The USD 15 Borobudur Temple, Jogjakarta, Indonesia.

I heard about Borobudur Temple in a book back when I was in primary school. Since then, I have been wondering how would the real Borobudur Temple would look like. And then it happened, I went to Jogjakarta (some people pronounce it as Yogyakarta) and finally stepped my foot on the Borobudur's ground. 

This is what I saw first and it left me in awe for the rest of my life. 

I didn't expect the whole ground to be that huge. I mean, it's humongous! I'm sure there is still more buried underneath, considering how Borobudur Temple was discovered. It was covered and buried under the ashes  of Mount Merapi. 

Here are some of the history of Borobudur from Lonely Planet:

"Rulers of the Sailendra dynasty built Borobudur some time between AD 750 and AD 850. Little else is known about Borobudur’s early history, but the Sailendras must have recruited a huge workforce, as some 60, 000 cubic metres of stone had to be hewn, transported and carved during its construction. The name Borobudur is possibly derived from the Sanskrit words ‘Vihara Buddha Uhr’, which mean ‘Buddhist Monastery on the Hill’."

It almost 9 floors up the staircase of the temple, and under the scorching sun it didn't help with our DIY tour. Being the noob we are, Dewi and I followed the guidelines to circle the Main Temple clockwise from bottom to top. 

Well, at least we stumbled upon so really weird figurines and carvings that don't seem to fit the whole era of when Borobudur was built. I even saw a figure of a chinese medicine man with his long moustache! (Exactly like those you see on Chinese Soap Opera!)  

The most interesting part for me is the remnants of the Stupas on top fo the temple. Some were ruined when the opponents of Suharto ( the regime president of Indonesia) blew the temple. And the amazing view of Jogjakarta! 

My sister, Dewi and I planned for this trip long long time ago and we were glad that we made this trip. The charm of Borobudur bond us closer, under the shades of Mt Merapi we became closer than ever. A brother sister adventure! :D

Well, why USD 15 temple? We tried to walk in as local, well we thought we had the look and the slang. Too bad the officers at the entrance saw my sister's passport hence we had to pay USD 15 as international visitors. :P

But that was the best USD 15 I have ever spent for temples. A good one. :)

And that's how I fell in love with Borobudur Temple. Till then, keep on traveling peeps! :D

Travel Picture Tales: Trishaw Ride, Jogjakarta Indonesia.

The fare was actually only 5000IDR but we were charged 20,000IDR because it was raining. To tell you the truth it was about 1KM of walking back to my hostel, imaging cycling with 2 people.

This bapak (the calling for older man) whom I assume is the age of my late grandfather brought us to a bakpia store hoping that we would be buying some, so that he could get some commission. I was actually tired and got angry because of the scam, but my heart was hurt when I saw his face when we said no. He cycled us back to our hostel and I ended up giving him 25,000IDR. 

I know it was not much difference but I seriously felt I should have given more. He cycled 2 of us with the sum of weight almost 200kg over 1 kilometer in the rain! What an experience! That was the best 25,000IDR I've ever spent when I was in Jogjakarta, Indonesia. :')

p/s: I'm introducing this new segment called "Travel Picture Tales" to share with you guys some of my stories behind some of my backpacking photos. Hope you'll enjoy it! Till then,keep on traveling peeps! :D