2023 Alaska, Asia, Australia, Arabian Peninsula Trip
Day 61/105 - Semarang, Indonesia - Borobudur Temple
We departed Jakarta yesterday afternoon and made the relatively short sail to Semarang, arriving about 8 a.m. this morning.
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| There were a bunch of fish farming structures in the water as we arrived at the port |
We remain on the Indonesian island of Java and will continue tomorrow to Surabaya.
Today's tour was a nine-hour marathon to the temple at Borobudur, the largest Buddhist temple in the world. Built over a period of 100 years and completed in the 800s AD, Borobudur Temple is the largest Buddhist temple in the world. After being repeatedly buried in ash from volcanic eruptions, the site was abandoned. After being rediscovered in 1814, it has been restored and is now a UNESCO World Heritage site.
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| We were greeted as we exited the ship by local music on bamboo instruments |
Before we get into today, I have to discuss the ride today. Six buses were going to Borobudur, heading out in two, three-bus convoys. We were on bus #3 in convoy #1. Each convoy had a police escort. Why is that important? Well, having a police escort changes the rules, or more correctly, eliminates the rules. Speed limits? Gone. Lanes? Gone. Traffic control (like stoplights)? Gone. Seriously, today's transport was crazy! The lead police car would head into oncoming traffic. Their flashing lights would cause the oncoming traffic to either stop or head off the road. Our three motorcoaches would follow at full speed right behind the police car, veering across lanes. When we approached a stoplight, the caravan would head over into the oncoming traffic lane and blast right through the red light. We forced more vehicles off the road today than I can count. It was absolutely nuts. The three bus drivers, Al Unser Jr., Mario Andretti, and Ricky Bobby, got us there and back safely, if not a little agitated.
We stopped for a coffee break/comfort stop after about 90 minutes of driving. Snacks were available.
We continued on, arriving at the Borobudur Temple roughly 2:45 after leaving the dock.
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| Constructed from 55,000 cubic meters of volcanic material, the temple is solid inside and made of several tiers getting smaller as the level increases |
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| There are 504 sculptures of Buddha here - 72 under the large stupas on the top and 432 other Buddha sculptures around the outside of the structure |
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| You can see the Buddhas in the cutouts |
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| The photos do not really do justice to the scale of this structure |
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| Each of the72 large stupas on the top has a Buddha underneath |
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| The carvings and detail are amazing |
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| Water flow device included on the building - a Buddha holds it - it is an elephant and crocodile combination |
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| You can see several of the 72 stupas at the top |
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| Doing the tourist thing... |
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| There has been a great deal of reconstruction done here - the bricks with the dots are replacement bricks |
Every photo promoting this excursion showed the large stupas on the top. Guess what we learned in the port talk yesterday...climbing to the top is not included in the tour. What? Every one of Viking's promotional photos shows photos of the stupas at the top - how can we not be allowed to climb up? Bottom line? We couldn't go, and that was terribly disappointing. We've mentioned issues like this to the Excursion Manager already on this cruise and the issues were met with disdain and were dismissed. It is yet another issue we now have with Viking's communication.
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| The climb to the top is steep - wish we could have done it |
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| Strange fruit |
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| Another passenger caught this photo of an amazing couple taking a selfie... |
After walking around the temple (and not climbing it - still bitter...), we went to the adjacent restaurant for lunch.
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| They had a nice buffet spread for us |
After lunch, we boarded the bus for a short ride to a puppet demonstration and silver shop.
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| The puppets are shown in shadow |
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| A peek at the backside of the screen |
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| Singers and musicians provide the background |
After watching for a bit, we did a little shopping. I don't want to brag, but we spent 2,100,000 (2.1 million)...rupiah. Seriously, spending 2.1 million takes a minute to wrap your head around. With the exchange rate, it comes out to about USD 135. Wow.
We boarded the buses and took the racetrack ride back to the ship.
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| A nod to the temple on the side of a hospital |
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| We passed a bunch of rice farms as well as other general agriculture - it is still a mostly manual process |
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| We lost count of the number of mosques we drove past |
The racecar-like ride continued all the way back to the ship. We arrived safely, albeit jostled.
It was a long day. After an Explorers' Bar drink (or two), we grabbed dinner and headed to the room. Tomorrow, we'll do our last stop on Java, in Surabaya.
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