Easiest way to see everything is to pick a gate, go around, then take the staircase up to the next level, and so on. The crowd is pretty scary, but its mostly locals who aren’t interested in the history or the carvings. They just head straight up to the top to chitchat and pass the time. Unlike Angkor, you won’t get many camera-totting tourists getting in your way of the perfect photo.
. Since all visitors are herded in one direction, the east entrance is always crowded, but if you want a good shot, just walk over to the other 3. From this angle, the temple grounds look practically deserted.
This was probably my favourite carving on the walls. A whole bunch of chicks serving one guy… what’s not to like?
Many of the buddha heads have been chopped off. I’m betting you’d find them in collectors residences all over the world.
Like I said, pick one of the OTHER 3 entrances and you will have unblocked, uninterrupted photo-taking. This photo would have been impossible at the east entrance.
One of the ‘restored’ buddha statues. This one is purely for tourists. They removed the outer blocks so you can see the actual statue. The head has also been restored (when you go up close, you can see the scar around the neck). If you have time, and are truly interested, each statue is actually different. They have different hand positions. Wiki here
You can see the ‘cut’ at the neck clearly. Obviously this head has been removed and restored
The design of the statues and the different colours of the stones combined with some photoshop trickery (using an imitation old film stock) certainly make for some dramatic photos.
How it looks like in colour. The great thing about the place is that everyone congregates at the same location, so unobstructed photos are very possible. Although, we did go quite early, it might get more crowded as the day wears on.
Next stop on the tour was to Prambanan, another temple complex in the area. Sadly, the place took a beating in 2006 when an earthquake struck the area.
A little photoshop trickery here. In actual fact, the 2 buildings on the left were entirely covered with piling as it was still being restored.
This was how they built the temple in those days. I’m sure the forklift was an artifact from the 9th century.
Looks like the world’s largest (and definitely heaviest) jigsaw. Putting all the puzzle pieces together one stone at a time.
A system so easy even the dimmest of folks can follow. All edges and its corresponding piece marked with identical symbols. All the construction crew have to do is line up each matching symbol. In the year 3145, some brilliant historian or archeologist will decode these symbols into an ancient 21st century language.
Photoshop trickery. There’s no way the temple compound looks like this.
LUNCHTIME. I had actually wanted to go to Candi Sari Ayam Goreng Kalasan for lunch (as per Indiana’s recommendation), but when we pulled up to the restaurant, the place was entirely empty. Not a good sign in my books. The driver recommended Suharti’s, and off we went. Definitely a better choice. First good sign, the place was packed, all locals. Plates were heaped on the tables and they were empty (with lots of bones). Looks like this was the right place to go.
I really like Fanta… green, red… any colour, in a bottle. Can’t get them in Singapore. Such a pity.
We ordered the Ayam Goreng Mbok Berek, which is their signature dish. It’s basically a fried free-range (less fatty, more gamey) chicken, seasoned with garlic and coriander, and served with a covering of fried crackers. It was delicious. The only way I could describe the texture is, it’s the opposite of KFC. It’s kind of dry, entirely crispy with smaller portions of intensely tasting meat. The plate of sambal served with it was heavenly. I was literally spooning the sambal into my mouth directly.
Did I mention they serve the entire chicken, head and all. Well, that’s what was left of it after we were done.
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