Yogyakarta is often described as Java’s cultural capital. A city with under 500,000 inhabitants, it is the home of Indonesia’s oldest university and a place brimming with tradition, history and the famous Batik art. It is also happily located near two of Indonesia’s most impressive temples. We took a taxi driver up on his offer of driving us around the sights outside Yogya for a day and haggled a nice price of Rp.350,000 (≈ 30€).

First stop: Borobudur.
One of the Seven Wonders of the World, this quite gigantic Buddhist temple actually lay hidden under jungle and volcanic ash for centuries, until Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles ordered the clearing of the site and the restoration of the temple in 1815. Looking at Borobudur today, it is hard to imagine that it lay hidden for so long. When I first saw the temple, after having paid my ‘non-Indonesian’ entrance fee of Rp.90,000 (≈ 9€ and 10 times the price of the Indonesian fee) and fought my way through the many people trying to make money selling tit bits to the tourists, I was quite taken aback by its size. This thing was built in the 8th century and its architecture beats most of the buildings I have seen that have been built since then: 6 levels of intricately carved stone, leading up to the top of the temple where dozens of stupas, each containing a statue of the Buddha, form a most impressive view. The day we were there it was, like most days there I guess, very hot and very humid. Some clever folk had hired umbrellas. We didn’t. Next time I go I will. Most of the tourists were from Indonesia, but the few fellow white people wandering around the monument found themselves, like me, being politely asked by groups of school children if they had time to answer some questions so the kids could practise their English. The first time this happened I felt a bit like a celebrity, answering questions, being the focus of everyone’s attention, signing autographs and so on; but after a while, being followed around and asked if I had a minute got a bit tedious and took away any peace and tranquillity that I might otherwise have experienced at the Buddhist temple. The two Buddhist monks who had made the pilgrimage seemed to be suffering a similar fate: as we walked by we saw them being photographed with several Indonesians, as if they themselves were part of the tourist attraction. Despite the heat and the hounding, Borobudur was ace. In an ideal world I would have been the only one visiting the temple at that particular time and I would have been able to mosey around the different levels, admiring the storytelling carvings in peace, enjoying the scenery and the Buddhist temple’s atmosphere, as it was probably built to be enjoyed. Unfortunately, in reality, Borobudur is a very popular tourist attraction. I guess my advice would be to get there early or late and hope no one else has the same idea.

Second stop: Ulun Sentanu Batik Museum.
In contrast to Borobudur, this museum seemed so deserted we initially thought it was closed. It wasn’t and with our English-speaking guide, we were taken through the winding corridors of the various small buildings and, with the help of paintings, batik and poetry, were given a comprehensive history of the sultans of both Yogyakarta and neighbouring province Solo. The architecture of the buildings and the gardens are as much an attraction as the museum’s contents and are, according to our guide, a very popular place to get married in Yogyakarta. Our visit ended with a cup of special tea – a mixture of seven natural herbs and ingredients with supposed special powers – and a walk around the beautiful gardens. Here I found the peace and tranquillity that I had been seeking in Borobudur, and the tea was delicious. (Museum entrance fee including the special tea: Rp.75,000 (≈ 7€.)

Final stop: Prambanan.
Our second temple of the day, this time of the Hindu variety. Prambanan isn’t one of the Seven Wonders of the World but it is well worth a visit. When we went the site was still being restored after the 2006 earthquake and so, unfortunately, we were not able to go inside the temples. I was, however, informed that the central temple has a quite impressive interior. I guess I will see for myself next time. Prambanan is actually a series of temples, built in the 9th century. There is a local myth about the Prambanan temples; that the 999 temples were built by a knight hoping to win the heart of a queen by building this many temples in one night. The queen, apparently set the challenge because it was unattainable and when she discovered that the knight was close to completing it, woke the roosters early to signify that morning had come and the knight’s time was up. When the knight discovered the queen had cheated he was understandably quite upset. His revenge was to turn the queen into stone and she remains to this day in Prambanan’s main temple (in statue form). Most of the knight’s temples have now completely disappeared but several remains lie around the main temples that still stand at Prambanan, providing a clue as to how the complex looked in its hay day; my guess is pretty impressive. (‘Non-Indonesian’ entrance fee: Rp.50,000 (≈ 4€).