Saturday 24 February 2007

This week's episode* of Around the world in eighty treasures featured the ancient Buddhist temple of Borobodur. I missed much of what Dan Cruickshank said because I was lost in reverie. I was remembering my visit to Borobodur and the nearby Hindu temple complex of Prambanam.

With no planning other than submitting leave forms at work, a friend and I flew out to Jakarta and spent three weeks travelling from west to east through Java.

We didn't think it could get any better than the Dieng Plateau with its 1200 year-
old-temples and sulphurous vents. Then we went to Borobodur in the rainforest and thought it couldn't get any better than that. And then Gunung Merapi erupted. That was a trip to remember.
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*We're a little behind the times here but we get there eventually.