This morning was our first flawless plan. Awake at 0400hrs, in the car by 0430hrs and at the gates to Borobudur Temple a few minutes later. The plan was to watch the sunrise at the top of the temple. Entry was IDR500k and included a torch, post sunrise buffet meal and a souvenir pack.
Early start at the hotel...
The largest buddhist temple in the world at 42m tall, it offered a spectacular view of the surrounding areas. To the east the coming sunrise, to the north active and dormant volcanoes Mount Sumbing and Mount Sundoro and to the south and west, the temple Gardens which were covered in a cloudy mist this early in the morning. The temple contains an impressive 504 buddhas and 72 stupas.
Even though our guide JP came through for us, having arranged the last minute tickets to get in the temple, he didn't join us (knee problems - which is not his fault, but a terrible trait for a guide), so we really were there just for the views. They were bloody good.
Add in the hundreds of tourists with a couple of cameras each and it was perfect. I watched one young tourist trying to get the photo. Every time anyone walked and stepped in her shot, she said "excuse me sir, please move out of the way". When the elderly Japanese tourist stood in her shot she had met her match. He interpreted her comments as "please stay and pose for the camera". She impressively explained to him in his native tongue that she wanted him to move, but before he did, two more persons blocked the shot and eventually conceded defeat.
I took a bunch of photos atop and around the temple then went to the restaurant for our complimentary breakfast. It was bloody good.
We returned to the hotel, I had a snooze and by 10am we were back on the road, destination Surakarta or Solo.
We stopped briefly at a nearby football pitch and tried to imagine the mountainscape being a prone God - though I couldn't really see it.. A local vendor gifted us some caocao. But we didn't really know what to do with it and shortly after, we were back on the road, heading towards our next stop at Prambanan Temple. Entry was an eye watering IDR337k. Like most tourist spots, this is the 'foreigner' price. The plus side is, 'foreigner' entry always seems to lack any queues at all.
The temple itself was quite impressive but between the two I did prefer Borobudur. For some reason my trousers keep getting looser and without a belt, a bit of a chore to hold up.
The whole Prambanan site looks like a bit of a cash grab. As if UNESCO certification wasn't enough to draw the tourists, there are dozens of Instagram spots, free and paid for, petting zoos, sculpture parks and segways. Walking around the Stupa site doesn't take long so the entry fee compared to most UNESCO sites is a little high.
For lunch we stopped at Kali Opak Resto where I enjoyed the sweet and sour Gurameh fish dish. The restaurant was a bit of a secret gem, off the beaten path in a building which didn't even look like a restaurant.
We arrived late afternoon in Solo (or Surakarta) and planned to have dinner in the hotel, The Royal Surakarta Heritage Solo. Except when we did, there were no customers, the menu was uninspiring and they served no alcohol because they were 'trying a new menu'.
We walked down the road to the nearest potential restaurant as the rain started pouring down on us. That was a mission failed, so last chance was a Grab taxi to a restaurant a couple of kilometres away called A&M Co. Part restaurant, diner, coffee shop, bar, we had a really good meal there.
