Just go lah: Spring Break Part 1: Yogyakarta, Bali, and the Gili Islands

February 20-March 1

For Spring break I took a trip to Yogyakarta, Bali and the Philippines with Juliette and Maria. Being the wonderful students that we are, we figured out a way to extend our spring break an extra week and a half in order to have a full 10 days in Indonesia and 7 days in the Philippines!

This is part 1: Indonesia.

First stop: Yogyakarta, home to the largest Buddhist temple in the world- Borobudur and the largest Hindu temple in Indonesia- Prambanan!

Borobudur- Buddhist Monument

Borobudur was a really spectacular place. Inside each of these bell shaped figures was a seated Buddha figure (There were 504 Buddha statues in total around the entire temple).

It was comprised of 3 main levels of which the inscriptions on the wall told different parts of Buddha's life and his path to enlightenment. The monument's 3 main levels of divisions symbolize the 3 "realms" of Buddhist cosmotology: Kamadhatu (the world of desires), Rupadhatu (the world of forms) and Arupadhatu (the formless world). According to my research after visiting this site most people never reach the second "realm" of Buddhism and usually only Buddha can reach the third level which is a state of complete meditation. I've been learning a lot more about Buddhism while visiting these amazing temples and monuments and it continues to fascinate me endlessly!

One of the only open stupas in which the Buddha is overlooking the hills and people of the villages.

Prambanan- Hindu Monument

This temple was fascinating as it is composed of 3 large, main structures for Brahma, the creator, Vishnu the Preserver, and Shiva the Destroyer. It was an incredible place to walk around as there were hundreds of other smaller shrines surrounding the 3 main buildings. Very different feel from Borobudur.

The details on each of the temples continue to amaze me all of them telling a different story.

This temple is part of the Prambanan complex (located in the same park area) however is not part of the same temple exactly. I found this one almost better than the main Prambanan for many reasons but I really liked it as it was much more peaceful, we were the only people wandering around and through the temple.

We got to try some of the most interesting fruits in Indonesia! This one here is the snake fruit, it was incredibly rich and much more dense than most fruits, it was almost like a nut in richness however had a very different taste. I wish I could describe the flavour however it was unlike any other fruit or flavours I've had before.

This is the Rambutan, it is similar to the Lychee in texture and has a very delicious, juicy and distinct flavor. If you're ever in a tropical country with them I highly recommend trying them!

After all of our temple hopping in Yogyakarta we headed over to Bali!

We spent the first 2 days in Kuta, without many plans we started with a walk on the beach in the morning, before we knew it we were learning to surf in the Bali waves. My biggest fear is drowning and so I never once considered surfing, although when in Bali there are just some things you need to try. Surfing is one of them, so why not? I couldn't be happier that I did. The only unfortunate part: forgetting to put sunscreen on our butts... NEVER again will I forget sunscreen when surfing. We couldn't sit down without pain for at least a week. Lesson learned.

After our Surfing lessons and fun in the waves, we headed out to see the Uluwatu Temple for sunset.

I could have stayed there for hours watching the beautiful waves crash into the cliffs, the water so crystal clear that even from 200 feet above, I could see the rocks on the bottom.

For dinner we headed to Jimbaran, the lovely stretch of restaurants on the beach, the best place in Bali to get seafood.

There's nothing better than eating fish, shrimp, crab, and even lobster while watching the waves crash against the beach and playing with the sand under your feet. Such a wonderful first day in Bali!

From Kuta we took a bus to Ubud starting our next leg of the Bali adventure!

Woke up at 2am to hike Mount Batur for the sunrise. After tripping and sliding up the volcano, we were so happy to finally reach the top and get to enjoy the most beautiful sunrise I think I've ever seen in my life.

All smiles because we'd reached the top!

We were promised a nice toasted banana
sandwich and eggs at the top, however
somewhere along the way our eggs got forgotten.
Maria being Maria, she figured out a way to get
an egg and was beyond happy when she got it.

Toured a coffee plantation on our way back to Ubud from the volcano! The best part? Free samples of all of the coffee, cocoa and tea that they produce! I think we appreciated it 10x more since it was about 8am and we had already hiked up and down a volcano.

Next stop on the tour: Rice plantations. You can't leave Bali without seeing this amazing world of greenery. We decided against a full tour through the rice plantation as the weather was getting increasingly warm and we were all looking forward to a nice mid-morning nap. We definitely enjoyed soaking in the views though.

From Bali we took a boat to Gilly Air: i.e. Paradise

Gili Air is the smallest island I've been to, you can walk around the entire island in about an hour and a half. It was small but absolutely perfect for our last 4 days in Indonesia. We spent the days relaxing on the beach, snorkeling, eating wonderful food and purely enjoying life. I've never been on a tropical vacation before so this was a new experience for me. I'm not used to spending entire days on the beach but somehow it just felt right. The laid-back, non-touristy atmosphere was exactly what we needed to forget our worries for a few days.