I love traveling. Well, who doesn’t?  It is one of the greatest pleasure and treat in life; to see the world and witness God’s creations. I

I believe that a true traveller does not choose the grandeur places, but to taste the real world and its essence, to taste, to smell, to see, to feel and experience the world and witness God's creations

love to travel the road less traveled. Well, maybe not really less traveled but normally when you ask someone to travel, they would always choose the places  which are normally visited by tourists, or in other words, tourist spots. For instance, the Eiffel Tower, the Great Wall of China, Hollywood, New York, and other fancy places. We all want to visit those places. But I believe that a true traveller does not choose the grandeur places, but to taste the real world and its essence, to taste, to smell, to see, to feel and experience the world and witness God’s creations whether through his exquisite sculpture of the bodies of land on earth, or through the talents he bestowed among people to create wonderful building and architectural structures.

When I started working in Indonesia, I have already told myself that I would like to see the Borubodur Temple and the Prambanan Temple. However, since my work schedule was too demanding, it took me 2 years to plan the trip to go there. And when i finally got the chance to visit the place, i was amazed. Well, if you dont go to those spots, of  course you would just see the place as an ordinary town already on its progressive stage. You will see the traditional way of life of the locals. They also have a  side car also known as padyak in tagalog, but they call it becak ( pronounced as bechak). It is very cheap to ride that very interesting vehicle, however you have to haggle and learn how to speak at least a few words of their language.  You really have to try this ride because you would really be able to see the city at night or in the morning without the obstruction of the windows and doors of the car. You will be able to smell the city and see people clearly as well as the other museums in town.

When my friend and I arrived there, we went straight to our hotel right away. You can see a lot of cheap hotels online but you should not expect too much especially if it is just a budget hotel. You will be very busy travelling the whole day and won’t be spending so much time at the hotel anyway, so try to be adventurous and be a frugal jetsetter. There should be time for luxurious travels and a time for adventure travels. i consider this travel one of my adventure travels. Form Jakarta, you can take another plane going to Jogjakarta, and from there you can rent cars that will take you to the spots you wish to see.

The first place we visited was the Borubodur temple. It was huge and it was exquisite. There were so many locals when we arrived and a few tourists as well. i could not beleive my eyes that i have finally arrived in that place. When we went up to the temple, i notice there were lots of Buddhas which laready lost their heads. Maybe because it has been hundreds of years ago. They said, when you go there, you should try touching the Buddha inside each bell and your wish will come true. I did! I really hope my wish would come true.  You should wear something light and comfy because it is too hot in there, but not too short because they treat that as a sacred place, so if you do, just like me, they would ask you to wear a Batik sarong to cover your legs.After we visited the temple, we went to the stands outside the temple selling souvenirs. i would suggest you to buy there rather than from the town because, you can still haggle there and they are very generous. They give a lot of discounts especially if you are nice to them.

Finally, we reached the Prambanan temple. The Hindu temples of  Shiva,Vishnu and Krishna. It was a very lovely and wonderful place. The building were carefully sculpted. I was definitely astounded. I bow to the builders of those building. They were indeed very talented and skillful to build such creation. It was very beautiful. I never imagined that i would actually see those temples personally which were ones just a part of the history topics in my Social Science classes way back in high school. I suggest you to visit this place in the afternoon so it wont be very hot and you could enjoy the place and take a lot of pictures.

When you travel, make sure that you dont bring any expectations with you. This will fail you especially if it does not meet your standards. Make sure that you are ready for surprises. Never compare your place or one place you have been to another. It does not make any sense at all especially if you are travelling to enjoy the play. Be friendly, make friends with the locals and flash your smiles. Try to eat their food, enjoy their traditions and open yourself to other surprises that they might introduce to you. Always remember to be yourself and do not pretend to be someone else when traveling just to earn respect. The people you meet whenever you travel will accept you for who you are and will not ask you about your past. Enjoy each moment you spend in that place. Try to be vigilant. While traveling the long roads of Yogyakarta, I realized that it was one of the towns which has the most number of stop lights. it was not the best city or town one could ever imagine, but i consider it as one of the best travels i have ever been. Seize every moment whenever you travel, you will never know what you will discover.

Photo credit: fotopedia

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