Tips and Tricks : Candi Borobudur

Borobudur, a UNESCO World Heritage Site is a 9th-century Mahayana Buddhist Temple in Magelang, Central Java, Indonesia. The monument consists of six square platforms topped by three circular platforms, and is decorated with 2,672 relief panels and 504 Buddha statues. A main dome, located at the center of the top platform, is surrounded by 72 Buddha statues seated inside a perforated stupa. The monument's three divisions architecture symbolize the three "realms" of Buddhist cosmology, namely Kamadhatu (the world of desires), Rupadhatu (the world of forms), and finally Arupadhatu (the formless world). Constructed on a bedrock hill, its passages are designed to encircle the edifice, which allows monks to walk around it in silent, meditative prayer. For further reading, do find our friend Wiki :)

The highlight of our trip, Candi Borobudur and Candi Prambanan. Dubbed as one of the most visited places in Indonesia (alongside with Bali of course), you should not give this a miss if you’re here in Yogyakarta.

Seizing the opportunity of tourist potential, you will be spoiled with choices for how you would want to manage your trip there. From the adventurous end of the spectrum, you may opt for renting motorcycles and make your way from Yogyakarta central or hotels that are in close proximity with Borobudur. That is probably the cheapest tour option given that you have done your extensive research on how to shave the cost around.

Foreign tourists are charged much higher compared to the locals. So if you look the part, you could try going incognito as the local and enjoy the entrance fee at a much cheaper price. Speaking of entrance fee, there is a notable difference between the time of entrance which will spark the question in your head, to sunrise or not to sunrise.

The Sunrise Tour is managed by Manohara Hotel, which charges (tourist rate) 400,000 rupiahs per entry for sunrise period, and only 200,000 rupiahs (if I’m not mistaken) for ‘after sunrise’ period, which is essentially after 7am, GMT+0900. Manohara guests are charged differently though, which you could find out by contacting them at their website.

Entrance tickets and the sarong. Flashlight also included :)

I opted for the Sunrise Tour for various reasons.

1.       I was swayed by various blogs and sites that the sunrise view in Borobudur is worth every rupiahs.

2.       Lesser crowds, more camwhoring opportunities.

3.       Enjoy the visit with less scorching and blinding sunrays.

The other end of the spending option for tours is getting a private English speaking tour guide, and a driver for the entire trip. That means, flexible timing on your part. Of course, the pricing again differs from a hefty 500,000 rupiahs to 1,000,000 rupiahs per person, depending on how you want to mix and match your tour needs.

We opted for a tour via online, since I preferred getting all the tours in place and order before the actual tour. The trip started at an ungodly hour of 4am, with the tour guide, Pak Irwan arriving at the hotel to pick us up. Driving in the dark, and navigating the roads here I would say requires experience and unless you’re a local, or with a local, you’re better off driving when it’s slightly brighter in the day. It took us about an hour to arrive at Magelang from Yogyakarta central, where we signed up at Manohara Hotel and given an entry ticket, torch light and sarung each. The sarung was meant to put on as a sign of respect to the temple.

We were lucky that there was not many tourists when we went up that day (at around 5-ish). Making the way up in the dark isn’t exactly scary, I felt tranquil heading up the magnificent architecture with the main stupa vaguely visible on top of the Candi. At the Arupadhatu level of the temple (highest level), we made ourselves comfortable at a spot facing Mount Merapi and waited patiently for the sunrise to appear.

Few notes to take, if you’ve got a hunch or know that the weather is gloomy or wet, don’t disappoint yourself by getting the Sunrise Tour. If you’ve prearranged the tour ahead, you can talk to your tour guide to opt for the after sunrise entry (if you’re adament of entering Borobudur) so that your cash does not go to waste. Rules of thumb, food are not allowed in the site, and be respectful of the other visitors around there. We were comfortably sitting at our spot while Pak Irwan was explaining the history and sharing stories of Borobudur and Mt.Merapi when a Caucasian lady rudely shhhed us. I wasn’t provoked per se, but was kind of irritated with the way she does that. Oh, Madam Righteous was all about respect, and respect was what she failed to give when she openly munched her breakfast despite being forbidden from doing so. I wonder how she passed through security clearance. Pfft.

Madame Righteous

Sunrise. It is really depending your luck, really, to get that picture perfect moment of the round sun figure and the amber sky. We however were deprived of all that, but we counted our blessings since the weather was fine enough for us to get a clear view of Merapi and the Candi surroundings.

We then walked around the temple like how thousands of Buddhist pilgrim in Indonesia does, by entering from the East entrance and walk around clockwise. Representing the Buddha’s Sphere of Formlessness, unembellished stone walls surrounds this higher terrace, with the main stupa itself is empty and said to symbolize nirvana. 72 Buddhas scuptures resides individually inside the stupa with surrounds the main stupa. Some of the stupas were exposed though while many remained intact which we will have to peek inside to see the Buddha statue.

The stupas architectures, stories carved on the walls and Buddhist sculpture really mesmerized me. You don’t exactly have to be a staunch Buddhist to appreciate what I consider to be one of the Ancient Wonders of the World.

We slowly descended to the Rupadhatu level, where the Life of Buddha from heaven descend till enlightenment was immortalized on wall scupltures. Among the 504 Buddha statues, a lot of them are beheaded due to vandalism and nature disaster but many of them are still intact. Each statue displays a mudra, or hand gestures with depicts the four directions including central.

1.       East – Mudra calling the earth to witness

2.       South – Gesture of Blessing

3.       West – Gesture of Meditation

4.       North – Gesture of Fearlessness

5.       Zenith – Gesture of Teaching.

Behind Sharky there are tourists actually :P

As the hours passed by, the weather is getting warmer and the tourist influx started coming in progressively.  Exiting the temple site, you WILL be pestered by the locals to purchase souvenir, which you can politely decline if you don’t wish to purchase them. 

Before leaving to our next location, we were treated with a complimentary light breakfast by Manohara itself. Nothing fancy, just a light bite to freshen us a bit. And oh, there’s actually Wi-Fi at the cafe, though don’t expect High Speed Broadband alright?

Before heading to Prambanan, we made stops to another two other Buddhist candi around Borobudur’s vicinity, namely Pawon and Mendut. Pawon, is said to served to purify the mind prior to ascending Borobudur. The exact reason of the construction of this candi remains speculative. The slightly larger candi than Pawon, Candi Mendut is alligned with Pawon and Borobudur.

Stairs of Borobudur

Three beautifully carved large stone Buddha statues are in the main division. The 3 metres tall statue of Dhyani Buddha Vairocana was meant to liberate the devotees from the bodily karma, at the left is statue of Boddhisatva Avalokitesvara to liberate from the karma of speech, at the right is Boddhisatva Vajrapani to liberate from karma of thought. These divinities are said to be the spiritual purpose of the temple establishment. Deep indeed.

Candi Pawon

Inside Candi Mendut

Candi Mendut

The passage of rites, during Wesak, Buddhists in Indonesia will start their journey from Mendut, crosses through Pawon and finally ascending Borobudur. This might be a whole new intriguing experience that I might sign up for future Wesak Days. Who knows.

Tree Swingin'

Next stop, Candi Prambanan. As we said Selamat Tinggal to the Buddhist architectures here, we are set in mind to be amazed by the Hindu influenced temples of Prambanan.

Tips and Tricks : Surviving Jl. Malioboro

Yogyakarta (and its famous name counterparts like Jogjakarta, Jogja, Djokdja) was my preferred places to travel in Indonesia, even more so than Bali because I am a certified cheapskate and I yearned to step foot on  the Unesco Heritage temples, namely Borobudur and Prambanan found over here. Thus, when AirAsia released their promo period, my trigger happy fingers landed my travel partner, Rave and I to this land, Jogja Never Ending Asia. The total spent for both return flights and accommodation for 4 days 3 nights for 2 people was RM673.56 (essentially RM336.78 per person). 

Sharkie, Travel360 and the Arrival Departure Card to Indonesia

Anyhow, on the 21st of February, we took a noon flight from LCCT to Adisujipto Airport, located approximately 24 minutes away from our accommodation. The airport was bustling with tour and taxi agents, very little eateries and zero place to find data plan for your smart phone (or there is, but it is well hidden like a buried treasure). With only one runway, you can only imagine the horror of lining up to clear your immigration entrance. Lucky for us, we alighted the plane pretty kiasu-ishly early, and survived the queue but still ended behind the pack somehow. Bummers.

A glimpse inside the Adisujipto Airport

The airport is very near to Candi Prambanan, but since we pre-arranged a tour on the following day, we decided to drop by a local favorite restaurant before heading to the hotel. Ayam Goreng Suharti which was minutes away from the airport, was what we had for lunch. The Javanese fried chicken was indeed tender, and mimics the 'ayam penyet' (stop rolling your eyes, I know that they're not the same) chicken that I had over in Sarawak. Put it short, this fried chicken, the greasy crunchy tender fried chicken, you should try when you're in Yogyakarta. This is NOT the only fried chicken joint, you may find some other in the city itself. Our cab driver was kind enough to stop by the restaurant and waited for us to finish our lunch before dropping us to the hotel. Total spent for lunch was 73,700 rupiah and the taxi was 70,000.

Aaah, POP Hotel. Our humble accommodation for 4 days, 3 nights. The hotel is relatively new, vibrant color schemes, Wi_Fi and free breakfast. Plus it is walking distance from Malioboro Street and the iconic Tugu Jogjakarta and the Tugu Train Station. TV included, which we spent most of the time in the room polishing our Bahasa Indonesia language. By the way, rumors has it it is true that the toilet/bathroom door can't be locked and the frosted glass allows you to see a vague color silhouette of your naked room mate. Just saying, if you're interested.

You only need about 10-15 minutes, 10 seconds if you mastered shunpo (瞬歩) to walk to Jl. Malioboro. From our hotel, we passed by a very adventurous intersection with the Tugu at the center. First time pedestrians in Yogyakarta, you're in for a challenge. If you survived crossing the streets, you'll live to see the path to Jl. Malioboro, from where I came from this street is the equivalence to Petaling Street plus Jonker Walk. Along the street you will find becak (rickshaws) and andong (horse carts) ready to take you for a ride around the Malioboro vicinity and certain tourist spots in town.

Clockwise from Top Left : Stasiun Ka Jogjakarta (Stasiun Tugu Train Station), Bus Stop for TransJogja, The Iconic Tugu Jogjakarta, The train track that separates Malioboro and towards Tugu

Stroll along further you'll be spoiled for choice from various souvenirs, batik, clothes which are sold pasar malam style, in which you will have to hone your haggling skills and use them wisely here. Once they sniff fresh blood, they will slit you dry. Okay, that is exaggerating but it is true. Most of the stalls here are selling the items at jacked up price and you have to make your own judgement whether or not to bargain for that item. Bro tips, bargaining for good price is one thing, do remember that people over here with these jobs are doing it for a living. Be respectful, put up a smile, and decline/walk away if you decided to not buy the items, and not sneer. :)

From Top Left : Batik, Fruits and Goods, Dragon Statue, More Batiks, Chinatown?

FOOD. Abundant over here, which included loads of Indonesian local delicacies such as Mi Bakso, Mie Ayam, Nasi Kucing etc which you can buy from the hawker stalls or have it local style, at the lesehan along the street. People over here are comfortably fine with sitting on mats and have their meal. Think of it as a picnic encounter.

Clockwise from Top Left : Indonesian Street Food, Beringharjo Market - Batik Market at it best, Andong - Horse Carts, Motorcycle abundance at the walkways of Malioboro Street.

All in all, I felt that Malioboro is a lively place, and strangely enough it seems like everyone knows everyone here. Every few meters we walked, people will greet each other like good friends.

Malioboro Picnics :)

Now, to the becak & andong rides. The riders are VERY persistent, and as usual good etiquette would be smile and decline if you wish not to take their service. However, you SHOULD try one of these rides, even the local use this method of transportation. Bro tips, when they said they will take you keliling (around vicinity ride), they will actually take you to ALL the available batik stalls and/or bakpia stalls around. Maybe not all, but we seen pretty much most of it and frankly we were at a verge of boredom after awhile since we weren't interested in buying the batiks anyway. If you're taking the becak at night, you may opt to skip the keliling tour. Just use the service to get back to the hotel, or get into a specific location that is not necessarily in Malioboro.

Becak

Becak ride is a great experience non-the-less. The passenger's seat is in front the cyclist, and when the becak crosses a busy road, take its as a theme park ride. The motor vehicles were only distances away from us as we are well exposed. Essentially, we are paying for the joy ride as well. Again, bro tips, HAGGLE if you must, these becak  drivers will put on a very good pity face and persuade you to pay more than you intended to pay initially. They are not bad people though, but if you're calculative on your dollars and cents, the around tour would only cost around 30,000 - 50,000 rupiah and not more. You can do better than us, I supposed. We are HORRIBLE at bargaining prices.

Oh yeah, on the way back we crossed by a railway track, a first for me. Pretty bada** I must say for myself. In short, to survive Jl. Malioboro, the iconic marketplace in central Yogyakarta, be smart in bargaining for the price that you are comfortable with. Becak and/or andong  is an experience you shouldn't miss, but keliling tour at night is not necessary, you are better off maximizing the ride during daytime so that you can

1. Skip walking under the scorching sun
2. Stop and visit the various tourist-y spots in the central (Taman Sari, Vredeburg Fort and Kraton) 

That's it for Day 1, essentially we did what we planned to do, a night stroll at Jl.Malioboro. The next day would be the one we anticipated, Candi Borobudur, Candi Prambanan, Pawon and Mendut. Till the next post!

Day Trip In Brunei Darussalam

The trip was ages ago, back when I was still studying in UNIMAS, Sarawak. I was actually in my Miri holiday, when my friend Larry slotted a day trip to Brunei. 

Brunei is significant to me, as it was the first foreign country I've visited, and also the only country I've traveled by car to. The immigration booths, located at Sungai Tujuh (Brunei) is only approximately 30 minutes or so from where we were traveling from (Miri). Immigration waiting hours varies, we actually went on a non-peak day, thus immigration clearance was easier. 

From Sungai Tujuh to Bandar Seri Begawan (BSB), the capital of Brunei is around 1 hour 30 minutes drive, depending on the phase you're driving of course. Very much like Singapore, I observed, in terms of the cleanliness of the street as well as the driver's etiquette. Culture shock to me, pedestrian crosser are given priority on the road, yes, the car waits until you cross the road. Never I would see that happen in Malaysia (unless there's the traffic light in place).

They do use Bahasa Melayu in Brunei, and their currency was 2:1 when I was there back in 2009. (2.5:1 now). Oil, is what propelled Brunei to be the 5th richest country in the world, and no surprise in that for our Malaysian car, we are not able to refuel the car from a certain distance away from Sungai Tujuh. Brunei is an Islamic country, if mosques and Islamic architectures intrigues you, this might be the place for you. But to me, a day trip was actually more than sufficient, just to cover a few tourist-y spots.

Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddin Mosque is a royal Islamic mosque located in a heart of BSB, the iconic golden dome (pure gold, mind you) and the mahligai barge replica can't be missed. A marble bridge leads to that boat like structure in the lagoon. 

You might also would want to see Istana Nurul Iman, the official residence of Brunei's Sultan, Hassanal Bolkiah and the seat of the Brunei government. It is not assessible unless on annual Islamic Celebration like Hari Raya Aidilfitri. 

We also visited the Royal Regalia Museum, The museum was established in 1992 in commemoration of the Silver Jubilee of Brunei’s Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah’s accession to the throne. Shoes are not allowed in the museum, very much to Asian culture. And also, we met host Oli Pettigrew (of all places) over here.

If you want a luxurious accommodation while you are here, do check out The Empire Hotel and Country Resorts, a good mirror to Brunei's majestic and cultural heritage. 

There's a theme park known as Jerudong Park, but it was letdown to me. The theme park was rather run down and there's not much of a crowd over there. 

Eating in Brunei, pretty much their food is similar to what you may find in Sarawak, the highlight dish for me is definitely Nasi Katok, a compendium of rice, anchovies and chicken (almost similar to Nasi Lemak) and they're selling at $1 only when I was there. Dirt cheap meal, I had 2 servings for my dinner there.

I guess there's nothing much to see in Brunei, a day trip there is more than sufficient if you are around that area anyway. I would think people is curious to see how South East Asia's richest country is really like, but don't be surprised of its rather humble surroundings, as Brunei moniker suggests, its the Abode of Peace.