Yogyakarta, Indonesia
We made it to Indonesia! Our first stop was Jakarta but we only spent enough time there to catch our flight further east to Yogyakarta. It was one of our longest journeys. We spent Christmas Day at SFO waiting to catch our flight to Indonesia only to have a five hour delay causing a domino effect of missed connections. We ended up having an unexpected overnight stay in Tokyo (more on that in a later post). As soon as we got to Jakarta we tried to get back on our timeline. We had already missed our flight to Yogyakarta but we were determined to get there to see sunrise at Borobudur Temple (a UNESCO Heritage Site). After a little bit of hesitation we decided to just get on the next flight out of Jakarta making our already long journey even longer.
It was already late at night when we landed in Yogyakarta. A long van ride to our Airbnb just outside the temple was still ahead of us and we were exhausted. Jami slept in the majority of the way. I kept an eye on Google Maps to make sure we didn't get lost. After an hour of driving we were close to our Airbnb but the driver couldn't find the exact location. The paved streets turned into bamboo-lined dirt pathways with no signs. Our driver had to get out and ask the locals where we needed to go. We were in the middle of what felt like a jungle. It was dark and we couldn't really see anything. We eventually found the Airbnb and our host was kindly waiting for our late arrival. We made arrangements with him to go to Borobudur before sunrise. Which meant we only had a few hours of sleep before we had to wake up again.
A few hours later we were still tired and it was still dark. Our host's driver was about ready to take us to the temple. The temple was only lit by a a few lights at the entrance where we checked in and a few more showing the start of the walking path that we would take to the top where the view point would be. After the paths were no longer lit we were left with the flashlights that they handed out at check in to find out way to the top. Jami and I went as high as we could and found a nice spot facing east (Or at least what I thought was east. It was more like northeast) and waited for the sky to change from a deep black to a dark blue. The sun would be rising within the hour.
As the sky went through the different shades of blue from dark to light I was able to start taking photos of the moment. We could finally see the surrounding area. All of the trees, the hills and mountains in the distance. It was a beautiful landscape. The morning gave us a layer of fog on the ground and it was slightly overcast providing some great light for photos, but less than ideal for sunrise. Nonetheless it was still a wonderful, moody sunrise. The rays of the sun that peaked through the clouds hit the temple, its central dome, and the various Buddha statues.
Jami and I no longer needed our flashlights. We could finally see Borobudur and all the intricate sculptures and carvings that it held. We made our way around the top of the temple seeing as much as we could before making our way down one level at a time. Each level we made another round of the temple seeing the artwork each layer showcased. When we made it out of the temple onto its green lawn. We stepped back (pretty far back) to really take in the size of the Borobudur itself. It was gigantic! It's incredible to think about the work the went into building it. Not to mention all of the detailed art sculpted into its walls. Truly something to not miss. We're glad to forged through and made it here.
Once we had our fill at Borobudur, our driver that dropped us off came back to pick us up and bring us back to the Airbnb. To our surprise, once we arrived we we're treated to a home cooked Indonesian breakfast. It was delicious! We even had a great view of the rice fields that we weren't able to see the night before. After breakfast it was time to pack up, check out, and make our way back to the airport.
That trip to the airport was a unique one. Our Airbnb host drove us to the nearest bus stop where we said our goodbyes and we were on our own. No one spoke any english around us. There are few times in our travels when we find ourselves completely immersed with the locals without another tourist in sight. This was one of those times. The bus was so packed there were people hanging off the side. A woman with a basket told me something in her native language and was frustrated that I didn’t understand. Hopefully it wasn’t important. There was man singing loudly and a child selling fans, battery packs, and other little knick knacks. We finally got to the airport and onto our flight to where we spent the majority of our trip, Bali.
