Today we arrived at the port of Semarang on the island of Java in Indonesia. Semarang is the capital of Central Java province and is primarily an industrial city. Tourism has not yet made a significant impact on the life of the local Javanese people so we got sensory overload as we drove out of the city into the jungle toward our goal of seeing the 1200 year old Buddhist monument, Borobudur. Borobudur is only 56 miles from Semarang but it would take a 6 or 7 hours to get there if we had not had a police escort. The route took us through many small towns and villages and could have been an end
attraction in itself. Picture 5 touring buses running the 56 miles non-stop through truck, motorbike, pedestrian and donkey cart traffic, weaving in and out of traffic jams so we could complete the journey in only 2 hours. We felt uncomfortable about getting the special treatment but the motorcade was greeted along the entire route by waving, smiling people who seemed happy to show off their country. We hope that is the case! We arrived safely at the Borobudur temple and started our climb. Borobudur is a 6 layer monument that is decorated with 2,672 relief panels and 504 Buddha statures. 
The main dome at the top is surrounded by 72 Buddha statues seated inside perforated stupa (they look like bells to us). The monument was 
abandoned in the 14th century and lost to the jungle and layers of volcanic ash until it was rediscovered in 1814 by the British. 
It is every bit as impressive as some of the temples we saw in Egypt last year. An amazing day!
1 comment:
Wow. It's like you go from the riches to the poorest every other day. Such a fascinating trip. You two look great. Thanks for keeping up on the posts. Aidan "rode" his tractor to work in the yard this weekend. Made me think of you. Love ya.
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