Got there for the opening of the gates at 6 am. Was a good idea as there were hardly any tourists and only a few early bird stalkers. The temple was very impressive! Really big! It takes almost 5 km to circle around all the 10 floors, during which one can admire 504 Buddha statues. The setting is also beautiful with many volcanoes around, one was even smoking! We had a guide for an hour who explained us a lot about the Buddhist symbolism that is everywhere in the temple.On the top floor there were many kids from a local English language school, wanting to practice their language skills with foreigners under the watchful eyes of their teachers, as it was also a part of their final exam. Of course they also wanted to get their pictures taken with us. People are just crazy here for photos with muzungus... Later today Kaarel even got a baby pushed into his hands... just for a pic.. Now he would not take off his "funny hat" as he thinks that it is what gives the locals the kick. Most of the kids said they would put the photos to their facebook.
After Borobudur, we visited a Hindu temple complex Prambanan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prambanan).
It was also quite impressive and again we were accompanied by students, keen on practicing their English. This time they were some sort of trainees, and knew quite a lot about the temples, so they escorted us during our whole visit. It is quite interesting that even though their speaking skills are quite good, their listening comprehension is quite bad, as they could hardly understand any of our questions.
In Yogya otherwise many people speak quite ok English. It is much smaller and more touristy than Jakarta, so it is not so surprising after all. It has also the negative effects of the stalkers who are also more aggressive, almost as much as in Africa.
Tomorrow we will probably visit the city and think about which volcano to climb. Javanese ballet is also on schedule, but maybe only the day after tomorrow.
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