The principal attraction during our stop at Semarang, Indonesia was a visit to "Fabled Borobudur" in central Java. The visit involved a three hour bus ride each way, an hour visit and a traditional Indonesian meal. On the way back we stopped at a gift store that featured a shadow puppet performance. We made good time and were able to drive through the center of Semarang to see the Dutch Colonial buildings that remain and see the interior of a church.
The drive through the countryside was made easier by our having a police escort provided by the tour operator. When we got to the back country narrow roads it was amazing how the lead police car drove on both sides of the road to get us through traffic. Cars, trucks and motor bikes had to pull over left and right. Some appeared to be in danger of running off the road entirely. Bali is part of Indonesia but Semarang is more typically Indonesian. We saw mosques and minarets everywhere. Some were large and imposing, others were small buildings by the side of the road. There were a scattering of churches, Buddhist temples and even a Chinese pagoda. The streets of each town were lined with stalls. These were flimsy wooden structures, not part of houses as in Bali. Like Bali, each town seemed to specialize in one product. While there were general markets, there were long stretched of booths selling fruits or breads, wood products or construction materials or clothing. The countryside was lush. Our tour guide attributed the abundance of produce to the volcanic soil. Indonesia has almost a hundred active volcanoes. In fact, there was one not far from Borobudur.
The Borobudur temple is a magnificent thousand year old stone pile in the central Java highlands. It was covered by volcanic ash until the early twentieth century when it was first excavated. Borobudur is the world's largest Buddhist monument containing hundreds of statues of Buddha, bas-relief carvings and carvings of bells. Even though I had pulled a muscle in my right leg the day before, I managed to climb up the eight galleries and walk around the top three times in a clockwise direction. Michael did seven, the traditional number for good luck. After climbing down we had a wonderful Indonesian lunch in a restaurant/hotel at the base of the monument.
About thirty minutes drive from Borobudur we stopped at a gift shop that featured a shadow puppet show. It was sad that the guests (i.e. us tourists) were more interested in the crafts and jewelry than they were in this traditional Indonesian performance art. Admittedly, appreciation for the retelling of ancient Hindu myths which in full form would take about six hours is an acquired taste. I really couldn't follow it and interesting as it was in theory, I wandered away too.
On the way back to Semarang our escorting police car got a flat tire. We were on our own for about half an hour. It was a lot slower going because we had to stay in the left hand lane (Indonesians drive on the left side of the road as do the English.) No one got out of our way. Indonesia has a lot of traffic. Lots of small trucks, some private cars and hoards of motor bikes. Our guide mentioned that almost everyone can afford a motor bike as they can pay on credit. There were some people on bicycles but not many. Three wheeled pedal powered vehicles, called trishaws were in use in cities, mostly to take tourists around to see the sights. Fortunately the police car, tire repaired, caught up to us and our escorted, siren accompanied journey continued. We made good time and got back to Semarang about an hour early. We had time to drive on the city streets, see the center and visit an old Dutch Colonial neighborhood. Some church members kindly let us in to see the interior of a colonial era christian church.
Tuesday we spent most of the day at a beach barbecue organized by Silver Seas (the cruise line) for the passengers of the ship. They basically rented an island resort for the day. We were able to walk around a small palm tree covered island, swim, sort of, in the very shallow warm waters of the atoll, dip in the pool and enjoy drinks and food brought from the ship and set up on the beach. It was a lovely relaxing day. The highlight was going back to the Silver Whisper. The tender driver was a trainee and he ran the boat aground in the very shallow water by the island dock. After a lot of forward and back thrust from the engines and a lot of shouting by the crew we finally got loose and were able to motor back to the ship.
The following day was a sea day. I wrote most of this entry. Between sitting in the sun, walking around the ship and attending a destination lecture for Singapore I somehow did not finish. I seem to be getting further and further behind.
No comments:
Post a Comment