same time as Buddhist Borobudor was being built the ajoining Hindu kingdom of Sanjaya (or Mataram) was building Prambanan. The syles are very different - Borobudor impresses with it's looming bulk while Prambanan is lighter, more florid and reaches delicately skyward. Only very few of the scores of temples scattered on the Prambanan Plain have been restored, but those that have are a 'must see'. | ||
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The different styles between Prambanan and Borobudor are obvious, less so are the cultural influences that lead to these differences. |  |
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A highlight for us was to arrange tickets to see the Ramayana ballet - a extravaganza of traditional dance and music using a cast of hundreds and based on the poetry of Valmiki written 2000 years ago. The performance takes place at night, in an open air theatre with the spires of Prambanan lit up behind. Most impressive, and well worth the Rp20,000 (A$13) to get a seat in front of the stage. Far more expensive seats are available with no better view and even the Rp4000 seats on the sides are worthwhile. The ticket price included transport to and from our hotel in Yogya and is available from the central Tourist Office in Yoyga (or, nearly every hotel). We found the Tourist Office was the best place to get the better seats; they have a seating map to help you and friendly staff. Buying tickets here will also ensure you do see the real Ramayana. Performances run through the Javanese 'Winter' (approx May - Oct). We saw the episode where Rama's beautiful wife Sita was kidnapped by the evil Ravana and was retrieved with the help of Hanuman the Monkey King and his army. The army was made up of a hundred or so small children who were obviously having a ball! Before they came onto the stage you could hear them excitedly laughing and chattering in the wings and even when required to be still during several scenes they just simply couldn't! With their talking and pushing one another and doing their own little prancing around when they were meant to be standing still they did look exactly like a troupe of irrepresible monkeys and quite stole the show. The dancer who played Sita was the personification of the both delicate and controlled high-born Javanese woman and gave a superb performance. Seeing the Ramayana epic is also a great way to hear a large Gamelan orchestra (they are rare as they are so expensive to stage) and to see some fantastic batik costumes from the region. On quiet warm nights in Melbourne we can still hear the music and feel the wonderful soft tropic air on our skins if we close our eyes and drift off...next visit we are going every night for a week to see all the episodes! | ||
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Left: A shot taken during the Ramayana - the quality is poor because we didn't want to use a flash (considering this rude) and the film just wasn't fast enough - we dared not try to get a shot off when all the monkeys were running around!. Also hidden in the shadows at the back is the orchestra.The photo does however give an indication of how good the seating was. |
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A Royal city of high culture |
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Solo, "the other royal city", is one of the cultural centres of central Java and the royal house(s) rivalled Yogya's - though this comparison barely stands today when you consider how the two Kratons are holding up. Yogya has embraced tourism and great pride is taken in maintaining the public buildings. Solo seems to have slipped into a backwater with the Kraton slowly crumbling into decreptitude. There is nevertheless much remaining to impress the visitor and we hope the at times acrimonious dispute over the cost of maintaining the buildings is settled soon. |
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 Directly outside the Kraton proper, it's shabbiness reminding one of a disused country Victorian railway station |
 Inside the Kraton, visitors should note they are required to remove their shoes and walk across the burning hot sand in the compound! |
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Solo is a neat and easy city to visit with a reputation for batik - the traditional batik has a caramel background. We bought some from a stall in the Wet Market run by three middle aged women who had us pissing ourselves laughing as they showed us how their menfolk wore sarongs - their fellow stallholders (all women) were giving them hell and they were giggling like school girls. Nice memory. We stayed at the pleasant Relax Homestay on Gang Empu Sedah (off Jl Gatot Subroto) a walled colonial house with garden and the highest ceilings we had encountered. The huge porch makes a nice place to enjoy a beer or ten with fellow travellers. One horror though is the amplified megaphones from the mosque right next door which wakes you before dawn with ear-splitting wailing (there is not other way to describe it at that time and that close! When heard in the distance it's a quite pleasant start to the day.) Relax is about 2km from the bus/train station so a becak is welcomed - it's sort of downhill so becak man can manage the two of you and your packs. Relax is convenient to the shopping areas etc. | |
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The cultural heart of Java |
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Yoygakarta is for most visitors to Indonesia one of the highlights of their trip and is arguably the cultural capital of Java. The city is reasonably sized , relaxed and steeped in history. Two of Indonesia's most well known historical sites - Borobudor and Prambanan - are within easy reach and Yogyakarta continues it's reputation as one of the places to buy batik. Traditional batik has a creme background and uses indigo blue, chocolate brown and caramel but batik from around Indonesia can be bought here; bargain hard in the Pasar Klewar. Many modern artists also work from the city and produce some very good pieces suitable for framing. Closeby is the town of Kote Gede where some reasonably well made silver work (particularly filigree) can be bought - designs tend to be repetitious and not as modern as can be found in Bali. Yogya also has a kraton containing the palace of the Sultan (in which the present, Hamengkubuwono X, lives), the ruined water gardens or Tamin Sari and a colourful bird market infested with biting red ants (they are bred as bird food). Yoyga visitors may also see some of the best wayang and dance performances and also purchase things such as puppets and instruments. | |
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One of the delights of Yogyakarta is being able to use a becak - rather slow, they are a very peaceful and civilized way to travel. They have right of way on the roads although the first time a becak man heads straight through a busy intersection will probably cause heart failure. This photograph also shows the main Post Office (Kantor Pos) |  |
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Bandstand inside Kraton, Yogyakarta. Why Grant took this photo escapes Dale. Grant says it shows off some nice Dutch glasswork and does look a bit camp sitting in the middle of the Kraton - imagine a dinner party set up inside it. |  |
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Fancy doorway, Yogyakarta. This shot was also taken inside the Kraton. Of course we couldn't resist a "Hmmm, nice entrance you've got there Sultan" type of crack - think we've been watching too many of those horrific Carry-On films! |  |
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 Above:Much of the Kraton is open to the public and the buildings are well maintained - visitors can take comfort in their entrance charges actually being used for the purposes for which they are claimed, this is not all that apparent in many Indonesian monuments. Guides also seem to know what they are talking about (which is even rarer!) |
 Above:The Palace has some fine examples of traditional wood carving and stained glass from Holland |
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 Above: Within Taman Sari are the Royal Bathing pools, though anyone who swam there now - regal or otherwise - would be risking all sorts of thingsRight: Much of Taman Sari remains unrestored but the maze of underground passages and enclosed buildings are quite romantic all the same. This is Dale pretending to be a Sultana attended by her handmaidens. |
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As you can guess, The Sultans of old were big on grand doorways. This one leads nowhere in particular but does have a nice Garuda motif. |
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URL: http://geocities.datacellar.net/WestHollywood/7378/ New format posted January 13, 1998 This page revised 18 August 1998 |