Feeling worth it, we decided to travel executive class on the long seven hour train ride from Gabir station Jakarta to the city of Semarang. We'd done plenty of riding coach in India, and learnt if we want to arrive at our destination without crumbs in our hair from those sat munching crisps in the luggage racks above, we'd have to splash out for it. But, what did this get us, I hear you ask? The ability to recline our chairs thirty percent, air conditioning and a tv at the front the carriage that constantly played adverts. It wasn’t the best but we’d been on much much worse. Despite the modernity of the train and the station itself, the ride itself reflected many we’d had in South East Asia, juddering and clacking its way along, feeling like it was one wrong move from slipping off the tracks altogether.
If the best way to get a feel for a city is to walk around it, the best way to know a country is to ride the trains. The sky outside the train was overcast, promising stormy weather. We hurtled through green rice paddies filled with water from the recent rains and fallow fields with goats grazing happily. We passed tiny villages and industrial towns, all with a large Mosque or two the focal point for the community. Occasionally in the distance, we'd glimpse Indonesia's famous volcanoes, their peaks' shrouded in fog and mist, before the train would turn and the view lost. With all this to see, the train ride didn't feel too long at all.
It was dark when we arrived in Semarang. Ben was, unfortunately, horribly ill during our visit; it might have been the room temperature chicken he’d eaten on the train, or maybe from his dinner the night before. We’ll never know for sure what caused it but his desire for train food has diminished ever since. It's sad really, as eating questionable food from trains is really one of his most favourite pastimes.
As he was feeling pretty wiped out, and I’m as timid as a church mouse when it comes to exploring solo, the next day was a write off. We ventured out for breakfast and dinner, sticking to a coffee house nearby that did a range of Indonesian and western cuisine. It might seem a bit like cheating, to eat non-indonesian food so early on in our trip but I was having a slightly tough time of it. Vegetarian isn’t really a thing here and my option so far had been fried rice with some vegetables in it, which can get boring pretty quickly. I’m sure I’ll find some more vegetarian dishes in time, but it may need further investigation.
We was sad to leave Semarang without having given it a chance but, with only a limited time to explore Indonesia, it was time to move on.
Getting to our next destination was slightly harder than getting on a train. We’d need to get a taxi to the bus, the bus, which would take us about 25km away from our actual destination, then another taxi. OR… for about five pounds more a taxi the whole way, accommodation to accommodation. It was a simple choice.
Set amongst the rice paddies, 5 minutes out of Borobudur village was Bhumi Kasuryan homestay, our home for the next two nights. It was beautiful. Our traditionally ornate front door led into a large bedroom, it was tastefully decorated but the best thing was the second private veranda that looked over the rice fields and into the countryside beyond. After the hustle and bustle of the city, being surrounded by nature was so refreshing and very much needed. Not that it was much quieter - the sounds of mopeds and honking of horns had been replaced by the gentle clicking of cicadas and the calling ribbit of frogs. If the weather had been clear, we would have been able to see the sunrise over the mountains without even leaving bed, but this was not meant to be.
The weather was also pretty rubbish during our visit to Borobudur: a Buddhist temple built in the 8th and 9th century, rediscovered in the early 1800's and restored in the1970's. According to wikipedia, it is the biggest Buddhist temple in the world. We'd done our research... what to wear (covered knees and shoulders), what to do (walk around temple clockwise) and how to behave (speak only positive thoughts). We were ready.
Our first disappointment was at the ticket office, where we were informed that we'd not be able to climb the temple. During our research it was pointed out that you'd need to buy special slippers if you wanted to go up, and while we tried to ask for the reason behind this rule change we didn't get very far. I would imagine it was due to the weather, perhaps the rain made it dangerous for both the explorers and the temple itself. Of course I understood, even though my dreams of instagram worthy photos were dashed. All I'm saying is that they could have updated their website to include this.
We slowly made our way to the temple, dodging local tour guides, wanting to just explore by ourselves. The first thing we noticed was the path to the left of us was roped off, no respectfully circling clockwise for us. The second thing, it seemed rather small for the "largest" buddhist temple in the world. Having visited quite a few buddhist temples in our time, I don't think it was even the largest temple we'd been to. We couldn't say any of this out loud of course, we were being positive. So instead of grumbling, we praised Borobudur's marketing team, took some very poorly lit photos and set off to explore the temple grounds. It could have been rubbish if we'd let it, we could have walked around bemoaning the loss of the entry ticket ($25 each) but we had fun, twisting our complaints into positives. If anything, Borobudur taught us a lesson, that maybe we ought to focus more on what's good rather than on what's not.
This lesson was immediately forgotten on the way our of Borobudur, when instead of a normal exit we were forced through a maze like market, filled with people calling to us to just buy one thing. If anything, I would have happily paid for a shortcut out of there. I wouldn't ever go to a market like this by choice, I know I won't buy anything and I resent being made to feel bad because of this.
If I could have a re-do of this trip I don't know what I'd do. All in all, it took us about nine hours to make it to Borobudur from Jakarta and I'm not entirely sure if it was worth it. What I enjoyed the most about this experience wasn't the attraction we were there to see, but getting a glimpse of village life and a chance to explore the countryside.
Trip date: Oct 2022 Next destination: Yogyakarta & Surabaya | Last destination: Jakarta (Check out blog here if you haven't already read it!)
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