30th September - Karimunjawa to Borobudur

Monday 30^th September

Well it was a long journey – 4 hours on the ferry, three hours in the 8-seater van, a bit of get-in-and-out-of-vehicle to get from Karimunjawa to Borobudur.

We were amazed when we turned around from our seats up the front of the ferry, after just a few minutes travel, to find that nearly everyone was asleep…

But…yes it is worth it.  Borobudur is wonderful, magical, serene.

Breakfast at our cheap & cheery Lotus II Hotel was lurid…but it was all included in the price of the room, and there was a compensatory plate of banana and pawpaw.  But...what a nice place to stay.  Kindly helpful staff, lovely coffee, a very relaxed feeling and .... very cheap!  Not to mention the comfy mattress which I loved!

I don’t know if I have much time to do this…Pete has formed a plan for us to get into yet another 8-seater van, with the SV Watermusick family (Bill, Becky, Joey, Raymond and Melody Musick) 

and for us to go to Yogyakarta for the afternoon… It is apparently A Must See destination… Tomorrow we have to leave early, we don’t yet know what time, to get to the coast to catch a ferry back to Karimunjawa…

We left early to go to this fabulous Buddhist temple, built in the 800s AD.  Some of the people we met left at 4.30 to watch the sunrise over the stupas…they were disappointed because the temple was wreathed in clouds and they saw…nothing.

We were lucky to get there around 8.30.  yes it was crowded but…it is a huge temple – there are 5 kilometers of pathways around and around, all full of beautiful friezes depicting the life of Buddha.  Plenty of room for everyone…

We have enjoyed being with the Musicks – will take a photo today, so you can see this cheerful US Family Afloat.  Bill told me a funny story, and about some sailorfriends who lost their little dog overboard, way out on the ocean.  They didn’t notice fore several hours, and suddenly – oh dear, where is Fluffy???  It was said, Bill, the sort of small nondescript dog you can’t tell if it is coming or going… Small and out in the vast ocean, full of sharks and barracudas.  They turned back immediately and followed their track through the waves (than God for modern tracking technology!)  and there, paddling valiantly in her little red life jacket, was – Fluffy!!  Saved!

PS We didn't go to Yogyakarta...we are instead now in Jepara, on the coast, ready to catch the ferry tomorrow,back to 2XS.  Good news, I think...