Today is the first of two Fun Photo Friday’s featuring Central Java favorites. After next week we move on to visit some vicious dragons (the hint for the day).
A photo gallery/slide show of Borobudur details:
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Tag Archives: Central Java
Fun Photo Friday — Semarang Favorites 1
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Indonesia — Semarang, Borobadur Temple
South of Semarang, in Central Java’s Magelang Regency, lies a Marayana Buddhist temple. The name of this immense temple it Borobudur and it is believed to date back to the 9th century, possibly to the year 842. Borobudur is shrouded in mystery, as no one knows for sure exactly when it was built, when it was eventually abandoned, or why it was no longer used. The assumption is that it may have fallen into disuse following the rise in Indonesia of Islam. The site disappeared beneath a layer of volcanic ash and vegetation, only to be rediscovered in 1814. SInce that time the temple has undergone several restorations.
The picture above only hints at the detail that awaits you here. There are, for instance 432 statues of Buddha out of the 504 that originally adorned the site.
Also in evidence throughout the massive temple are stupas — hemispherical structures or mounds. The main stupa is quite impressive even from ground level:
Smaller stupas and niches containing Buddha statuary are evident in this next photo:
Put it all together and you get:
And, yes, you are allowed to walk onto the temple and climb as high as you like:
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Indonesia — Semarang, Our Tour Awaits
Our next Southeast Asia destination on this cruise was Semarang, the capital of Central Java Provence, in the Republic of Indonesia. And as is often the case, Ursula had us lined up for a tour. But before I show you our minibus, let me introduce you to two people who were very instrumental in getting us back to our ship:
These two save our bacon, so to speak. We were running late getting back to MS Volendam, and they gave us a hair-raising, high-speed escort to get us back before the ship sailed without us. It was one of the more breathtaking experiences in our many travels over the decades. As you can tell from the above picture, the officer on the right certainly seemed to enjoy the ride. I had no idea a minibus could be so maneuverable, and at such high speeds. Several times I checked to make sure Sandra Bullock wasn’t driving with Keanu Reeves giving her direction (if you don’t get the reference, try this link).
On the way to our bus we passed the usual port entertainment and vendor gauntlet, which is almost always a fun thing:
After that it was time to board our bus and head out our first destination of the day. Can you guess what it is?
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Decisions — Murder in Paradise
The Globe — Murder in Luxury
R. Doug Wicker — Author 