Ancient Temples in Yogyakarta

We flew from Medan to Jakarta for a flying visit, which consisted of basically eating, walking to a park which was closed, then sleeping in a capsule/pod hotel. In hindsight, we should have flown direct to Yogya, but the price of the flight to Jarkarta was about half, so it was definitely worth the savings. Plus the train the next day (despite being 8 hours) was very scenic and gave us a chance to see the countryside (and Jakarta), even if it was brief.

The train was surprisingly comfortable, and served food. We learned that the Ayam (chicken) pop mie (which is just an Indonesian pot noodle basically) is accidentally vegan, as the “chicken” is soya pieces and it only has chicken flavourings in it… So for 8 hours on a train, we had 2 pop mies each!! Plus lots of snacks we got before. It’s Dave’s new favourite food I think haha

We arrived in Yogyakarta and checked into our guesthouse Lawang Yogya, which was fine, but had a pull out twin bed which Dave got relegated to. This was one of the only places he picked haha, so he had to live with his decision. But other than that it was quite nice.

The following day we had pre-booked tickets for the biggest Buddhist temple in the world, Borobodur. It’s a place I have wanted to visit for a very long time, bucket list kind of place. Visitors to the site are controlled now, but still 1,200 people visit per day!! And most days sell out. We managed to get a 9:30am slot which was perfect.

We got a grab taxi from our hotel and entered the area. The ticket includes a guide, as well as some cool slippers you’re supposed to wear to help protect the site and show respect (a lot of Buddhist places you should remove shoes). We were on the site for about 2 hours and learned all about the temple, but I’d also done a lot of reading before going. The site is very impressive, built like a step pyramid on a hill in the shadow of mount merapi, which Dave tells me is the most active volcano in Java.

In fact, Borobudur was “lost” for a long time as it was buried under layers of volcanic ash, most likely from an eruption of Mount Merapi. Buddhism was popular in Indonesia from the 7th to the 10th century, but by the 14th century, Islam started to take over, and Borobudur was abandoned, allowing the jungle to reclaim it and volcanoes to cover it with ash. It was only in 1814 when Sir Stamford Raffles, the British Governor of Java, heard about the site from a local and began the first excavation.

The carvings depict a journey toward enlightenment, with the bottom layer showing scenes of human temptations and desires. As you ascend, the reliefs transition to more spiritual themes, symbolizing a path toward enlightenment. The top levels feature the famous Buddha statues, each seated within open stupas, representing the final stage of enlightenment.

On the way back to town, we stopped at a smaller temple just down the road, Mendut, which had a very impressive 200-year-old banyan tree on site and a striking temple with prangs that reminded me of the Angkor Temples.

That night we met up with Dave’s old work friend and his partner, who coincidentally were here at the same time. It’s such a small world really haha!

The next day we both started to feel a little ill, like we were coming down with a cold… I think unfortunately that’s just public transport, either flying, getting trains etc, you’re bound to get something eventually. But by the afternoon we felt well enough to head to Prambanan temple complex, which was actually 4 temples together mostly Hindu this time, but there was another Buddhist temple too, Candi Sewu. I think this one was our favourite because it was less restored, so felt more authentically ancient haha, plus there was literally nobody else there, so we had it all to ourselves.

Yogyakarta was great for vegan food too, and we ate at a couple of very nice places, our favourite being Black Forest Cafe, which did the nicest vegan rendang I’ve ever had! We went there twice!

Unfortunately though, the other main activity we had planned didn’t really work out, as we really wanted to try and see Mount Merapi. There are countless viewpoints in Yogya and also in the north, such as Bukit Klangon and Jurang Jero, and even Borobodur itself. But every day we were in Yogya was raining, usually clear in the morning then raining by afternoon. And even in the morning there was haze, so we actually never saw Merapi, not even once(!), Dave was pretty disappointed 😞 even going out early one day, but seeing nothing… I hope we will get other chances to see volcanoes here! In fact, next stop is the Bromo, Tengger, Semeru National Park in East Java, which is supposed to be the best chance to see clear skies for sunrise over Bromo… Fingers crossed 🤞🏻