Temples, Dragons and Volcanoes

Yogyakarta

Home to around 500,000 inhabitants, the city of Yogyakarta is arguably one of the best-preserved cities in Java. Brimming with culture and architecture, Javanese art is pervasive and expansive, including batik, drama, music and pottery. The epitome of this is Wayang Kulit, dynamic performances using wooden puppets, and the traditional Javanese Ramayana ballet dance. There are also a number of festivals held in Yogyakarta each year.

Despite the largely modern nature of this city, at its heart lies the Kraton – the ancient, walled town built by Yogyakarta’s first sultan. Having changed very little in over two hundred years, the Kraton is quaint and traditional in comparison to the metropolitan streets outside of its walls.

Borobudur

Forty kilometres west of Yogyakarta lies Borobudur, the largest Buddhist temple in the world. Surrounded by limestone cliffs and volcanoes, this temple stands at 34.5 meters tall and covers over 200 square metres.

Borobudur was originally built by a Hindu dynasty and consists of over 1.6 million blocks of volcanic rock from the nearby rivers, collected and washed by the Sailendra Buddhists who rebuilt the abandoned construction as a representation of the Buddhist cosmic mountain, Meru. After over a century of neglect, in 1973 UNESCO restructured the temple into this impressive and enchanting historic site.

Prambanan

The Prambanan plain consists of over thirty temples and palaces, dating back to predominantly the eighth and ninth centuries. Over a thirty-square-kilometre expanse, forgotten and run-down temples (often rubble) stand next to those that have been restored to their original state – a fascinating juxtaposition surrounded by forests, hills and sugar cane plantations. The Shiva temple is thought to be the most spectacular of them all.

The Sanjaya Hindus and the Sailendra Buddhists were the two rival kingdoms of Java. The Prambanan temples are believed to be built by the Sanjaya Hindus, following their political victory and return to power over central Java in 832 AD.

Please note, to reach the crater of Mt Bromo you do not need to hike, but the stairs are quite steep and it should take around 20-30 minutes to reach the top. Mt Bromo is active and so depending on activity, the crater cannot always be visited. The viewpoint can be visited however, with the exception of major eruptions.

Tangkoko National Park
Located on the Island of Sulawesi, Tangkoko National Park is home to an impressive variety of wildlife. This reserve encompasses over 22,230 acres of land, from sea level to 3400 ft, offering a spectacular array of Indonesian’s most exotic fauna and flora.

You can expect to see an extensive variety of Sulawesi’s endemic species, as well as tarsiers, Crested black macaques, wild pigs and large, colourful butterflies. It is also home to a wide variety of birds, including the Lilac kingfisher, hornbills and most notably, the endemic Maleo bird, although these are sadly disappearing due to the over-exploitation of their eggs from neighbouring villages.

Tanah Toraja

Tanah Toraja is arguably one of the most beautiful regions in Indonesia – a majestic landscape of blue mountains, rugged grey granite crops and the vivid greens of the fertile river. Home to over 360,000 inhabitants, known as Toraja, groups of villagers have formed communities, predominantly Christian, working in the surrounding rain-fed rice fields and living in distinctive curved-roof houses. Children sit astride grazing water buffaloes and go to the spring to fetch water in bamboo tubes.

One of the most fascinating, albeit unusual, aspects of Toraja life is their death rituals. Their funerals are remarkable and are part of their larger ritual cycle which is profoundly linked to agricultural cycles of death and rebirth. When the last rice is harvested from the fields, the mortuary season begins, meaning that the Toraja do not immediately bury their dead. When a person dies, the body is wrapped in layers of cloth and kept in the house for months or even years.  Ritual activity occurs during the days leading up to the burial, including the sacrificing of animals, mourning chants and the wrapping of the surviving spouse in cloth, who is not allowed to eat. During the nights, men join hands and sway rhythmically, stamping their bare feet around a burning fire.

On the day of the funeral, the sacrificed animals are lined up, all representing a debt and social tie of the deceased, reflecting the complex, intricate Toraja social networks.

Bajawa
Bajawa is located 1100m above sea level and is surrounded by volcanoes – because of its altitude it feels cool and fresh. It is the centre for the Ngada people, one of the traditional ethnic groups in Flores, many of whom live in traditional houses constructed from wood and bamboo and follow the old ways of placing food offerings on megalithic stones. The Ngadanese are divided into clans who each have a chief and elders who decide over matters such as land-rights, funerals, marriages and other ceremonies. Traditional symbols are the ngadhu and the bhaga, parasol-like structures about 3m high. The male ngadhu is depicted with a look-out on the top with a machete and spear. The bhaga is a little hut and is considered female.

Please note: Accommodation on day 17 is simple – 4 travellers per house in one room. Each house has an Indonesian toilet outside.

Please note: Accommodation on board is simple and you will sleep on mattresses on deck.

Komodo National Park
Komodo National Park was officially declared a World Heritage Site in 1986 and includes a number of islands including Rinca, Komodo and Sumbawa as well as Flores. The current, wind and wave exposure result in an incredible variety of coastal and marine habitats and it is home to the world’s largest land-dwelling carnivorous lizard, the famous Komodo Dragon (Varanus komodoensis). The creature’s existence was first discovered in 1912 and its ferocious appearance and behaviour when feeding is thought to be the source of many earlier folklore tales of fire-breathing dragons. It can reach up to 3m in length and weigh over 200 kg, travelling at speeds up to 15mph. It carries virulent bacteria in its mouth which eventually immobilises its prey once bitten. The marine habitat supports more than 1,000 species of fish, some 260 species of reef-building coral and 70 species of sponge. Sharks, manta rays and at least 14 species of whale, dolphin and sea turtle also make the park their home.

Labuan Bajo
This fishing town is the most westerly on Flores. Its name means ‘Port for the Bajau people’ and derives from ‘labuhan’ meaning port and ‘Bajo’ being Bajau. Today it plays an important role as a harbour to connect between other islands and the western part of Indonesia and is also the main departure point for those visiting the Komodo National Park. The town itself has a daily market which is one of the best places to mingle with the local people. Sixteenth century Portuguese traders named this island ‘the cape of flowers’, and it is easy to see why as you wander this city full of houses covered in bougainvillea, where lilies and sunflowers grow from the cracks in the dusty streets.