The Buddhist Monument at Borobudur
As you may be able to guess if you've followed earlier trips, today could be summarised as "Jan looked at a load of old temples".
I was woken at 6.45 a.m. by an Alarm Call because my travelling alarm was in the suitcase which Emirates had kindly mislaid. I didn't spend long at the 'Sarawati' but the hotel was very well-appointed. Click for my hotel pictures. The hotel served a very decent breakfast, my guide arrived as I was checking-out and we set off for the short drive to Borobudur.
It's supposed to be the largest Buddhist site in South East Asia and technically it's not a 'temple' because you can't go inside - it's a 'stupa'. But quite a stupendous stupa, as I hope my Borobudur photographs show. It was a fascinating visit and uncrowded when we arrived, but starting to get busy when we left.
A tour of a typical Indonesian village wasn't what I expected and I found it fascinating. See pictures.
For good measure, we managed to take in a couple of small temples in the Borobudor area - first Pawon (Pawon pictures) then Mendut (Mendut pictures) before stopping at a silverwork factory. This was next to a restaurant where I had the set lunch (included in the tour price) all alone but for seven waiters and waitresses in an open-sided area arranged for about 200 diners! After checking out the handicraft shop and furniture warehouse, we carried on to my hotel for two nights, Joglo Plawang. I was "well impressed". Perhaps my Joglo Plawang pictures give an idea why, although they don't show the friendly and welcoming staff.
