 |
| Prambanan Temple |
We were early so we had to wait a bit, and they switched our
gate, but we managed, simply by following the crowd. We both dozed on the
flight, thought neither of us fully slept. We were greeted by Andi (our guide
for the week) and a driver (Diang) who immediately took our bags from us and
escorted us to their car. Andi gave us a brief history of Jogjakarta and told
us that originally it was independent, but later joined Indonesia once it
gained independence. Our first destination was Prambanan temple. Andi explain that
it was the largest Hindu temple in Indonesia and that it acted a symbol of the
unity and acceptance between Hinduism and Buddhism as it was build by a Hindu
Princess who married a Buddhist man. We spent the first 15 minutes or so taking
pictures of the outside and being paparazzied by random Indonesian people. I
seriously felt like a celebrity. Andi took us into each temple that we were
allowed in (several are no longer standing or safe, due to past earthquakes and
volcanic eruptions.) He explained a lot about the Hindu statues and about the
Ramayan story, and also taught us that you must always visit a temple by going
around it clockwise. I forget why, something about the representation of the
shortness and sweetness of life and time. Tomorrow evening we will see the
ballet in front of the temple, but the story is also engraved on the inside of
most of the temple. It is the story of ture love and acceptance of our position
in life. I chatted with Andi a bit about religion as he asked if we were
Christian. I told him I was extremely interested in Buddhism, as was he, and we
chatted about the things that made it so optimal. Mostly the fact that it is
all about what you make it and are willing to put into it. After we finished
walking in the temples we did a quick run of the museums, before heading to
lunch.
 |
| Exploring the less stable part of the temple |
At lunch we were served soup, rice, veggies, seasoned
chicken, fish with a delicious pepper onion sauces, beef which reminded me of
pot roast, and fruit for desert. Angie and I couldn’t believe how delicious
everything was and that we were living this life. After lunch we were able to
see how they make silver items in Jogja. This is something they are known for,
and I couldn’t believe how many steps it took to make the items, or how
inexpensive the items were.
 |
| Leowak |
The best part of the day was definitely a surprise.
I had talked to Andi about coffee and he asked if I heard of Leowak coffee. I
had come across an article about it when I was deciding if I should take a job
here. Indonesia is known for it’s coffee, and coffee connoisseurs from all
around the world come to try Leowak coffee. Basically the coffee is made from
beans found in “cat poop” as I originally read. The leowak looks more like a
lemur to me, but I was able to hold one, and try the coffee all for free.
 |
| each step of the process |
Basically the leowak loves to eat coffee cherries, and once the fruit is
digested the beans stay whole and come out in their poop. Then people take the
poop and peel away the layers of the coffee seed. They then roast the coffee.
Oh my god people! It was the most incredible cup of espresso I’ve ever had!
 |
| Mmmm...poop and coffee |
After our coffee experience Angie and I were escorted to the
hotel for an afternoon of relaxation. We swam, we tanned, we rested. I uploaded
pictures and before we knew it, it was time for dinner.
Chris ended up staying a hostel just around the corner, so
he walked to our hotel and was able to join us for dinner. It was wonderful and
consisted of a wide array of meats, along with incredible garlic broccoli,
fruit plates, and of course, rice! Post dinner we headed to the square and were
surprised to see lit up bicycles and pedal cabs everywhere! It felt like
Christmas, which is a feeling I usually hate, but when you are living away from
home anything that feels like home feels great. We were told that there were
two trees in the middle of the square, and the story is that you make a wish
and if you can walk through the center of the trees blindfolded then your wish
will come true. The space between the tree is quite large, so this seemed like
an easy task, however, Angie failed desperately and ended up going to far to
the right. I was able to walk almost directly through the center, though I
didn’t really feel like I was close at all. Apparently I almost walked into a
bum at one point. My dream will come true, but I can’t tell you what my dream
is. Chris managed to run into the fence of one of the trees.
 |
| waling through the center of the trees. |
After this fun
activity we completed the most difficult task ever. We rented a 3 person bike
and tried to bike around the square 4 times. Angie was originally sitting up
front, but she made Chris trade her and poor Chris had to steer us, which was
quite the task. Eventually we figured out that the key was to all start at the
same time. Then we just had to figure out how to slow down/speed up enough to avoid
the traffic. After we completed the challenge of 4 laps we were escorted home
and crashed in bed.
 |
| great times with great friends! |
No comments:
Post a Comment