Jogja

One thing is very obvious once you arrive in Yogyakarta, known as Jogja, is that it loves it's street art. Everywhere you look the city has been painted, taged, and bombed. Filled with an endless array of characters; it's one of the best cities to just get lost walking it's side streets. If you've read this blog at all in the past you know I'm a sucker for a good peice of street art.

What I love about this expression of creativity is how it builds an even greater culture of artists. On one block you can walk past store after store of clothing shops, filled to the ceiling wth local start up street wear brands. I found this city nothing less than inspiring.

Romance of Rama

While in Yogyakarta we couldn't get our fix of the play Ramayana so we also watched it be performed by shadow puppets. While nothing fantastic, it was fun to watch and a nice escape from the heat and traffic outside. 

Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma, oh my!

Just around the corner from Borobudur, is another fascinating temple called Prambanan. This Hindu temple was built in the 9th century, and is the largest temple in Indonesia dedicated to Shiva. The complex consists of 240 temples; however, a lot are in ruins because of earthquakes and volcanoes. The carvings on the three of the tallest temples are details of the epic: Ramayana. It was dedicated to Shiva, Vishnu, and Brahma, all great Hindu divinities.  

One of the things we missed at this site was the nightly performace of Ramayana performed by live actors. At night they light up the remaining temples and perfrom with it in the background. I'm sure it would have been the ideal way to see this show but we saw the show in downtown Yogyakarta the day before, which was fantastic. 

Stup Tacular!!!

The first time I heard and saw pictures of the Borobudur Temple was back in Seattle while talking to my good buddy Henry Sia. I'll admit, I had a good chuckle when I viewed the photo of Henry when he was a kid amongst the 72 stupas at the top of the Temple. While my laughing subsided, my desire to see this temple did not.

Known as one of the greatest Buddhist monuments in the world, Borobudur was built in the 8th and 9th centuries AD during the reign of Syailendra Dynasty. Built in three tiers the lower levels are decorated with intricate relief carvings; while the top level has 72 stupas, each containing a statue of the Buddha. It's no wonder why this is known the world over, it's a stunning piece of architecture. 

Gunung Bromo

When we first arrived in Java after two flights from Flores we were exhausted and had only a few things on our mind. Get our visa extended, and get the heck out of Surabaya. Once we applied for our visa and got that ball rolling we had a few days to fill before it would be completed and back in our hands so we set off to see Mt. Bromo.

At a towering 2,329 meters Mt Bromo is a fascinating active volcano and a huge tourist attraction. Through our homestay we organized a jeep to pick us up at 3:30 am for the ride up to a viewpoint to watch the sunrise. Silly us thinking we might be able to see this with only a few other people that early in the morning. Jeep after jeep passed us early in the morning either packed and or on their way to pick up more people. Once at the top a few hundred people fought for a view of the rising sun. Being courteous we snaped our pics and moved on to other locations.

Once at the parking area of Bromo, called the Sea of Sand, we were hounded by offers to be ridden to the base on horse. We declined and walked through the sand and fog to the long staircase to the top for a view into the smoking volcano. Cassie and I always remind people to be 'hati hati' at the top since there was no railing to save your sleepy butt from falling in. After a few more pics it was time to make it back to our warm bed for a few more hours of sleep.