Borobudur Weekend (Day 1) - Prambanan temples

To be exact it was a 3 days 2 nights trip with my college besties. We have been talking about going on a trip together, just me and the guys, for ages. With the crazy timelines we keep in our careers, we took the leap when a window opened.

Airasia flies directly to Yogyakarta once a day and it takes about 2 and a half hours. The plane was almost empty. That's really rare for a low budget carrier. When the plane landed in Adisucipto, I was surprised at the size of the airport considering that it supported international flights.

There are 2 lines for immigration. Yup, TWO! For ASEAN travelers, a visa upon arrival is not required. However if you are coming in from other countries, there is a small visa counter on your right once you step into the terminal before immigration wooden counters.

The luggage conveyor belt comes after that. At Adisucipto International Airport, its not a luggage carousel. The luggage rolls out and lands with a plop on the floor. Passengers will surge in to grab there bags. If there are a few flights coming in at the same time, it is just mayhem. Try to get there as soon as possible after immigration to avoid someone accidentally taking your luggage away. I tried to take a photo the conveyor belt but every couple seconds or so, someone trying to get to their luggage, would bump into me.

My friends who had arrived 30 minutes earlier were waiting for me outside. Since we live in different countries, we decided to fly in separately and meet upon arrival. Our assigned tour driver, Mr. Budi, was waiting for us patiently. He's a nice, quiet and kind chap (I somehow always find myself with quiet drivers) who practices safe driving.

*short initial review on my tour guide*

If anyone wants a safe, reliable tour operator, contact Borobudur Tours & Travel, Pak Wiedy Antara. He is very professional in handling my multiple changes in itinerary (I blame the indecisive male company of my group),  answered my emails and paranoid questions promptly and basically assured us that everything would be taken care of. I have to admit, I had my reservations based my last experience with a tour/driver agency. Although Borobudur Tours prices are not the cheapest around, but it was definitely worth it.

*end of review*

Since the itinerary has already been sorted out, we headed off to Prambanan Temple - one of the largest Hindu temple complex within South East Asia. On the way there, Mr. Budi put in a call to Pak Wiedy and passed me the phone. Pak Wiedy assured us again that everything was planned and wished us a pleasant time in Yogyakarta.

The Prambanan Temples were half an hour away from the airport. Mr Budi parked the car and led us to a air-conditioned building to meet our guide, a jovial elderly man.When we were ready, he led the way in. We were just in awe.

9th century architecture. How did they get the stones way up there?!

It dawned on us that we would be travelling to UNESCO sites learnt during high school.

There are over 500 temples within the Prambanan Temple compounds and 240 temples at the Prambanan Temple. The 3 main temples within the central compound represent the Trimurthi, dedicated to Brahma (the Creator), Vishnu (the Keeper) and Shiva (the Destroyer).

Our guide told us that we came at the right time as the Shiva Temple had just finished its restoration works from the previous volcano ash debris.Restoration works has been on-going on these 9th century mega structures since 1918. As an earthquake and volcano prone area, the conservation team have to be on their toes to make sure these buildings will continue the test of time and elements. If you see a white dot, that means the stone was not part of the original structure and was placed to replace broken ones.

Interlocking stones

Replacement stones are either obtained the smaller temples destroyed by earthquake or new volcanic stones cut to fit. With the numerous temples and missing parts, the Indonesian government has decreed that only temples with 75% of its original masonry will be restored. Some damage left from the May 2006 earthquake has been left untouched as a reminder that day.

This is supposed to be a mythical creature but it looks like a smiling shih tzu

4 chambers within the Shiva temple house Shiva as Mahadeva, his consort Durga, Agastya and Ganesha. Under the Shiva statue, archaeologists found a well which would provided some sort of water feature for the statue.

In front of the Shiva temple, the Nandi bull, Lord Shiva's vehicle has a temple of its own. Flanking it are the statues of Chandra, the sun god with his 10 horses and Sundra, the moon god on a carriage with 7 horses. The temples housing Brahma's and Vishnu's vehicles, Hamsa (a swan) and Garuda, were empty. I guess looters have a more difficult time moving out a bull that weights a few tonnes.

Bas reliefs depicting scenes from Ramayana covered the temples. It was really like a reading a picture book. The story starts at the east entrance and it goes around clockwise.

Our guide informed us that there were stories about the stone carvers chipping away at their assigned blocks of stone, and there was an inspector who went around checking on the finished work. Any imperfections were discarded and the carvers would have to start over.

He lead us to another temple *ahem* that is more suited to the mature audience. Instead of carvings of heroes, we were presented with scenes of the bedroom and sexual preferences. Passages from the Kama Sutra were etched into the temple walls. I'm not a prude but I didn't think it was right to photoraph veyouristic acts, no matter how old they are or how bizarre. Imagine huge appendages, male-male, male-female, 1 male - multiple females, male with animals. Yup, someone sure had a kinky imagination. PC made a comment that this is an ancient porn manual.

View of the temples from the garden grounds After the temple tours, our guide lead us through the temple gardens. The shade was welcome after the sweltering heat. The rains had not come for the year.  We chatted with him as we walked along. Most Prambanan temple guides are not rookies. The guide we were with has been doing this job for the past 15 years! No wonder his presentation and photo skills were good. During our tour there, we saw other guides conversant in Japanese, Spanish and German. After the gardens, we had to pass by a tourist market to get to the exit. We ignored them and power-walked our way to the exit. Luckily my sneaker sole held out until we reached the entrance. It started coming off when we were climbing up and down the stone stairs at the Prambanan temples. Mr. Budi was waiting for in the the car. I asked him to stop by a convenience store or something for me to buy super glue. He asked what was the matter and offered to fix my shoe for me. Luck had it that his brother was a cobbler! *thumbs up for Budi!* It was very nice of him to make that offer. On the way to our hotel, we stopped by a local warung to have lunch. I think it was meant for tourists based on the scenic rice field set behind the dining area and the price it cost. It was still affordable for us but definitely pricey in IDR. Portions were small and at best I would say that's more of a light in between meal snack rather than a full lunch. We had bebek goreng (it wasn't plucked properly!) fried eel with chili and stir fried kangkong.

If you see this view, give this eatery a miss.