Made You Look: Charm me back, Borobudor

Borobudor is full of charms....no, not those one dollah magic charms (due to inflation now five-dollah) that are readily sold by your fake neighbourhood shamans, but charm in the sense of the word....a feast for the senses. In fact, I have been to Borobudor 3 times straight, and the desire to return has always been greater each time.

There are about a hundred blogs out there which features Borobudor as a tourist trap, complete with warnings not to buy any of those English/German/Chinese/Japanese guide books or stupa shaped souvenirs (available as key chain, paper weights, pens, statuettes, wood carvings and more !!).

But why not do the good people of Borobudor justice, and help support the local people with their only means of income. After all, as long as you're not trying to take a picture of them or infringe on their personal rights, you're not doing any harm by a little bargaining. Most of the time however, it works the other way round, you might find the occasional pesky vendor infringing upon your personal space while trying to sell you miniature stupas although you might have already bought one from him the previous day (I myself already have 3 miniature stupas and about a dozen key chains, which I give away for special occassions like birthdays and Christmas.....to people I don't really like). In such circumstances, simply pull out your pockets and say "Maaf, Encik, tak ada duit-lah". (Translated into English: "Sorry, Mister. I'm strapped of cash")

But the one thing that attracts me back to Borobudor is definitely not the cheap souvenirs, nor the craving for freshly harvested coconuts, large juicy bananas or succulent mangos, all fresh from the local orchard, nor the intricate architecture.
It's a simple challenge of fate: Whether or not, you're lucky enough to see the sun rise today.

Legend has it, that those who are able to witness the sun rise from the top of the sacred stupa, will be bestowed with the full blessings and grace of the Buddha.

From my experience, I have learnt not to underestimate the power of the weather forecast. But even then, many factors can go wrong, such as the timing of the sun rise or the density of the morning clouds, fogs, rain, much which cannot be forecasted correctly.

So, you need to rely on pure, pure luck. Of course, the earlier you arrive at the peak of the stupa, the greater the chances you have of witnessing this majestic wonder. Naturally, in order to enter the monument grounds before dawn, you need to purchase a "Sun Rise Ticket" from the official hotel, also known as "Manohara Hotel", or your entry will be flatly refused. (Unless you try to bribe the official hotel guard, but that might even cost you more than the entry ticket itself....something which I have, ehem, heard from word of mouth)

Of course, if you have spent your last Ruppiahs on the souvenir vendor, or if you're not an early riser, you could try your luck and catch the first sunrise when the temple gates are open for public entry, which would be around 7a.m.

The last time I managed to catch the sunrise, it was at about 6 a.m. It takes you about 15 mins to climb to the top leaving you gasping for air, because of the breathtaking view from above.

No words can describe the feeling, when you do manage to catch the sunrise. It's enough for me to be there....for that one brief moment, watching the sun rays enlightening the world, all fatigue from the previous night forgotten.

...the silhouette of the Borobudor architecture against the sunrise.

The way down is much easier (just like life itself). Be sure to make a peace sign at all times, just in case a pesky blogger takes a snapshot of you.

The intricate lime stone carvings surrounding the monument depicting the life story of the Buddha leaves you wiser than before.

I think I have lost count of the number of Buddha statues surrounding the monument. But a quick check in Wikipedia gives you the accurate number: In total 504 Buddha statues and 2,672 relief Buddha carvings.

And for those pesky tourists who can't resist the desire of embedding their names into the walls of the great historical monument, "No Scratching (the walls) ".

Below, a perfect Buddha statue with facial features and limbs intact in the hand position of dharmachakra mudra (turning the Wheels of the Law). The monument has suffered pillage by "treasure hunters and excavators" from the West (Yes, I blame all you Indiana Jones and Laura Croft wannabe's). Sadly, many of the Buddha statues have suffered decapitation or loss of limbs under the hands of these plunderers.

A touch of the lucky Buddha's foot inside the stupa to seek His blessings and grace. You need to find the right stupa with the lucky Buddha in it. (And it's no use trying to touch every Buddha statue you come across, not if there are about 504 of them...)