Then Andi picked us up to drive us Borobudur: The 8th
wonder of the world. I spent the time in the car enjoying the scenery and
messaging my best friend back home about how crazy the world is, and my
thoughts on soul mates: We definitely have more than one, because I’ve met so
many already. Though none of them have been the exact perfect combination for
me to consider spending the rest of my life with. I’m not minding this right
now. I think it is great to know that there are so many out there for me to
find. I’ll keep searching.
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| Borobudur! The largest Buddhist temple in the world. |
We arrived at Borobudur after an hour long drive and were
escorted into the park area where we were told about the history of the temple,
how the volcanic eruption in 2009 effected it and what they have done to
restore it. I have been very interested in studying Buddhism since last fall,
and I was looking forward to learning a little more about it, after completing
an introductory book about a month ago. Everything in the temple has some sort
of symbolism and I’d try to post about all of it, but I’m sure no one really
cares and I can’t remember all of it.
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| Borobudur! |
I’ll share my favorite parts: The top of the temple is
called Nirvana, so the steps to the top are very steep to symbolize that the
trip to Nirvana is not easy. The stupa on the top 4 levels of the temple are
represented in 8’s. 1 on the top layer to represent god, 16 on the second top
layer, then 24, and then 36. These are all numbers divisible by 8, the number
that represents the 8-fold path that Buddhists should follow. When you divide
them by 8 and add up their quotients you get 1+2+3+4 which equals 9. In Buddhism
9 symbolizes the end of life. Inside each Stupa is a statue of a Buddha, and
you can see through to him by looking into either diamond shaped or square
shaped holes. This represents the ability for everyone to discover religion on their own. The diamonds represent the uncertainty of life, and the squares
represent the balance of life. Sorry for my major rant. I just could not get
over the insanity of it all.
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| Buddha in the stupa! |
Meanwhile many, many Indonesian people kept interrupting our
guide to ask for pictures. This happened yesterday as well, but it was always
while we were taking photos, not while the guide was talking. I got really,
very, frustrated. I think I screamed “I’m trying to learn here!” at one of
them. I wouldn’t have minded so much if it was one picture here and there, but
if you took one you immediately had 20 more people lined up to take pictures of
you. Angie was very calm and took pictures while I went off and explored,
ignoring the influx of “Excuse me, photo?” that kept coming my way. I tried my
best to put myself in their shoes by thinking of someone famous I’d like to
have my picture taken with. I’m sorry, but if I saw Aaron Rodgers and I were at
the largest Buddhist temple in the world, at the same time, I think I’d still
be focused on the later.
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| missing Buddha head |
This got me longing for the solitude of the Balkans. We’d go
just about anywhere and it would be empty and silent. It also made me realize
that when I go back (if I go back) it won’t be this way. Seriously people, it’s
beautiful, but you totally shouldn’t go, because I don’t want it to be ruined.
Once the door opens it can never be shut. I began to think about Buddhism and
the beliefs. Mainly the first belief that we are human and we always desire
more. Our wants can never be fulfilled. Here I was standing on top of the
largest Buddhist temple in the world, high on my list of places to visit in Indonesia,
and all I wanted was more. Pull yourself here, Tiara!
After we made it out of the park we were driven to a small
nearby village. A man came out of his house dressed in a Celtics jersey and I
started to giggle a little. Then he went and changed into his Sunday best for
us, we were given sun hats, introduced to another tour guide named WeWe and
escorted to a small carriage with a single horse attached. The man drove the
carriage to another small house to observe and help make cassava chips. We certainly
did more observing than helping, but they tasted delicious! We were shown how
the family has to get water from the well, for bathing, and to boil before
drinking. Most of the local families do their laundry in the river during dry
season, because there simply isn’t enough water in the well. Made me feel quite
bad about my own lifestyle.
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| Our ride for the afternoon |
We were shown the plants they use to dye Batik
(native dress) red, some quite large jack fruits, and then we headed to see a
view of the river and some different plantations. The river looks decently
clean and we were shown the area where three different rivers meet. The rivers
carry ash from when Mount Merapi erupted and villagers will dig it out, dry it
out, and sell it for its nutrients. Then we walked to the cassava plantation
and were able to see a man working to pull up the cassava from the ground. The
whole row of cassava would yield him about $5. I’m not even going to tell you
how much time it takes to grow, for fear that you might start crying.
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| cassava plantation |
The next
part of the journey was the scariest: through the salak (or snake skin fruit)
plantation, and the trees all have thorns on them, which are apparently
poisonous. WeWe showed us how the
plants have to be pollinated by people individually and then allowed us to taste
the fruit from the tree. Me and Angie had tried this fruit several times in
Jakarta and had been disappointed on almost every occasion. It always tasted
bitter and disgusting. This fruit, however, tasted sweet and incredible. I ate
all of mine up and we split a second.
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| scared of the thorns. |
The last part of our village journey was
to a small house where we were offered jasmine tea and cookies. By cookies they
meant sweets made of rice and sugar, but it was still delicious. We were also
offered brown sugar cubes, however you weren’t supposed to put them into the
tea, just suck on them while you were drinking the tea. This reminded me a lot
of the Bosnian coffee traditions. Another great part of the day came when we
were asked to play traditional Indonesian songs on the Kepyak (similar to a
xylophone.) I immediately thought about my brother, and
was able to capture a video of it, though I made several mistakes. Definitely a
highlight of the trip, though I’m not sure of anything that hasn’t been.
Next we visited Mendut temple, which houses a large statue of
Buddha. This is also where women go to pray for a baby. I lit some incense and
created some small twisted version of the prayer. We walked clockwise around
the temple looking at the relief and then headed to a large tree (I forget what
kind) to swing like Tarzan. I was surprised at how sturdy the branches we swung
from were. After we finished several children followed in our footsteps. Me and
Angie are always such good examples.
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| saying a prayer to have a baby.... |
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| I'm a monkey! |
We were taken to lunch, which was at the same restaurant as
the previous day, only the Borobudur version instead of the Jogjakarta version.
Hopping back in the car we were driven to Mount Merapi. I snoozed on the way,
completely exhausted, and when we finally arrived we were unable to see much
because it was so cloudy. Andi said it is all up to nature whether or not you
can see the volcano. We walked around for a bit and me and Angie found a place
to squat and pee, before opting to cut our losses, skip the jeep ride, and head
home for a shower, as we figured visibility would be quite bad.
Next up was our romantic dinner and Ramayan ballet in front
of Pranamban temple. Andi got us the best seats for dinner and we were able to
look out and see the beauty of the lit up temple. We giggled that we would
probably have front row seats to the ballet, but in all seriousness we were
escorted to the center of the 3rd row in the VIP section. The ballet
was stunning, and we were lucky to have a short description in front of us as
all the singing was in Bahasa. The costumes were beautiful, the music was
traditional, and the squatting they did during the dancing made our quad shake
at the sight. The whole thing took place right in front of the lit up temple.
The story was one of love and loyalty, and of course in the end, both of these
virtues won. At intermission we were offered snacks and coffee, and once the
ballet was done we were escorted to the hotel where we fell asleep quite
quickly.
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| ballet! |
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