A City and a Bunch of Buddhas

Borobudur

After our travel experience we finally arrived at Borobudur looking only a little worse for wear.  We grabbed a hotel on the actual grounds of the temple so that we could go up and see the sun set that day.  We made the pilgrimage to the temple and is was amazing. Standing at the top of the temple looking at the lush rain forest around us watching the sun set thinking about the people who designed, built, worshiped in this holy place in 800 AD is a humbling experience.  There are over 400 Buddhas in the temple facing east, west, north and south with five different hand expressions. There are people from all over the world sitting at the top of the temple as the sun is disappearing over the horizon it is fascinating to be in a place that brings so many cultures of people together I think it is truly what Buddha was trying to achieve.  Many of the people were Indonesians on holiday who all wanted to take pictures with the Westerners.  After the sun rose on the way back to the hotel an grandmotherly hijab wearing woman grabbed my hand and danced with me.

That evening we were entertained by a traditional puppet show, music and dancing.  The instruments were spectacular looking, like beautiful cooking devices of various sizes, but the sounds that came out were beautiful. The next morning I visited the temple again there were much less people and it was peaceful to look at the images that told a story carved into each layer of the temple.

Lindsey Cutting a Rug

Her Admirers

Relaxation

We then traveled by bus back to Yogyakarta and grabbed a guest house in a cute little section of town that is lined with great coffee shops and restaurants.  We lounged by the pool, read, got dinner and began to feel like we were on a proper vacation!!!!  The next day we set out to explore Yogyakarta we roamed through the Batak stores and bought items from the street vendors.  Lindsey rocked out with the street band as a group of giggling students video taped her.  Last night we enjoyed some wine, western dinner and some local cover band.  All in all a pleasant stay in this neck of Sumatra.