Prambanan

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Prambanan

 

Monday, April 1st:

Our last day in Indonesia. We spend a very relaxing morning in the hotel and by the pool, and enjoy the very nice birthday cake the hotel made for me. After packing up we take a car to the other major temple in Yogyokarta: Candi Prambanan.

I think the only reason Prambanan is not world famous and a major tourist attraction is due to the fact that it is near the even more amazing Borobodur. Without that Yogyakarta would mainly be known as the city near Prambanan Temple. 
Candi Prambanan was also built in the 9th-century, similar to Borododur, but it is a Hindu temple (the largest in Indonesia), whereas Borobodur is Buddhist. It is located about 20 kilometres east of Yogya. It consist of several tall tower-like temples in the centre and numerous smaller ones around it, each of which is dedicated to a different god. Originally there were 240 temples in Prambanan. We are taken around the temple complex by two young girls, who are in training to become guides. They didn't even want money for their service.
The Shiva temple is the largest structure in the centre. It is 47 metres tall. Each of the temples is richly decorated in sculptures and reliefs, and they all contain a large statue inside depicting the god their dedicated to. The Shiva temple is still somewhat unstable after the 2006 earthquake that caused major damage to all the temples. We have to wear construction helmets, but we can go inside as well as climb up to the higher platforms.

We spend a couple of hours at the large complex until the sun goes down and we have to make our way to the airport. Prambanan is near the airport, so we had taken all our luggage with us and have the car drop us off at the airport afterwards. We are booked on a flight from Yogyakarta to Jakarta, where we only have a couple of hours stopover before out overnight flight back to Hong Kong.

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