Sawitan > Borobudur temple > Kutoarjo (51km, 2h40) > Merak (562km by bus, 12h)

Today is a full day. First I’ve visited one if the most famous Buddhist temple in Asia called Borobudur. The temple is still used for pilgrimage; once a year, Buddhists in Indonesia celebrate Vesak at the monument, and Borobudur is Indonesia’s single most visited tourist attraction (Wikipedia sources). Then I’ve cycled to Kutoarjo and expected to catch a train to Merak. But the train was full so I took a bus during 12 hours to Merak from where I will catch a ferry to go to Sumatra. Luckily, I’ve done all of that just on time.

Map.

Let’s go back at this morning, front of the Borobudur temple.

Borobudur map.

Not much people this morning.

Hooo, here it is :-)

Borobudur is a hold over from the kingdom of Ancient Mataram which was built in the 8th century and has religious background of buddhism. Borobudur was included by UNESCO in the list of the World Heritage List (WHL) as the World Cultural Heritage with the number 348 dated 13 December 1991 and then updated to be number 592 Year 1991 (source on site).

Candi Borobudur second map.

Borobudur logo.

To big for my camera.

Borobudur temple has 1460 story panels composed in 11 rows around the temple structure, in foot and body of Borobudur Temple. Other than story panels, there are 1212 decorative panels.

Karmawilbhangga relief tells a story about human actions that conceive good and evil, as well as their consequences.

Lalitavistara relief tells story about the life of Buddha in Tushita Heaven until giving his first sermon in Deer Park.

Jataka and Avadana. Jataka is a story about Bodhisattva who experiences repeated reborn in various form to assist human in reaching the Buddha. In the story fragments, Bodhisattva both as human and animal always gives example of truth and teaching about dharma. Avadana is a similar story as Jaraka, only that the main character is not Bodhisattva but other figures or ordinary animals who or which are not the representation of Bodhisattva.

Gandavyuha describes the odyssey of Sudhana from one teacher to another in the search of the Buddha.

Bhadracari describe the efforts of Sudhana in reaching the Buddha by studied under Bodhisattva Maitreya and Bodhisattva Samantabhadra and in the end Sudhana reaches enlightenment to attain the Buddha.

I start by turning around.

Statue of one if the entrance.

First floor.

One of the 1460 story panels.

Let’s walk around.

Statue.

This is where I came from.

This exit but I still have some part to visit.

Here they are doing some renovation.

Looks like they use a king a “petrol-glue” between each row. Maybe that stabilised or protect the stones.

Towards the top.

Wow, impressive.

How come more a thousand years ago, they built an edifice like this. The architect was a great creative man.

All the way down to the ground level, not yet.

The famous bells of Borobudur.

It’s a shame that the weather is not that good.

So nice.

And more.

Inside each bell there is a Buddha.

Only one is uncovered.

From down stairs.

Another view of the story panels.

This temple is as impressive as Prambanan I visited yesterday.

That’s it, I’m leaving the place now.

I thought the exit was straight out but there is a long corridor full of tourist shops.

I’ve been walking like 3 minutes without stopping and I’m still inside.

Finally I’ve reached the entrance. I brang my bike next to a warung and will get some breakfast.

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I’m back on the road again towards Kutoarjo from where I will catch a train.

The road is flat for now but I know I’ve got a hill to climb.

And that hill was tough and I made it. I’m now going down on the other side.

Very easy cycling now.

Few times I’ve seen along the road some warung which sold the same dessert I had in Bali. It was very good and I’m glad I can find some here.

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Finally I got to the train station one hour before departure but the train was full and same for the next 4 days. I met a guy who bring me to the bus station and I could buy two tickets (one for me one for the bike) to get to Merak. The price per ticket is 135.000IRP (13.5$) for more than 500km which is a good deal I think.

I’m now waiting for the bus but I’m not really sure where to go.

My bus should leave in 5 minutes and I don’t know where is it. After turning around during 10min, a guy who spoke English came to me and explain that the paper I got when I paid is only a temporary one. Now they are calling each person independently through the microphone to give us the final ticket. What? That’s a tricky system. Even the guy told me that it was complicated.

Finally I got my ticket and we found the bus. I could fit my bike inside the bus so everything is alright. I will get in this bus for 12 hours… Wow! Once I got in the bus around 5pm I knew I was going to sleep all the way to Merak which is the terminal. See you tomorrow :-)