Java, Indonesia - Borobudur Temple

Today is Wednesday, February 28th.  We continue to cruise the South China Sea as we make our way to tomorrow's destination, Brunei.  On Monday we were in Java, one of the larger of Indonesia's countless islands with a population of 120 million (40% of Indonesia's total population.)  There are five Javenese languages among Indonesia's 200 or so spoken languages.  Predominent religions on Java are Muslim (87.2%), Christian (7% of which 4.1% are Protestants and 2.9% are Catholics), Hindu (1.7%), Buddhist, Confucian and other (.9%) and unspecified (.4%).

We arrived very early in the morning in the port of Semarang, a large city that was originally settled over 600 years ago and which boasts a rich Javanese, Chinese, Dutch and Indian heritage.  We set a wakeup call for 4:45 a.m. since we had signed up for a 9-hour excursion to the Borobudur Temple, some three hours' ride away, that was scheduled to depart at 6:15.   First light revealed an interesting but quiet scene on our side of the ship.  (Click on individual photos to enlarge.)



Over 300 of our fellow travelers were also going to Borobudur.  Once we disembarked, Janis and I boarded one of eight big, beautiful air conditioned buses and we all headed out with the usual warm sendoff from some of Viking's excursion staff.




























We immediately encountered major congestion, but noticed that our bus, as well as the other seven, was moving along at a good clip.  The reason:  we had a police escort.  Our guide explained that while agriculture is Indonesia's largest economic driver, the government is determined to do all it can to move foreign tourism to the second position.  (Domestic tourism accounts for 90% of all current tourism and foreign tourism accounts for the rest.)  So the authorities were more than willing to provide a police escort all the way to Borobudur and back and to block interfering traffic, all with sirens blaring.  (Some guests speculated whether security might have been a motivating factor for the escort.  You may remember the terrorist bombing in Bali some years ago.)



We also traveled some of the way on relatively new (six years old) highways with automatic toll booths.







As I was watching the scenery pass by
I noticed at one point this familiar landmark.





There were also any number of places along the way that were selling all types of exotic fruit that is grown in the region and, I think, nowhere else.



Once we got into more rural areas the landscape was often quite stunning.

















We also passed endless rice fields.  Java is currently in the middle of its rainy season, so the rice fields are naturally flooded.  Some of the planting and harvesting of rice is done with automated equipment, but much of it is still done manually.  Note the individual workers in a few of the photos.

Because the drive to Borobudur was almost three hours long, a planned rest stop was included where we were also treated to coffee and snacks.  At all such facilities there are lots of vendors selling all kinds of stuff.  Here are a few photos of the negotiator-in-chief intently doing her business.



We finally arrived at Borobudur.
What a sight!  A UNESCO World Heritage Site, Borobudur is the larget Buddhist monument in the world.  Construction began in 778 A.D. and was completed about 100 years later.  It consists of six stacked square platforms topped by three circular ones, a central dome, and four stairways that lead to the top.  Practically every square inch is covered with sculptural reliefs and there are 504 Buddha statues.  Two million blocks of stone were used in the mortar-less construction.  A thousand people worked on the project each day.  While there is no interior, the temple is considered the library of the Buddha because the carvings tell the story of the Buddha's life.

The view of the entire structure from the ground looks like this:



















































































The carvings, or reliefs, seem endless, but here is a representative sample:

Some of the Buddhas have been damaged.  Causes include the weather and vandalism.  But, damaged or not, they are all remarkable.

There are also a number of other outstnding elements, especially noticeable when one gets to the top.  Notice in the 5th frame down the intense rain in the background.  We were sure that in a matter of minutes we were going to get soaked.  Only a few people had thought to bring raincoats or umbrellas.  As it turned out, we were spared all but a few drops.

Great views from the top of the monument.

When we got back down on the ground we were led across manicured grounds to a beautiful facility for a delicious lunch featuring local cuisine.  It felt like we were at a fancy wedding.  The location also provided great views of the monument against the sky.




After lunch we got back on our buses and began the ride back to the ship, again with a police escort all the way.

Ours was the last tour group to return to the ship.  So within minutes of everyone from the Borobudur excursion getting aboard, the gangway was raised and we were off.  I noticed that there were several watercraft of various sorts sitting at the outskirts of the harbor undoubtedly waiting to come in to offload product, principally oil and coal.