Blog du Wren

Borobudur and Prambanan

One of the things I was excited about in planning a trip to Indonesia was to check out Borobudur, the largest Buddhist temple in the world. I remember taking a class in college that focused heavily on the temple, its intricate carvings, and the symbolism of, well, everything. Whatever knowledge I gained at the time has since gone far away. All that I retained is that Borobudur is kind of a big deal. So Della and I set the alarm for an ungodly hour, saddled up on our rented scooter, and braved the almost certain death of Yogyakarta's highways to get a glimpse.

In short, it was spectacular. We made it early enough that the temple was covered in and before there were too many people so we could get some . We watched the interpretive video*, ate at the restaurant*, but mostly walked around to look for new angles to take it all in from (always with the , of course).

In the less-than-adequate planning that I did for this trip, I didn't pay much attention to mentions of Prambanan, the nearby temple complex which is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. I figured we'd figure it out when we got here, so that's just what we did. With little in the way of expectations, we again braved the melee of the roads* and struck out for Prambanan.

I don't know that I'd say that Prambanan was more impressive than Borobudur— because the latter had a lot of anticipation and acclaim, both of which usually tend to increase my enjoyment—but it was pretty rad. Esp. after we ran from the hordes at the temple proper and the constant dodging of line-of-selfie-sight, we found the place to be super nice and immensely photogenic.

Two spectacular temples in two unforgettable days*. If you ever find yourself in the area and planning on visiting Borobudur, I encourage you to consider buying the combo ticket for there and Prambanan. I think you'll be happy to did. But maybe consider a taxi to get there instead of scooting. Then you'll be both happy and alive to tell the tale.

Friday January 10 2020

File under: travel, indonesia

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on Sat 11th Jan, 2020 10:23 pm EST Mom said:
Loving these fun posts. Keep ‘em coming.
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