Borobudur

The most touristy attraction we visited was Borobudur (Bb) a massive, I think Lonely Planet is calling it the biggest, Buddhist temple in the world. It was built like a pyramidal layer cake of black stone. We spent our first afternoon in town walking around the perimeter of the grounds in hopes of finding a secondary entrance in order to avoid the outrageous entrance fee for tourists. Despite our best efforts it was unavoidable entering through the super deluxe/VIP/air con special entrance for tourists. The entrance fee for international people was $10 US (126.000 Rp). The entrance fee for locals was 15.000 Rp ($1.50 US). To put this in perspective my bed for the night was 20.000 Rp ($2), my supper 4.000 Rp ($0.40) and the 1 hour bus trip 10.000 Rp ($1). Once I got over the shock of spending 70.000 Rp in one place (I conned my way into getting the student discount with my driver’s license) I joined hoards of Indonesian school children on a field trip to Bb. It seemed for the school kids I was a better attraction than the temple, many of them stopping me for a “picture miss!”
An unfortunate Buddha statue on Borobodur.