#35 - Borobudur, Indonesia
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R2 Must DOs...
R2 PASSes...
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R2 Thoughts...
January 2008. Part of our SE Asia trip. When you research Borobudur you'll read that the best "tour" is the dawn one so that you can watch the sun rise. It DOES NOT disappoint. Something about the stillness at that altitude and watching the sunrise is so peacefule an experience that you want to stay up there. That and the prospect of climbing down all the stairs you just scaled (yes scaled!) to get up in the darkness of pre-dawn. LOL . . . The climb makes the fact that I don't have a picture of me in front of this ancient temple especially sad because 1) I'd run out of batteries that day and 2) the friend who took the photos for me got his camera along with all of our trip photos stolen!!
We stayed at the Manohara (the only hotel in the "park" that houses Borobudur) which offered an elephant tour of the grounds and a mountain top view of the temple. The ride itself was an experience but I wouldn't recommend it to any animal lovers like myself. I don't know if the elephants didn't want to work anymore because it was their mealtime and their keepers "squeezed us in" at the last minute but the riders were literally pounding on their heads with a hammer like tool with a hook on the end to get them to keep walking. By the time we finished the 15 minute tour we felt soooo bad for the elephants that we asked to help feed them to make sure they ate and were not beaten anymore.
Other than the horrible elephant ride, we had a good stay at the Manohara. We had a daily buffet of Indonesian breakfast included in our stay AND they provide internet access for a small fee from one of the terminals inside their reception office. The atmosphere is extremely peaceful and relaxing. The hotel also offers a car/driver that can be rented hourly or by the day if you want to go into the city of Yogakarta and so some shopping. If you shop around you will find better quality souveniers for a better price than any of the stuff the street vendors at the hotel are offering. The street vendors are actually NOT supposed to be on the hotel grounds so it's better not to buy from them.