When we woke up up this morning, I certainly didn't think that we had the possibility of dying a thousand times today.
We arrived around 9am and it seemed that it took a long time to get clearance to leave the ship. But we were finally off the ship and made our way through the terminal where our guide met us and led us on further past a thoroughly rain drenched parking lot with 6" of water from the previous three nights of rain. There were 20 of us in two minivans. Ours was the blue Isuzu and I once again assumed a front row seat with Lynn. He and I chatted the whole trip on a wide range of topics.
With both buses loaded, a police car showed up and it would be our escort for the day. Carol, our tour organizer, had learned it was important to have the escort and it turned out she was 1000% correct! We headed slowly out of the port area with even deeper water and unknown potholes. At one point there was a man who helped guide us through an especially difficult section. This he did in exchange for a small tip.
Finally we reached the toll road and the adventure began in earnest. The short sections off toll roads gave way to regular roads and here's where the police escort became critical. The police ran with 4 way flashers and blue lights. These were supplemented with frequent use of the siren. Cars, trucks, and motorcycles all gave way, some reluctantly, although the scooters still darted in and around us. The police car never stopped for red lights and we were frequently driving in the oncoming lane (even around blind corners!) and many a time there was a large truck or bus coming right at us.
Eventually we made it to Borobudur and it was quite crowded, hot and humid. I'll leave it to the reader to do their own research about Borobudur, but in summary it is a Hindu temple that was built over a 100 year period in the 8th and 9th century. It was finished by the King's daughter. It went unused and the jungle soon took it over where it lay covered by the jungle until the British explorer Raffles discovered it in the 1800's. It's now a UNESCO world heritage site.
It's huge and we climbed to the top level with its challenging climb up very steep stairs. Some had railings. Most didn't! There are lots of Buddhas and other carvings and each of the levels represent different levels of enlightenment for Buddhist adherents.
Afterwards we enjoyed a very nice meal at a local restaurant followed by a stop at a coffee factory that uses civits (a cat like critter) to eat the coffee beans and then excrete the processed beans which are then cleaned, opened and ground into coffee grounds. Across the street was another small temple, and a bit further down the road we stopped at a silver shop before resuming our 2.5 hour thrill ride back to the port where the Volendam patiently waited for us.
The ship departed late as the 15 HAL buses that went to Borobudur were late in returning. We ate a casual dinner in the Lido and enjoyed Ruben Vilagrand, a really good illusionist in the Main Stage before retiring early. Tomorrow, we have an 11am arrival and a late departure. What excitement will that bring? Stay tuned.
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