Borobodur

By 3.30 am, we were ready for our first itinerary of the day. In a while, our minivan would have arrived to pick us up , along with other tourists, to a nearby hill where we would be overwhelmed by the sun rising above the majestic Borobodur. The trip took us around an hour, and I dozed off in the car albeit the bumpy journey. 

At around 5am, we arrived at the foot of the hill, paid the entrance fee and started rushing towards the peak, braving ourselves through the muddy steps as I endured my rumbling stomach. Damn, what a wrong time to have diarrhoea! Fortunately, I managed to put off the idea of having an explosive diarrhoea by repeatedly visualising how picturesque the sunrise would be once I got to the peak. 

Within 20 minutes, we had arrived 300 meters above sea level at the peak and as expected, there was already swarms of tourists greeting us, with cameras hung on their necks. My buddy and I had to squeeze through the crowd, securing a standing spot for both of us while we quietly waited for the sun to rise. Nonetheless, the presence of furry clouds scattered all around the sky somehow told us that we would be disappointed.

Sadly, we were disappointed. The sun wasn't bright enough to awe us, and we could only catch a glimpse of Borobodur being covered by a sea of clouds. Not wasting much time, we descended the hill back to our minivan for our next itinerary - Borobodur itself.

I was amazed the moment I set my eyes onto this Gargantuan Buddhist monument. Solemn and still, it stood there enduring the test of time, as a relic constructed with the blood, toil and sweat of its builders. Brick by brick, layer by layer, I could not imagine how dedicated these people were back then.

We decided to follow the "protocol" as indicated by the signboard - we were supposed to climb up a layer, go around it in a clockwise fashion, before climbing up the next layer. Oh well, since we had plenty of time, why not?

Most of the wall carvings had been destroyed. By time, erosion, vandals or grave robbers, who knows? What a pity. Sigh.

I particularly love the the design of this mega structure where there are statues of Lord Buddha everywhere, glimpsing towards the far distance.  

  As we climbed up each levels approaching the pinnacle, we were greeted by mini stupas. 

And not to forget, the local kids who interviewed us for their homework assignment.

"Hi, where are you from?" "Do you like Borobudur?" "What do you work as?" "Do you think Borobudur is beautiful?"

And from the peak of Borobodur, the scenery is just awesome. I would not know which mountains these were but I was just amazed by the view.

 And finally, the summit. 

 And one last peek, before we say good bye. And with this, I've completed my bucket list of visiting the 3 major Buddhist ruins in Southeast Asia.