By 9am we were leaving Borubadur for Prambanan. We stopped off, briefly, at a small picturesque Hindu temple along the way. On the minibus I was sitting beside a Dutch couple who'd been on the road for a number of months and had come down to Java through India, Myanmar etc. The lad is into his football and cycling so between the travel and sport we had a lot to chat about. There was a lot of laughter as the 90 min journey to Prambanan flew past.
As we left the minibus an English girl attached herself to me with great deftness. Back at Borubadur and then at the smaller temple she had smiled and said hello in a manner that had left me slightly disconcerted. Here at Prambanan she literally pounced as we got off the bus. I took off to the toilet at the entrance to the temple complex but she was there waiting for me when I came out. There was no getting away from this lass who appeared to have certain designs on me. She embarked on her visit to Prambanan temple complex happy out with her 'new fella' reluctantly in tow. As we strolled along the beautiful tree-lined avenue leading to the beautiful Hindu temples I was walking somewhat awkwardly, uncomfortable and self-conscious with this 'bird' clucking around me. We explored the temples she chattered happily. We should swap emails. What were my travel plans? When would I be in Kuala Lumpur? Maybe we'd travel together through Malaysia??? We wondered at the beauty of the buildings, marveled at the intricate carvings. We espoused the various merits of Hindu and Buddhism and I commented on the ample charms of obese black women...... She wasn't quite as enthusiastic after that. Still, I was able to relax a bit more as I looked at the temples. By the time I walked out of the temple complex she was half a mile away.
Prambanan really was beautiful. The temples were elegant, very delicate looking. The one pity about this complex is that most of the buildings have been destroyed, flattened by earthquakes over the centuries. Built around 850ad the complex originally consisted of 224 individual shrines. Perhaps only 15 or so of the original structures have survived or been rebuilt but even so the complex looks impressive. In its heyday with all the structures intact the complex must have been awe inspiring. In 2006 an earthquake further damaged some of the surviving temples.
We were back in Jogja for 2pm. I made my way to one of the local bars for a gorgeous chicken dish in coconut milk washed down by a couple of bottle of Bintang. There was a tv in the corner showing reruns of old FA cup matches. I ended up half watching these and chatted to one of the staff who had an impressive knowledge of English football. He was familiar with Cov and could rattle off a number of the players who used to be in the side. It just goes to show how popular English football is in Indonesia.
In the evening I returned to the bar for some more food and I bumped into Eithne, an Lady from Dublin who had stayed in the same accomodation in Solo. She was a lovely lady, a friend of the famous travel writer Dervla Murphy. While she is happily married at home she takes off every year either by herself or with a friend to travel for two months. Her husband, an ex-merchant navy man isn't keen on travelling so she leaves him back home and he holds the fort while she explores. This year Eithne came to Indonesia. Back In Surakarta I had recomended the trip to Candi Sukuh to her. She went with Patrek after I left but traveled by car with a couple of other Irish lads. We spent a while catching up on each others adventures. She's a gas character, very entertaining with a sunburnt smile flashing across her her well-travelled features. A very interesting person.
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