Part of the decision to go to Bali was also to take in the sights of Borobudur which have long been on my bucket list. We had an early morning flight with Garuda to Yogyakarta lasting about an hour and were picked up by our pre-arranged driver to take us to the Borobudur Temple compounds near Magelang.
Despite the short distance, due to the amount of traffic and conditions of road the journey itself took quite a while and required a toilet stop which opened the girls eyes to the sanitary standards of public toilets. As Emily decided she needed help to go toilet it also meant that I had to help her squat which resulted in a stream of warm “water” running down my arm. Nothing that a bottle of water couldn’t wash away.
We chose to stay in the Manohara Resort which was more expensive than surrounding accommodation but was situated on the actual temple grounds giving unlimited access to the Temple itself. This turned out to be a great decision as it meant that we could go back to the rooms whenever we liked and when the kids got tired, whilst also allowing me plenty of time to go and visit the temple from any number of different points and at differing times of the day.
Borobudur is one of the world’s largest Buddhist temples having been built in the 9th century as a shrine to Lord Buddha and a place for Buddhist pilgrimage. Due to a number of restoration efforts it was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The first day’s visit was pretty cloudy but it did nothing to detract from the amazing beauty of the temple itself seen from Dagi Hill.
Seen up close the temple is even more amazing with extremely detailed carved relief stones making up the temple, along with the bell shaped stupas and numerous statues of the Buddha. Needless to say the photos simply don’t do it justice.
Also adding to the allure of the temple is its setting among the volcanoes of Java.
Having seen enough during the daytime via a number of visits, I also took time out to visit again at sunrise. I didn’t opt for the sunrise package, which allows entry to the temple itself before the other fee paying tourists hoping that I might somehow be able to blag my way up there early. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case and I had to wait for sunrise to be completed before being given access to what was a wonderful morning and some surreal colours in the mist.
As Indonesia’s most visited tourist attraction I never felt a sense of serenity and this also applied to the dawn visit where the monument was crowded with loads of tourists all trying to get that perfect shot. Or in more cases, that perfect selfie. So, should I have gone for the sunrise tour? To be honest, I’m not sure it would’ve made any difference, however, if we hadn’t been staying on the temple environs with immediate access, I would’ve been more swayed to doing so.
I definitely felt two days were required to get a better feel for the place and in our own time. Whilst the kids got a bit bored there were some elephants for them to have a look at and there’s plenty of space to run around on the grounds with no traffic to have to contend with which was also an added bonus. Despite not having a pool for two days, they still managed to cope with “Daddy’s part of the holiday”.
Tribe Travelling 