Travel to Indonesia, Java, Yogyakarta.

“The Javanese believe that the placenta is the twin child of a newborn,” Reni Fatmasari says, holding a clay pot delicately while examining its smooth sides. “It is for this reason that when a baby is born, the mother’s placenta is placed in a pot like this, then buried in front of the house for 35 days.”

It’s early Tuesday afternoon and we’re in a roadside stall that sells flower offerings. We’re on our way to the Kasihan Spring just outside the center of Yogyakarta and Reni suggests we stop by the store first to buy flowers we can offer to the spirits that are said to reside in the spring’s premises. While waiting for the woman as she places our purchase in a paper bag, Reni clues me in a little to the traditional Javanese culture. My first lesson: Javanese babies are gods incarnated as humans until they turn 35 days old. That is why parents take a great deal making sure the placenta is okay, because it is of a divine origin.

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Travel to Indonesia, Java, Borobudur.

In the darkness of the minutes before dawn, Arik and I are negotiating the steep stairway up the Borobudur. The only source of light in the enveloping blackness is our flashlights. I quicken my pace on the last few steps. The air is cold and the stars overhead bring a feeling of calmness. A few others have arrived before us and are jealously guarding their spots, there with the same purpose as mine – to wait for the sunrise. There is a collective sense of anticipation.

“We’re lucky,” whispers Arik, my motorbike guide from ViaVia, a Belgian company that, aside from running a restaurant and a guesthouse in Yogyakarta, does a number of really interesting alternative tours across Java. “The sky looks great. It’s going to be a very lovely sunrise.”

With the letdown of the sunrise trip to Angkor Wat last April still on my mind, I just shrug. “Hopefully.”

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Travel to Indonesia, Java, Bandung.

I got the train from Jakarta to Bandung early on Friday. I took the executive class, which was 90,000 rupiah for a single (about 6 quid). The journey was really comfortable, and the scenery in between both cities was really nice, with green grass and rice fields scattered along the way. The journey took around three hours, and I arrived in Bandung at 11.30am. Hunny hostel was less than ten minutes from the station and in a nice part of Bandung. The guy that worked there told me that I’d arrived too late to go to either of the volcanoes, so it was better to simply explore the city of Bandung and go to one of the volcanoes the following day.

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Travel to Indonesia, Java, Borobudur.

Early Monday morning, we boarded our flight from Denpasar to Central Java on Lion Air. Finally. The Borobudur. I could almost touch it. Our flight was fairly short and as we landed in Jogja and stepped into another world again. Java is another world so it seemed to me. With Mount Merapi hovering in the distance, the beautiful Call to Prayer sounding off in the background....Bali seemed so "far away" when we landed in Yogyakarta.

The humidity was extremely high (as usual) so we decided to check into to our hotel and relax the remainder of the afternoon. We stayed at a decent hotel near the Sultan's Palace. The accommodations were good for the price and the staff were extremely friendly. Apparently, there are lots of students in this city and it's apparent with all the activity during the evening hours. Many of the shops and restaurants do not open until dinner time and the streets are filled with pedestrians and motorbikes.

Early the next day, our tour guide picked us up and off we went to my main destination for this trip. Our itinerary was The Borobudur, Prambanan Temple, Sultan's Palace, lunch and finally an artisan village. Our
Our wonderful guide taking the time out to teach us about the temple's meaning.tour guide was short of fabulous. I will upload his information later so if anyone is interested in getting a very good guide - he's yours for the booking! Anyways, our guide gave us the best insight on who built the Borobudur and further information on Buddism and what each level of the temple meant. He took his time explaining the meaning of the symbols and even went so far as showing us the actual translations of some of the temple's drawings. He was thorough and did not rush into just showing us all the "tourist spots" and whatnot. He allowed us time for good photo ops as well as recommending some interesting views while in the temple. I learned a lot about Buddism and what each pose meant from this guide. I learned about the value of numbers in Buddism as well and what they mean in relation to reaching Nirvana.

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