Guide to visiting Borobudur | Central Java, Indonesia

Sree Lekha J
Jul 6, 2020
6 min read

Central Java is a province of Indonesia in the middle of the Java island. The region was once heavily dominated by the Hindu and Buddhist heritage dating back to 7th century AD. The region is known for its massive, historical temple complexes and cultural heritage. On our 10-day trip to Indonesia in May 2018, we decided to spend 3 days in the region of Central Java. In this post, I will be talking about our visit to the Borobudur temple complex which dates back to the 9th century. The nearest airport to reach Borobudur is the Yogyakarta Adisucipto International Airport (JOG) which is an hour drive away and very well connected to most cities. We chose Singapore Airlines to fly from Bangalore via Singapore into Surabaya (JIA), our first stop in Indonesia. The flight BLR-JIA cost us 25,000 INR for the two of us. We had pre-booked a domestic flight (Lion Air, costing 2800 INR each) from Surabaya to Yogyakarta, which got delayed by 3 hours and we just had to wait at the Surabaya airport. Luckily we didn't have any activity planned in Borobudur the same day so it was fine. Apparently, flight cancellations and delays are quite common in Indonesia, so make sure you keep your travel day free from your itinerary. After landing in JOG, we picked a cab from one of the registered cab companies at the airport. Make sure you google the prices before making a deal. Our cab driver, Hokorto (I don't know if I'm spelling it right) was very nice and polite, helped us with the luggage and dropped us at our homestay near the Borobudur temple. We took his contact and decided to ask him to drive us back to Yogyakarta the next day. It was about 9:00 PM by the time we reached our homestay and were super tired!

(Top) Landing in Surabaya, Indonesia. Boarding flight from Surabaya to Yogayakarta.

(Bottom) Ariel view of Surabaya and the dense clouds en-route Yogyakarta.

We had Nasi goreng and Kopi (Coffee) for lunch at Surabaya airport. I have already fallen in love with this country! I wanted to taste the Mantau buns but they didn't have vegetarian option.

We booked a 1-night stay at the Janur Bungalow, about 5-minute drive away from the Borobudur temple. We preferred to stay close to the temple complex as we wanted to reach early to catch the sunrise. This homestay is run by a very lovely couple, Bobby and Seo, who were waiting to receive us even though we reached late in the night. It was really nice of them to arrange very simple and homely dinner for us, as this place was a small village and it looked like everything was shut by 9:00 PM. Bobby escorted us to the cottage and offered to arrange for a car drop off at the Borobudur Temple the next morning by 3:45 AM. We had our dinner and went to bed straight away coz we had to wake up really early.

It was very thoughtful of our hosts, Seo and Bobby to arrange this amazing dinner for us as we reached very late due to delay of our flight.

The next morning we were ready by 3:45 AM and there was a car waiting for us to drop us off at the Borobudur temple. There is a food counter at the temple complex serving croissants and coffee in case you are hungry. It seemed very early but once we reached we saw people waiting in the lobby before they even opened the ticket counter. It wasn't very surprising as it is highly recommended to visit this temple at sunrise. My excitement didn't last long when they announced they might not open the temple complex that day due to presence of volcanic ashes in the air resulted from a recent eruption of Mount Merapi, an active volcano located about 28 kilometers north of Yogyakarta. I was utterly disappointed to hear that! However, after half an hour, the authorities announced that they are waiting for weather report from their met department and they might open the temple if the air is clear. I was just praying for the temple to open gates as this was our only chance to visit this archeological wonder and we couldn't stay longer as per our itinerary. My husband, the very practical person he is, kept assuring me that this can happen to anyone and we need not be disappointed. Just when I felt that I should be okay with it, they announced that they would be opening the temple that day! And I have never been so happy! :) We grabbed our tickets, costing about 500.000 IDR (about 2600 INR) each and walked past the security to witness this massive temple complex. I have never seen anything like this before!

Entrance to the massive Borobudur temple complex

Dating back to the 9th century, Borobudur is the world's largest Buddhist temple. The temple complex consists of nine platforms stacked above one another and topped with a central dome. The temple boasts more than 2500 panels sculpted in the rock and about 504 Buddha statues. I might sound like an idiot when I say I actually tried counting the Buddha statues but failed after a point! One can easily spend few hours just appreciating the beauty of this structure and walking around each platform. We first wanted to get to the top. The sunrise was not exceptional as it was a foggy day. Anyways, I really loved the view of the surrounding hills and forest from the circular dome at the top. Did you know that this temple remained abandoned and lost in the volcanic ashes and the jungle cover for many centuries until it was rediscovered and restored in the 1800's? I highly recommend visiting Borobudur early in the morning as it can get very crowded later in the day.

Your morning exercise is all sorted once you climb the many stairs to get to the top!

We were lucky we did not miss the sunrise but unfortunately it was a foggy day.

Walking around the circular platforms with 72 stupas each containing a Buddha statue inside it!

Beautiful and perfectly symmetrical! The central dome is surrounded by three circular platforms with 72 stupas and you can find a Buddha statue inside each stupa!

We spent quite some time on the top and then decided to walk around the lower platforms where the walls had several intricate and brilliant carvings depicting the life of Buddha. We really enjoyed visiting Borobudur! Around 10:30 AM, the sun was really harsh and we headed back to our home stay to rest for a while as we were checking out the same day after lunch.

Walking around the five square platforms with several carvings on the walls depicting the life of Buddha.

The ground level of Borobudur Temple. You can walk around the temple complex.

We returned to our homestay and we were welcomed with amazing breakfast arranged in a very beautiful setup, overlooking the paddy fields! The day just keeps getting better! We never really got to appreciate the lovely home stay as we arrived very late in the night and left early in the morning before sunrise. It was dark. Our cute cottage with attached bath overlooked the green paddy fields and was very clean and well maintained. I really wished we stayed longer. Well there is always a next time! We enjoyed our breakfast, spent some time talking to Seo and her absolutely adorable daughter. I really love the people of this country as they are very warm, friendly, polite and welcoming. And by 12:00 PM, it was time for us to check out and head back to Yogyakarta. Even for a short stay, our visit to the Borobudur temple and meeting these lovely people Seo and Bobby made it a very memorable trip! I highly recommend Janur Bungalow because of its location and warm hosts and it costed us about INR 2800 per night (breakfast included) which was well within our budget. Absolutely value for money!