Borobudur

I wake up at exactly 2:53 am, as I’m a bit nervous about missing out on this big day I’ve been looking forward to for so long. The taxi driver, whom we located yesterday at the Sultan’s Palace, has been standing in front of the locked door of our guest house since three o’clock in the morning. What a nice guy! I quietly open and close the door and then we drive to the Sheraton Hotel to pick up Julia. Within the next hour, we drive 40 km through the night and doze off to us.

First we drive to the Setumbu hill, from where we have a view over the wide plain up to the Borobudur temple. If you look closely, you can see the dome of a stupa in the far distance.

Again, the air is still full of ash particles from the recent eruption of Mount Merapi. Good thing we save the money for the early entry into the temple. Finally, we drive to Borobudur Temple, which is one of the largest Buddhist temple complexes in Southeast Asia.

Now, finally, the May issue of the monthly newspaper “Klein Borsteler” from my Hamburg community is being used … I would like to write a small article entitled “Klein Borsteler on Travel” for the upcoming August issue; -)

A total of nine floors tower on the square base of 123 m in length. On the walls of the four tapered galleries are bas-reliefs over five kilometers in length describing the life and work of the Buddha. Above are three concentric rejuvenating terraces with a total of 76 stupas, which frame the main stupa of almost 11 m in diameter.

We have again taken a guide who tells us many stories about the individual reliefs. I’m awestruck considering the dignity of this great temple.

After we say goodbye to our tour guide, we take another hour to stroll around and take pictures of the site. Due to Ramadan and the early hours of the day, there are very few tourists who visit the temple, so that hardly any people run us in front of the camera.

It is very difficult for us to break away from this impressive place. But at 10 am we finally break up with our driver, who patiently waited for us in the parking lot. On the way back to Yogya, we stop at a very nice restaurant, where we have a hearty breakfast – after we had only one tea and banana in the stomach.

Unfortunately, back in my guesthouse, I realize that my credit card is no longer in my wallet. I am deeply shocked! After some thought, I get the idea that when I was getting money at the Sheraton Hotel last night I might have forgotten to take the credit card out of the machine. After a couple of hours of nervousness, my credit card is finally freed from the machine by a bank technician. Thank God!

Later in the evening I meet again with Julia, Melody and Andy to say goodbye. The farewell is not easy – but I’m looking forward to the rest of the days alone in Yogya and on the Dieng Plateau!