Borobudur an ambition satisfied

Temple from Heaven

It's more than twenty five years since a friend returned from his holidays and showed me the pictures of the fabled Buddhist temple of Borobudur. I must admit I had never heard of the temple and had to look at an atlas to find its location in far off Java.

I filed the information away and set it as an ambition to visit one day. That day came in October this year when I travelled to Jakarta to explore Java and its treasures.

Dutch Style Jakarta Square

Boris bikes Jakarta style

I was not sure what to expect, as although a seasoned traveler I love the excitement of the unexpected. Jakarta is much busier than I expected, hot, humid, noisy and a little grubby. Old and new rub shoulders with new high rise buildings adjacent to down to heal neighbors. The traffic is frenetic and jostling for every place.In all honesty its not a great opener for a tourist but it gets you prepared for the driving across the whole country. It was great to leave the City and head out into the hills to visit towering hills with sweeping valleys, small villages surrounded by tea plantations. It was also my first chance to see evidence of the many volcanoes and their effect on the landscape. 

I was excited on our third day to turn and head for Jogjakarta a large city still influenced by the Sultan. In contrast to Jakarta it has endless opportunities for the tourist. It is also the gateway to Borobudur

My First View

Borobudur was not as I expected. I imagined the temple surrounded by jungle and a site of continuing worship. Today it stands in a manicured garden as a World Heritage Site. Its worshipers are the very many tourists that visit. Yet it is unbelievably beautiful. An amazing piece of architecture unlike any I have ever visited. At its lower levels it shares many features of Hindu temples, yet as you rise the levels the many stupas become evident. All of which once held a Buddha Image. 
It was a place to sit and wonder.

The pictures show the wonders of the temple. The immense work it took to create and the serenity of the many Buddha images looking out from the ancient temple to our modern world. 
They've seen many changes since they were hewn from the rock to dominate the landscape. 
They were lost to the forest only to be rediscovered to be a wonder of our modern world.