#38 - Ancient Temples and Caves in Yogyakarta, Java

A boat transfer from the Gili Islands back to Bali, and then a flight to the island of Java. We came to Yogya (Jogja) to see the famous 9th century Hindu and Buddhist Temple complexes of Borobodur and Prambanan.

 Highlights:

1. Prambanan Temple
2. Jomblang Cave Trip
3. Borobodur Temple
4. Airbnb adventures
5. The cheapest street food ever

​
(click below right to read more . . .  )

​Highlights:

1. Prambanan Temple – We visited our first of two ancient Indonesian temples. Prambanan was built in the 9th century and dedicated to many Hindu gods. We took a guide who rather than talk to us about the temple and its construction and abandonment and subsequent rediscovery, spent an hour talking to us about Buddhist and Hindu spiritualism and religious philosophy. He loved that the temple was ornamented with a scrolling "book" that kept the history of the Hindu legends, and he was certainly excited to share the moral lessons with the children, especially as it pertained to smart phone use and obeying parents (apparently Indonesian kids are also tied to their smartphones). The temple was beautiful, especially when backlit by the colorful sunset.
2. Jomblang Cave Trip – The following day, we woke up nice and early to drive out the Jomblang cave. The cave is a massive underground cavern accessible only through a 30-meter deep steep-walled sinkhole. The local tour provided harnesses to drop us by rappelling rope into the sinkhole. We then walked into the cave wearing our rubber boots and plodded through the thickest, ooziest, squelchiest mud I have ever had the joy of experiencing. At the end of the underground trek, we opened upon a scene which included a roaring underground river lit by streaming rays of light filtering down through a separate hole in the roof. It was a heaven-like view. Our trip back up and out of the hole was literally done by harnessing back up, 2-by-2, and being pulled up the 30-meter cliff on a rope and pulley powered by 20 local Indonesian men hauling on the rope, walking down a sidewalk. A tally maker was counting how many people they pulled up, so they could be paid per passenger.  No motors or winches of any kind . . . just inexpensive local labor - and what looked like quite the fun social gathering for the men, one of which had to be at least 80 years old.
3. Borobodur Temple – The Borobodur Temple is the largest Buddhist temple in the world, constructed in the 9th century. It was a massive stone pyramid-like structure, with multiple floors to ascend, and a beautiful view of the surrounding jungle. We stayed until sunset and enjoyed incredible views and colors again. We also played a game of “sardines” on the top three floors, in and out and around all the stupas and Buddha statues. It is a piece of ancient architecture, like Angkor Wat in Cambodia (where we also played sardines some 8 years ago), that really puts the island of Java, Indonesia on the world tourist map, and I’m glad we finally took the time to go see it as a family.
4. Airbnb adventures - We first arrived in Yogyakarta after 10:30pm and then hopped into 4 taxis to go the address of our Airbnb homestay. Upon getting close, the taxis drove in circles for a few minutes before we finally found the non-descript door, and pulled the key out from under the planter, and walked into the local Indonesian home. Airbnb is always a hit or miss proposition, even with pictures and online descriptions, you never quite know what you’re going to get. This place was interesting, to say the least. There were two bedrooms on the ground floor, with mattresses laying side to side and end to end on floor. Another bedroom was already occupied with a mystery lady, who we were unaware would be staying with us and who didn’t speak any English, but who helpfully pointed out another bedroom upstairs, which we otherwise never would have found. The room was upstairs and around the corner, through an odd sound-proofed room, outside on the balcony, and hidden away underneath another set of stairs, with another 4 mattresses laid out. There was no shower or working tub, so we all got very creative at showering ourselves down with a washcloth and the toilet sprayer. The inner sanctum had a very strange empty fish pool with an open ceiling and a bridge to nowhere up against the back wall, as well as a rather dirty kitchen, a large TV and some sofas. There was also a pool table and a ping-pong table, which were fun to use, but all of these would have been much more enjoyable if the home was air conditioned and closed off to mosquitoes. So, while we ate and gathered, we sweated and dripped and swatted and fanned. But luckily, the 3 bedrooms were each air-conditioned, so they became our welcome sanctuaries. We affectionately dubbed it our "ghetto house". This was our 1st and only AirBnB experience in Asia. 
5. The cheapest street food ever - We found a place that basically sold prepared ramen noodles in about 10 different varieties, for between 40 and 75 cents.  Our favorite was what we dubbed the "Top Ramelette", which was basically a packet of cooked Top Ramen noodles and seasoning, with an egg scrambled in the middle, wrapped in a take-away packet.  It was bite after bite of MSG laden carbohydrate deliciousness.  We fed all 13 of us for about $7.