Yogyakarta & Surabaya : Part 2 - Borobudur Temple at Sunset

We woke up from our short nap at 4.30pm to view the sunset at Borobudur Temple. 

We paid Rp185,000 for the sunset ticket. Now, here is a bit of arrangement which I thought was ridiculous but I guess if you have a UNESCO Site in your area, you try to maximise the benefits from all the one-time visitors.

The room that we paid for include an all-day entry to Borobudur from 6am - 5pm. The sunset ticket which we had to paid extra for allows entry until 6.30pm. Sunset does not start until 5.30pm. By the way, the price of the ticket has increased to Rp230,000 with effective 1 Aug 2012. Initially, they charged me Rp230,000 but I told them that I saw the price of Rp185,000 in the website which was then realised that I had booked back in April 2012.

So, this is the gate that separates Manohara Hotel and Borobudur Temple. It was less than 2 minutes' walk from the Hotel's reception counter.

Borobudur Temple is listed as number 592 in the UNESCO World Heritage List.

As it was 5pm, the guards requested to see the Sunset Tickets. See the guard house below?

And right before my eyes, I stood in awe at the world's largest Buddhist monument - Borobudur Temple. As you scroll down, you will see various angles of Borobudur Temples with their intrinsic carvings. 

We were given sarong (wraparound cloth) to wear. I asked the staff at the hotel counter on the significance of wearing the sarong because:
1) I saw some tourists without the sarong
2) I saw some tourists tying the sarong at thigh-level

The staff at the hotel counter explained:
1) Borobudur Temple is a holy place and the sarong is worn for respect
2) If the visitor is at a high level, the visitor is dressed modestly when viewed from the below

I commented - If Borobudur Temple is a holy place, then not wearing the sarong / tying at thigh level defeats the purpose because the legs still can be seen.

Well, I guess holiness is a subjective matter and probably as long as you have a sarong around any part of your body, it is fine? That makes it sound like a decorative clothing.

  

I like the view of the stupa and Buddha status from outside a stupa.

There is a Buddha statue inside this stupa. It was told that people who touches the leg (for women), stomach (for men) will have their wish come true. This is an interesting belief which unfortunately cannot be found in my website searches. As all stupas look the same, you will need the guard to direct you to the proper stupa.

By 5.50pm, the skies have darken but we did not see any glimpses of the sunset. The area was too cloudy. I was very disappointed. I think if they practised refund policy, it would be more practical. Once, my friend told me that she went to New Zealand and booked a whale sight-seeing cruise, and when there were no whales in sight, the cruise refunded the monies to the customers. 

In the sunset package, there was a complimentary tea / coffee and local delicacies. Local delicacy was banana fritters (pisang goreng) sprinkled with cheese flakes, and a muffin.

After our complimentary meal, we cycled out from the Hotel and searched for the famous Java Noodles from Pak Parno. We cycled into dark lanes and was told by a neighbour that he has went back for the Eid Mubarak holidays. It was actually safe cycling around the area.

So, we went to our 2nd place - Mushroom Tongseng. I looked up this place on yogyes.com and the same person  (Pak Amin) in the website's photo was doing the cooking. He was very happy when I asked him if he was the same person.

We ordered fried noodles and tongseng mushroom. We paid Rp41,000 for the meal.

Tongseng has high cholesterol coming from meat and coconut milk used as the main ingredient. The tongseng has mushroom, pieces of chicken, egg and cabbage. Tongseng tasted like thick gravy.

At 8.30pm, we returned the bicycles which was just 5 shops away from the Mushroom Tongseng stall. We walked back to Manohara Hotel, which was a safe walk actually.

Upon reaching Manohara Hotel, we were stunned to see the lights beaming from behind Borobudur Temple. Looks very mystical.

We hoped that tomorrow will be a better day to see the sunrise.