Back in 2018 I spent Christmas in Indonesia volunteering at a wildlife rescue centre (more information about the centre can be found on my web page). One of my bucket list places for Yogyakarta was Borobudur. When speaking with the locals and workers at the sanctuary, they also told me about Prambanan and said it was possible to do both in one day. I was intrigued, let the battle of the temples commence.
Borobodur
First up was Borobodur. A temple with a rooftop full of Buddhas. As I said, I had previously known about this temple so I wasn't going in blind. After our driver and guide helped us (me and another volunteer) purchase tickets, he set us on out way and waited for us back in the car. We approached the temple and it did not disappoint.
We went early to Borobodur to beat the busy times, so with that in mind, this picture shows you just how popular the temple is. We was tempted by the sunrise tour, but the locals and the guide told us it wasn't worth it due to how busy the temple gets on those tours. So we headed up into the temple. It is built like a layered cake, each level (or tier) is open to walk around, some lead inside to a small museum.
Each level has such detailed sculptures on the walls, carvings and stone gargoyles are at every corner. It's utterly breath taking. The higher we climb, the better the views become...
We could see the groups of people coming in thick and fast now, so we definitely got there at the right time. In the distance we could see numerous mountains and volcanoes, buried deep behind the stunning stone work and fluffy clouds.
On our climb up we were stopped a few times by school groups. It's common for the children to ask tourists questions, so they can practice their English. Some of them have questionnaires, some do mock interviews and some even record you. However, we had learnt from our first day out, that after one or two interviews, you have to start saying no. Otherwise, your day is constantly disrupted. It's nice to help, but you've also got to enjoy yourself.
Eventually, after a lovely journey up the temple, we reached the top.
From up there we had insane views of the volcanoes and surrounding countryside. After soaking in the views, I turned my attention to the actual temple. The roof is full of these bell shaped stone structures with tiny diamonds cut out of them. Peering through these gaps will reveal a seated Buddha. There is one structure, with the dome top removed, revealing the Buddha in all his glory. The roof is a full 360 degree area, sprinkled with these bell structures, each one in a varying state of decay. Time and weather impacts are clear to see on areas of the temple, but for me, this only adds to the impact of the structure.
I had to be torn away from Borobodur, with promises of more temples and a pit stop for food, cold mango smoothies and chance to swap into a fresh t-shirt. I had learnt, by this point, that I needed to carry a spare t-shirt because the tropical heat and humidity just ruined my shirts within hours!
Prambanan
Rested and refreshed, we arrived at Prambanan. Our guide helped us again with the tickets; we had to go to a special desk for tourists and purchase much more expensive entry tickets! Included in the entry was a cold bottle of water, but true to my eco ways, I just asked if I could use the water cooler behind them to fill up my filter bottle.
Once again, we was on our way to explore, but this time going in blind! I knew nothing about this temple, what it looked like or the layout. Prambanan is actually a large area of smaller temples. Spread across the open land there are small, tall, large and slender temples. Some with no doors, some you can walk right through. Some are in perfect condition, others are ruins. Walking up the main path to the main, big temples, presented us with a sight that, also, did not disappoint.
With much more room and lots more temples to explore, it didn't feel as busy or 'crammed' at Prambanan. We was able to take a leisurely stroll, taking in all the culture.
The temples varied, but they all had similar characteristics. Dark stone buildings with narrow, pointed roofs. Similar to Borobodur, the stone work featured beautiful carvings and sculptures.
The further away we went from the 'centre' of the temples, the quieter it got. The temples were smaller and some lay on the ground, just a pile of rubble, but it was nice to have areas to explore just by ourselves.
On our way back to the main area within Prambanan, we found an area that housed Elephants. It was unclear as to why they were there, and after only a quick look I noticed the animals were chained to the posts and the enclosure really didn't seem suitable enough for the amount of animals being housed there. I expressed my concerns and we moved away. Further up we stumbled across two men carrying out, what we thought at the time, as a ritualistic/culture performance. It was quite bizarre and we really couldn't figure out what was going on! When we was back in the car with out guide we asked him about it, but he seemed as confused as we were.
From here we went to watch the sunset at a black sand beach, where all 3 of us sat, drank from coconuts and talked about our home countries culture (between us we had Indonesian, Danish and English).
I was never able to say which temple I preferred, they are both so different and so interesting, it was impossible to say. To this day I still wouldn't be able to tell you which one won the battle of the temples. I simply recommend them both!
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