Batik in Jogjakarta

 Sunrise at Mt. Bromo

 Sunrise at Permuteran, North West Bali

 Burubudur Temple, Java, Rabbit sacrifices himself to feed the beggar woman.

 Praying Hindu frog in Ubud.

 Bounty of the animals in praise of Buddha.

 Buddha, 3 of 505 statues.

 Cupolas holding Buddha statues, Burubudur, Java.

 We are HUGE in Indonesia!

 Water buffalo ready for sacrifice at a funeral, Keta Kesu, Sulawesi.

 Funeral reception strucutures, Keta Kesu, Sulawesi.

 Rice-granaries Tana Toraja, Sulawesi.

 Funeral Procession, including pig offering.

 Funeral Procession with war dancer.

 Funeral reception pavilion.

 Rice terraces, Tana Toraja.

The Honeymooners.

We are now on our third leg of the trip. We flew from Jogjakarta to Makassar (known as Ujung Pandang back in the day)and have made out way north halfway up South Sulawesi. Tomorrow we pass through Palopo, my old stomping grounds and then up to Tana Toraja in the hill country above Palopo. Our final days in Jogjakarta were wonderful. This is the cultural capital of Java and we saw as much as we could In two days. Had a wonderful tour of the sultan's palace. Yes Jogja still has a sultan. It is a special region and the sultan is automatically the governor of the region. That afternoon we visited Prambanan, the tallest Hindu temple in the world, built about 850AD. Our guide had very little info about it, which was unfortunate, and somewhat typical of how much of the week went with him, but the temples in the compound are so stunning that you they still leave one spellbound even without detailed descriptions. but we did learn that there is a lot of balance and harmony in the design of the temples, to reflect and uphold the harmony and balance of man, God and nature. (there was a movie in the visitor's center) After dusk we had an unforgettable dinner of traditional Indonesian buffet outside looking over the floodlit temples and then saw a performance of the Ramayana Ballet. The theater is also outdoors and situated so that the temples soar above the stage in the distance. And halfway through the production the full moon (well, one day past) rose from directly behind the tallest temple and over the stage. The dance is like an opera, telling a part of the epic Hindu Ramayana tale. Enchanting gamelan music plays the entire time and the dancers glide arou d the stage as if in a trance. What a wonderful night. We got up the next morning to see the other large World Heritage site in Jogja--the Borobodur Buddhist temple, built about the same time as Prambanan. It is the largest single Buddhist temple in the world (the Angkor Wat complex is bigger though; how do I know this? We got smart and hired a local guide, who was great). We topped the day off with some shopping om Jogja's main street, and then saw another performance of a part of the Ramayana, this time in "wayang kulit" form. This is shadow puppets, again with a full gamelan orchestra. It was great fun. The last several mornings we have been up at 4am to catch temples at sunrise, or this morning to get our plane. At the airport I was once again reminded that things in this country are not always what they seem to be. When we entered the country, we had to pass all our bags through scanning machines, only to see on the other end that no one was paying any attention to the monitor. At the Jogja airport, ther were two separate screenings, but I swear no official was paying any attention to the machines. Further, we were never asked for any ID as we checked in or went through the boarding gate. They did make sure, however, that we each paid our $3 airport fee. Like all other cities here, Makassar is huge compared to 30 years ago, but we got out of town fast and headed north. One thing is for sure, the roads have not improved much! But the countryside is beautiful with rice fields, cacao, kapok, candle fruit, and of course the ubiquitous bananas and coconut palms. This new guide is great and seems to know everything and every smart way to inform us about where we are. When we get to Palopo, it will be possible that Steve does not get too misty--he keeps insisting it is not anything great to look at. Still, his Bahasa Indonesia is bubbling up to the surface as we approach his old home town, and he is recalling some very interesting anecdotes.

Spices, tea and volcanos. Java is full of amazing things. Very different in many ways from Bali. People everywhere, but at least we are not tripping over tourists with every step. In fact, our first hotel was eerily empty; just one other pair of travelers there. We can't figure ou whether the tourism business is down (didn't seem so in Bali) or if we are just off the beaten path. Could be a bit of both. We had a great tour of a spice plantation. Vanilla, cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, coffee, coconut and a dairy. All at one place. If there is water, the land is used intensely. Even where it seems impossible to farm, on the slopes of the mountinas leading up to Bromo, we saw miles upon miles of neatly tended, practically vertical, fields of vegetables. Also toured a tea plantation and factory. Three very gracious women gave us the tour with a great sense of pride, reminding me of what I found so agreeable among the people here many years ago. Yesterday, we saw the sunrise over Mount Bromo. Still an active volcano puffing away, along with its neighbor Mount Semer. We first took a jeep up a vertiginous road to a high observation post to see all of the peaks puffing away in the pink sunrise, then went down to the base of Mt. Bromo,s cone and hiked up to its rim where we could look down to the bubbling sulfurous liquids below. There was a full eruption two years ago with dusty lava residue remaining everywhere. We are in Malang today, driving to Solo, then will spend several days in Jogjakarta. Steve