On the most populous island on the planet, all adjectives tend to be colossal. Here lies, for the moment, the country’s capital, crowded and chaotic.
It also contains two impressive temples, one Hindu and the other Buddhist, that rival Angkor Wat in Cambodia and Bagan in Myanmar and, due to their proximity and location, raffle travelers who want to see sunrise and sunset among their recognizable silhouettes.
Java, and more specifically Jakarta, is normally used as the entry point for a traveler who barely stops before heading to Bali, Flores or Borneo. One of the rare exceptions that often retain visitors is Borobudur, a colossal stupa-shaped Buddhist temple located on a hill near Yogyakarta, the island’s cultural capital.
Seen from above, Borobudur, with its 9 platforms, appears as an immense three-dimensional mandala. Inside, dozens of stupas contain statues of the Buddha that seem to observe the horizon through the stone lattices, while others remain open with the figures visible in the lotus position. Here the most coveted – and more expensive too, since it is a plus at the entrance – is to contemplate how the sun rises or sets and the warm light transforms the landscape carpeted with rice paddies.
One of the best known and loved by locals is the one that supposedly represents Princess Roro Jonggrang. According to legend, the prince of a neighboring kingdom, after assassinating the king and father of the princess, fell in love with her and proposed to her. She, who was not willing to marry her father’s murderer, asked him for the impossible: to build a thousand temples in a single night.
She did not count on the prince possessing supernatural help and when she verified that she had already managed to raise 999 she convinced the villagers to light bonfires and thus make her believe that it was dawn. When he realized the deception, he turned it into the thousandth statue.
THE CHARM OF THE JAVANESE CITIES
Given to choose the best cities to visit in Java, Yogyakarta stands out among the favorites for considering itself guardian of the arts -especially batik, a dyeing technique typical of the country-, for its modern character and for some peculiarities such as being the only province of the country whose government is still a sultanate. It is precisely around the palace of the sultan or kraton that the best of the city is located.
Here you will also find the Water Castle or Taman Sari, as the old gardens with their beautiful pools are known, and the Alun-Alun park. A walk along the busy Malioboro Street is also essential, where you can try the most representative of Indonesian food.
If Yogyakarta has flourished for travelers as being the closest point to the Borobudur and Prambanan temples, Surabaya, the second-largest city in the country, has done the same as the starting point for excursions visiting Mount Bromo, one of the most beautiful volcanoes on the planet.
The city boasts that the fight for the country’s independence began here and that it possesses an interesting Chinese neighborhood and a characteristic Arab neighborhood capable of transporting us to North Africa in a few streets.
JAVA, THE ISLAND OF THE VOLCANOES
Another of Java’s great attractions and one of the most photographed places in the country is Mount Bromo, especially at sunrise. Located on a ghostly plain whose name – Sea of Sand – evokes exactly what it is, Bromo is not the highest in this spectacular massif (that honor is held by its neighbor Semeru, the roof of Java) although it is the most majestic.
Climbing it means climbing more than 250 steps up a stone staircase that makes it possible for those lucky without vertigo to walk along the edge of the cone.
Another well-deserved early-morning promise is held by the Kawah Ijen, whose main feature is the spectral blue flares, visible only at night, caused by the sulfur mine that contains inside and where dozens of miners work in precarious conditions.
Here toxic gases abound and it is advisable to get a gas mask that you rent right there.
The descent to the crater, about 800 meters, is prohibited although very few comply with it; in the background awaits an impressive and dangerous turquoise lake laden with sulfuric and hydrochloric acid and perfectly visible also from above.
KARIMUNJAWA, CHOOSE YOUR OWN DESERT ISLAND
Karimunjawa is the main one of an archipelago of almost 30 islands in which a traveler’s main concern is from where to see sunset or which will be the next beach to visit.
The best ones, on the main island, are located to the west although, since we are in a corner with dozens of paradisiacal islands, one of the best options is the island hopping that allows you to find authentic completely deserted beaches.
Some belong to private resorts but others, not much bigger than a sandbank, offer the possibility of believing ourselves to be modern castaways without wanting to be rescued.