February 25, 2016 - Day 51 - Semarang (Java), Indonesia

After arriving at the dock in Semarang on time, we were in our cabin preparing to go on tour when we heard music coming from outside. A look out our window revealed a large band on the pier performing to welcome us. We went to deck 3 and outside to the rail. The group appeared to be an assemblage of three drum corps. The music was lively, and the players were performing unusual feats of acrobatics. The bass drummers made pyramids. Then the top men tumbled down. Everyone was constantly moving in step to the music.

A squadron of naval officers and cadets formed an aisle down which our captain marched with his officers. They were met by local officials who presented gifts to the captain. The bland played the whole time, 45 minutes without a break. And it was HOT. We stayed on deck until the captain came back onboard. We arrived at the tour meeting point 15 minutes late, but just as they called our tour.

Our arrival in Semarang

We were going to Borobudur by train. This was a bit of a misnomer because we would ride on a bus for an hour to get to the antique train. Then we would have a 30 minute train ride before reboarding the bus for another hour ride to Borobudur. There were 4 buses in our caravan. We had a police escort front and rear. Their. Job was to see that we did not get held up in traffic. They stayed with us for the entire tour, and did their job admirably.

The bus ride through the countryside was delightful. Small villages stretched along the road after we left the city. The train consisted of antique wooden cars pulled by an old Diesel engine. The equipment was not the treat. It was the journey past more small villages, rice paddies and fish farms. Young and old alike waved at us as we slowly passed them by. What a special time this was.

Views from the train

Then we arrived at Borobudur. This is a unique structure among Buddhist temples. It was built over the period 775 to 850 without the use of modern tools. It is the largest monument in the Southern Hemisphere. It consists of ten tiers leading to Nirvana on the top tier. It had been covered by jungle until Sir Stamford Raffles rediscovered it in 1814. He began the reconstruction of the two million stones. This is the source of some of the greatest Buddhist reliefs. These were explained to us as we made our way up the many tiers to Nirvana. The views were overwhelming. It was easy to understand the sense of spirituality the worshippers must have had here. After a period of reflection, we made our way down to the base. There we returned our sarongs, and went to lunch.

Views going to and from Nirvana 

After lunch we spent a short time fending off the street vendors on our way to the bus. We wanted a book about the site. One of the vendors approached with just what we wanted. He asked the equivalent of $18. No way. Alice thought we might find a book in a shop at the craft center we were scheduled to visit. As we continued toward the bus another vendor the book for $10. When I said no, he asked how much. I said $5. He said no. But he followed us to the bus. He asked for $10. Again I offered $5, which he rejected. We were going up the steps on the bus when said OK $5. Deal!

Next we stopped at a silver and batik craft center. We went straight for the batik shop. I really wanted to buy a shirt. The sizes ran very small. Not even a 4X fit me. Boo. We moved on to the silver shop. The first thing we found was a rack of shirts. Again, none were my size. We moved to see some crafts in a small back room and there we found two shirts that fit me. One was brown tones and the other was in shades of blue. The sleeves on the blue fit me better, and blue is my favorite color. Sold for $20. When I wore it to dinner that night, many of the Indonesian crew commented "Nice batik." Mission accomplished.

The ride back to the ship was quick thanks to our escorts, and we were back at the port on schedule.

This magnificent day reinforced our new liking of Indonesia.