Today we are off to see Borobudur, a UNESCO World heritage site. It is the world’s largest Buddhist temple built around 800AD. This is a very long bus ride there and back (9hours). It is a 3 hour drive just to get there. The high today is going to be 31C…without the humidity factored in.

BTW….our buses were escorted by a police because were “VIP’s” and had only so much time to get there and back. It was kind of crazy all these big buses actually driving into oncoming traffic…making the motorbikes and other vehicles move over. BTW, it’s another country where they drive on the left. Amazing toll highways. 

Samarang is 6th largest city in Indonesia …. Is international port for import/export.  Name means Tamarang tree/ jungle. It is only 1.5-2 metres above sea level. There are 17,400 islands in Indonesia. 60% of the 287 million people in the country live on Java. Dutch colonized this area as well. 

It is the first day of Ramadan so no eating during daylight hours. 86.5% are Muslim. Most people in country are involved in agriculture. Those in city are mostly working for government or tourisms(hotels). There are more than 25 universities in the city. 

129 volcanos on the island and 27 of which are active. Every volcano has a temple, partly because material made to build is volcanic rock….readily available. Merapi volcano “is most active volcano in world” (I thought it was Etna)… average eruption every 4 years but hasn’t erupted since 2010.  Ungaran volcano is closed to trekkers cuz it to dangerous. 

Trees ….. teak, mahogany, jack fruit …. and Dorion . Biggest producers of rice, coffee, tea but biggest exports are oil, palm oil, textiles, 

The 2nd President after independence Suharto, decreed everyone should have semi-permanent housing made of brick and cement. Before they were made of bamboo and of course didn’t stand up to the flooding, typhoons and cyclones. Still some are made of bamboo but only the very poor. “Indo” and “nesia” comes from India and nation hence Indonesia…. where the Hinduism and Buddhism came from. 

Ambarawa … is the former Dutch settlement (very Protestant).  The Dutch were here 300 years…. It was a 5 year war to independence. Steam trains. Rice take 100 days to grow. Alternately vegetables and tobacco. Rubber tree…  is exported. 

Magelang meaning middle and ring. Is in middle or ring of 8 volcanos…. Has a military college. 

At the Temple of Borobudur you have to wear sandles..Only 1200people/ day allowed to enter into the UNESCO site since COVID. There are 150 of us…5 buses.. we will be the only ones allowed during our time there. Now it is “quality” tourism  where before it was “quantity” when 50,000/ weekend were allowed in.  It covers 85 hectares and is 1300 years old.

I went from karma or “Hell” at the bottom(first level) to nirvana, the 4th level at the top and back into hell. Thought I was going to be sick. But if you know me at all, you know that I am very determined. I thought “ I am here so I am going to make it to the top”….and I did.

After leaving the site ……midway around Magelang city is a rain forest and doesn’t it start raining. Makes for good rice fields though. Every city has mosque, Buddhist temple and Hindu temple. Guess what we see in middle of Java……Mc Ds and Starbucks. 

There is free health care insurance  for poor people….. under 5 year old children. Education …primary is free for 9 years and is mandatory. After that … you pay. 

Our guide is Ipzul (Saiful). He needs 5-6 million rupiah to survive…or 300 USD OR 438CAD/ month….for family of 4 and sometimes his parents …. OMG!!!

At one point the bus driver slams on the brakes, pulling over …. Cuz the luggage door had opened while we were driving. The brakes stank for a good 10-15 min. The way these guys are driving in order to get us to the port in time was amazing. We not only had a police car at the lead but now one at the rear as well… amazing. 

Huge highway construction