Day 151: Yogyakarta

We got yet another early start to the day and headed off to Borobudur. Luckily, no one else booked the tour, so we had the driver to ourselves. Instead of going straight to the temple for the sunrise, we got him to take us to a nearby mountain so we could watch the sun rise over the Sundoro-Sumbing and Merbabu-Merapi Volcanoes with Borobudur Temple in the foreground. We truly lucked out! The rain clouds blanketed the sky reflected the most amazingly rich colors in the early morning!

Until the sun got up, I actually thought that the temple was a large mound covered with trees, it was much smaller than I imagined!

(The Borobudur Temple is in the center, I originally thought it was that isolated clump of trees to the left of it!)

After snapping way too many photos, we headed back down to our car. The end of that sentence just made me seem like the exact opposite of a backpacker! On our way to the Temple, we had him pull over at these small rice fields with a perfect view of the volcano.

Wow!

Before we entered the temple, we sat down for our complementary breakfast; two slices of toast. Breakfast of champions on this side of the world! The Borobudur Temple was pretty cool; what makes it truly stand out is that it is a huge famous Buddhist temple in the middle of the most populated Muslim country in the world. I spent a little over an hour walking around and admiring the building.

(Try to guess what she was selling?!)

(Tons of local kids came up to me to take my photo. Most of the school children have to talk to Westerners for their school assignment. They would all point, laugh, and say, "tourist, tourist... photo?")

I eventually made my way back down to where we had breakfast. Our driver was sound asleep.

Before we got back to our hotel, he stopped at the Mendut Buddhist Temple. 

It was much smaller than Borobudur, but was still cool to see. There was this massive tree outside the Temple, I don't know what kind it was, but it was crazy looking. It had what I think we roots growing from the branches down to the ground!

(To be 100% honest, I kinda hesitated to walk in and take this last photo, fearing that the tree might just suck me up into its branches.)

I then walked around the Temple and saw the large Buddha inside.

We later got back to our hotel. Time to rest! I spent the remainder of the day... Doing nothing. I did manage to pick up all my laundry. Finally, socks and underwear to put on. How glorious!!

Tonight, Eline and I had our final meal and round of drinks. Tomorrow morning I am headed back to Bali to actually see more of the islands and some that surround it. Again, I am waving goodbye to a new great friend. I hope that our paths will cross again one day.

Talk about one hell of an amazing week. What could the next seven days possibly be hiding?

Only time will tell, and anything is possible!!