Watching the Sunrise from Borobudur Temple
7 December 2012
Categories : Sightseeing - Travelings - Culture and Heritage
Approaching the stone steps of Borobudur Temple in the pre-dawn hours, the sky slowly began to lighten, revealing a blanket of grey clouds. Getting up at 4 AM was no longer about seeing a multi-colored sky, but experiencing one of Indonesia’s greatest cultural landmarks with as few people as possible. Borobudur Temple is the world’s largest Buddhist monument, its construction dating back to the 8th and 9th centuries (300 years before Cambodia’s...
Tag : Borobudur
Experiencing Bali, Four Years Later
11 December 2012
Categories : Culture and Heritage - Adventure
Dig far enough back through the archives on Go Backpacking, and you’ll find Bali was the first place in Asia I visited on my trip around the world. It was my first time in Asia, too, so the culture shock hit me hard and fast. Walking around Kuta my first day, I quickly learned to stop making eye contact with vendors and touts, and focus on going about my business. My hotel the first few nights had a beautiful swimming pool, complete with Swedish girls. I...
Tag : Kuta Beach, Bali Spirit Festival
Borobudur an amazing experience
12 December 2012
Categories : Culture and Heritage - Sightseeing
Borobudur Temple We drove through the countryside of Central Java, Indonesia past lusciously green rice and tobacco fields and we ate lunch at one of the fanciest hotels I’ve ever been called “Amanjiwo”. Princess Diana and the likes of David Beckham had all stayed there previously and got to enjoy the fabulous view of the famous Borobudur temple from their suites. Sadly we weren’t spending the night at that hotel however we were going to...
Tag : Borobudur
The Kecak Dance at Uluwatu
12 December 2012
Categories : Culture and Heritage
“Chark-a, chark-a, chark-a, chark-a”, and on… the chant goes. Almost hypnotic, trance-like, the thirty or so barechested Indonesian men sway with the rhythm. They’re sitting on the ground in a circle – and in the middle the drama is unfolding. Two young princes; a demon king; a damsel in distress; a mischievous monkey. They all play their parts in the ring of unceasing cantillation. The nightly performance is very popular here at...
Tag : Bali's 8th Kuta Karnival
Bali - A fantastic place for relaxation
12 December 2012
Categories : Sightseeing - Culture and Heritage
Before going to Indonesia I’ll admit I was “one of those tourists” who might of previously thought Bali was its own country because you hear/assume so many people reference it that way, but of course I quickly learned that Bali was simply just one of the most popular of the 17,000 islands which can be found in Indonesia. What I knew of Bali was that A LOT of Australians visit there and I also knew that it was a place that I had on my bucket list...
Tag : Bali Arts Festival
