The following image was taken from the sliding door of our stateroom.
Cloudy and a bit foggy approach to port this morning. We had a lot of company.
These are working ports. The following image shows a couple of local boats in action.
Excursion: Borobudur Temple. From Viking: “Behold an enormous 2,000-year-old terraced temple that rises, pyramid-like, amid emerald forests and fields. You will travel overland for approximately 3 hours (each way) through the “Garden of Java” to reach 9th-century Borobudur, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The temple is remarkable not just for its beauty but for the symbolism of its design. Borobudur mimics the shape of a lotus, and every aspect of it represents Buddhist views of the cosmos. There are six stacked square platforms topped by three circular ones, a central dome, and four stairways that lead to the top. Practically every square inch is covered with sculptural reliefs, and there are 504 Buddha statues, making it a popular pilgrimage site. After exploring the temple, you will enjoy an included buffet lunch at the park’s Manohara Restaurant and then return to the ship.“
Earlier in the cruise, we attended a lecture by Dr. Brian Babcock about Indonesia, and he raved about the history and significance of the Borobudur Temple. We decided to sign up for the tour and are happy to report that he was right.
Though it was a long day (9 hours round trip), it was an extraordinary site to visit. Borobudur is the largest Buddhist temple in the world and was completed in the 9th century. There are ten levels, each one reflecting the “path of cultivation to achieve nirvana”. Our tour guide was excellent, and in addition to explaining the meaning of the various elements of the temple, he also demonstrated different meditation positions and what they mean.
We were allowed to climb up to level nine. Only holy people are allowed to reach the 10th floor. At each level, we discussed the stories being conveyed in the carved stonework and the meaning of the architectural elements. In the 90+degree heat, we found the climb to be quite the workout! We were required to wear shoes/slippers provided in order to protect the temple walkways and steps. I’ll let our pictures convey the compelling story of Borobudur.
An interesting aspect of this excursion is that our charter buses were escorted by the local police for the entirety of the trip (not fully sure why).
Borobudur today includes a large building complex at the base of the temple for hosting events. We had a delicious lunch and then headed back to our ship.
The Viking naturalist and photographer Richard Lovelock provided the following six terrific images (the rest are ours).
This visit demanded pictures that included both of us (mostly).
The temple was created without mortar using interlocking stones; see the following images. Looks awesome for a 2000-year-old structure.
On the way to the shrine, we drove through rural areas, saw many rice fields, visited a coffee plantation/restaurant, and got a sense of local life on the island of Java.
From the internet: “Java is a major hub for Indonesian wood production, renowned for high-quality sustainable teak and mahogany, particularly from Central and East Java. Managed by Perhutani, the industry focuses on furniture manufacturing, with centers like Jepara exporting to global markets. Key production involves traditional carving, modern designs, and sustainable, community-based forestry.” On the way to the temple, we saw many wood production facilities. The panels are laid out for the sun to dry. I found this pretty interesting for some reason.
Indonesia also produces natural rubber. We saw many rubber trees along the route. Most had the diagonal slash marks made to extract latex. A bucket is attached to the tree at these cut areas, and raw rubber sap is collected. The images are not great as they were taken from our moving bus.
There was a lot of interesting flora seen throughout the day.
Enrichment: Oodles of Noodles: From Mee to Spaghetti. Follow the journey of the humble yet mighty noodle as a worldwide staple – Sharon Giraud (another new speaker).
Noodles are a big part of many, many worldwide cuisines. The consensus is that they were invented by the Chinese and quickly spread throughout the world (although not by Marco Polo). They are primarily wheat or rice-based.
She covered the invention of Instant Ramen by Momofuku Ando in 1958.
Susan mentioned the Spaghetti Tree Hoax of 1957. An April Fools Day video produced by the BBC. See the video here. Hilarious.
This was one of the best days of the cruise to date. The temple was a fantastic place to visit and explore. Great fun.
As always, the images and any videos in this posting are best viewed on the web page.