Two temples and a lava tour

3am came early. But we were ready. We descended the stairs at exactly 329am and our driver was waiting there. It's almost scary how casual it was; a simple whatsapp exchange guaranteed we would see two temples and the base of Mount Merapi.

We arrived at Borobudur, the largest Buddhist temple in the world, at around 420am. It was dark. We were handed a flashlight and sent up the temple. The top layer had already been taken so we opted for one layer down.  We were not sure which direction the rise would occur but we made a guess based on where everyone else was. Sunrise was over an hour later. More people filtered in and eventually it became hard to take a picture without someone walking through. In some ways it is understandable, everyone is vying for the best shot.  However, there were other who stood in the shot, not around it, trying to get the shot in like 20 different poses. I don't know if this is now just the thing, but in this part of the world, every corner of every building is enough for a full photo shoot. In some ways I am appreciative as Joe now realizes how little I truly take pictures!  But in other ways you feel like a dick for walking through someone's picture-that never ends!!  Joe had it at one point. This one couple had their guide take a shot with the sun rise about to come(which is like terrible lighting anyways) with them facing forward, backward, to the side etc. And then chose to stay there looking at all the pictures, while dozens of people are trying to get the very shot they are standing in. "Hey green backpack, you are literally in everyone's picture." Joe finally yells. Several people tell thanks in appreciation.  By the time the sun rises no one is front and central so we were all able to take photos and simply crop from the sides if needed. Did kinda ruin the experience a bit. So many humans. But it was still beautiful.

We didnt get a guide here, so we walked ourselves down the layers of the temple, guessing about things as we went. It is a topic I have taught about, so I felt good enough that I knew enough of what was going on!  It's a 9th century temple largely forgotten after the Javanese seat of power moved East and was rediscovered by a Brit in the nineteenth century. This is not the first time, nor will it be the last that we hear a similar story. Forgotten and then discovered by a Brit.

We had breakfast at the hotel that allowed us admittance so early. It wasn't that good. We left by 8am and were off to the lava tour. We had no idea what to expect!  We jumped into a jeep, put on our helmet and we were off!  We stopped thrice; a museum that showcased the devastation of the volcano, a viewpoint of the volcano and an "alien" stone(had a face on it) that got flung by the volcano and a bunker that was no match for the lava. Joe loved it as he is fascinated by lava. Despite all the rocking around in the jeep, I didn't hate it!  Which is either progress or??

The last place we went was Prambanan, a Hindu temple. Similar story to the last but was built by a Hindu prince who was married into a Buddhist family, so there are elements of Buddhism as well. (In many ways Hinduism and Buddhism is like Judiasm and Christianity, where judiasm provides the base and there are many shared beliefs).  These temples were much smaller but there were so many spread around a large area it took us like 2 hours to walk around and through(much to our guides dismay, he believed it would take us no more than an hour).  In comparison to the first temple of the day, the major highlight is that all but the largest temple, had like no humans there, so we were free to explore and take pictures in peace!!!  We could also walk into smaller temples and see altars!  There was also a random zoo of sorts that had rabbits, ostriches and deer.

We were hungry but also had a massage appointment back at the hotel at 4.  By now it was 2.  The driver drove us to lunch. He asked if we wanted local food but then brought us to this really nice place with like a koi pond and a babbling brook, which was expensive and nearly half the menu was western. We ate quick and walked in the hotel at 350pm.

We showered quick and were even called by the spa to tell us we were late. But we made it there and had a much needed experience.

Then we were pooped. We'd already been up for 16 hours and done more today than we had in any day and we simply gave in by about 6pm.

But just before, I had asked where our laundry had gone and a few other items at the front desk. An hour later, there is a knock at the door. A man is near trembling because he has to tell us that our luggage is in Jakarta. We don't discern this right away as he chose a funny way(from our perspective) to say it. Joe's fear of running out of underwear was about to come true. We both were running low and went back and forth as to whether we should do the very expensive hotel laundry or do it by the kilo outside the hotel. Convenience won out. Turns out, they do not do the laid dry in house but use the same external laundry we were planning on(and tacking on quite a service fee).  For the circumstance, I think we reacted appropriately. We definitely showed we were upset and made sure they did what they could to fix it.

2 hours later, our laundry is back in our hands.  They had thought it got mixed up with another patron's laundry at another hotel, but alas, we got it back!

We could sleep soundly knowing we would have clean underwear and tomorrow will fly off to Bali to start our "real honeymoon"!