Semarang, Java, Indonesia

Midnight found me emailing with our property manager. We had an alert from Thymes2 water monitoring company that there was continual water usage in one of our units. Luckily it was just a toilet that was running which the tenants didn't think it was important for them to report.

Then my sweet mother returned my call from yesterday at 4:30 AM. She said in her delicate voice, "Are you sleeping?". I told her that I would call her in a couple of hours.

My alarm went off way too early at 6 AM. I woke Bob at 6:15 AM and showed him the morning in Semarang, Indonesia.

We hurriedly got ready and our day packs packed and headed up for breakfast.

Our tour today is to visit Borobudur. At 7 AM we headed to the first floor and got in line to depart the ship. We had to wait for about 30 minutes for the Indonesian Port Authority to clear the ship for disembarkation. This gave me time to call my mom and get caught up with her and her visit to Arizona.

Soon, we were given the announcement that we could proceed ashore.

We quickly found our bus. There are over 200 Viking Guests going on this exciting so we have many buses. A police escort has also been arranged to whisk us through traffic.

The immediate area around the port took my breath away with the abject poverty. It reminded me of the informal settlements in Cape Town, South Africa.

As soon as we were a few miles from the port, the condition and type of the housing vastly improved. By the time we got to the hills surrounding Semerang, there were now elegant villas.

We soon moved to the tropical jungle where we saw coffee plantations, rubber tree forests, mahogany forests, teak forests, avocado, mango, pineapple and papaya plantations, and rice fields. Java appears to be so much better off economically than Bali. It appears that the government of Java is investing in infrastructure and economic opportunities for its population instead of using economic resources to build huge statues and temples.

Java also appears so much cleaner than Bali. Although the air quality is horrible.

On the way to Borobudur, we stopped for a restroom and snack break. I had a cup of coffee and Bob had a cup of tea. The coffee was wonderful! It was very full-bodied with zero bitterness. It would give Vista Clara a run for its money.

After an approximate 3 hour drive, we arrived at Borobudur. We were given wrist bands and issued special sandals to use to climb the temple. The reason for the sandals was to minimize the wear on the temple. Bob's feet would not appreciate walking in the sandals so he opted not to climb the temple.

Borobudur is the largest Buddhist monument in the world. It strikes a dramatic pose against a backdrop of four volcanoes, one of which erupted just 2 days ago. Borobudur is a popular place of pilgrimage and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the massive pyramidal temple towers to a great height. The devout walk up a clockwise path to the pinnacle, passing 2,672 reliefs and 504 Buddha statues along the way.

We spent about 2 hours in the tropical heat and humidity touring and climbing the temple.

The view from the top was pretty hazy due to the humidity and particulates in the air from the volcano's eruption.

By the time we made it to the bottom, my dress was about as wet as it was in Ubud. Unfortunately, I was neither done sweating nor did I have another dress to change into.

Bob finished his tour much earlier than I. His tour involved very few steps and he was in the shade most of the time.

I was hoping that the restaurant would be air conditioned but nope, it was outside under tents. Luckily, Bob had procured a table direct in front of the occiulating fan.

The lunch was amazingly delicious. They had a fish dish that was out of this world.

After lunch, we boarded the bus for our 3 hour trip back to the airport. The bus was blissfully cool.

We stopped at a gift shop because I believe that Viking feels they must feed you (with the exception of the tour of the Rice terraces and Ubud) and they have to give you an opportunity to shop. Bob wasn't interested in shopping but I thought that we should at least go look because we would be on the bus for at least 3 hours.

We ended up making a purchase. Our stateroom is quickly filling up. I think we may need to send some luggage home from Singapore.

As soon as we left the shop, the heavens opened and it poured in torrential sheets of rain. The streets flooded which made our drive home a bit longer. The rainy season in Indonesia is something to behold. I have never seen it rain this hard.

If I had to choosing to visit Bali or Java, my hands down choice would be Java.

I am not looking forward to the heat in Vietnam as it is forecast to be near 100 degrees. I am glad that I brought electrolytes with all the sweating that I have been doing. Absolute zero chance of me being able to wear a dress or skirt more than once.

I did forget a hat and my umbrella. Will be making a note of everything that I need to pack to survive this heat.Читать далее