Before it got too dark, one of the staff gave me a lift on a motor bike to a shop. I bought a few beers and a snack. Not too much as I was nearly broke. Well running out of Rupiah. Unlike Bali, ATM.s were hard to find in Java. Or maybe I just forgot!
So I had a few more bintangs and found myself chasing a frog around in my room. I had visions of it hitching a ride back to Australia in my luggage and god knows Jet* is already cramped enough without extra passengers. Anyway it evaded me through some secret escape hatch.
About 5am I woke and opened my door to find this thick fog covering the whole area. It was also under 22c so I was seriously thinking of bringing out the thermal underwear.
The night I stayed, there were only 6 rooms booked. No sunrise tour (4.30am) was on but it didn't matter because of the fog. If you don't pay for the tour (150,000) you have to wait till 6am to go up. I had to wait till 6 just to see my way up....hehe....
When I reached the top of the Temple there were only 3 other people there, 1 was a local who jogs up the temple most mornings.
It was still spectacular with the fog surrounding but I was hoping the sun would find a way through. After about 15 minutes it appeared in a gap.........I have many great photos. Beauty of digital cameras......just keep clicking.
I had lots of memorable moments on my trip and this was one of them. Just had to be there. After an hour of walking and smiling then down around the grounds,I went to breakfast
And breakfast was nearly the highlight of my trip. Not the food. It was average but while I was up choosing from the selection I said good morning to a lady in Indonesian and proceeded to use my butchered knowledge of the Indonesian language to have a conversation. She must have thought I was struggling because she then talked to me in English. I had a table sitting on my own and she asked if I wanted to join her group.
I sat at her table and opposite me were 3 men with similar haircuts. Think they use a NO.1 whereas I shave. Anyway it turns out they are Tibetan Monks who are here for 10 days preparing for a ceremony. I listen to their attempts at speaking Indonesian and suddenly feel quite comfortable. Their English is also much better.....
I get talking asking the usual status questions we have in the west. What do you do for a crust? What car do you drive? Do you have a dishwasher and how many TV,s in your house? I didn't ask about the pool in the backyard.......just joking.
Seriously though, they were here to make sculptures from Butter..... Now I make a flat sculpture most mornings on toast but that's it. And have a bad habit of putting the excess back in the container with bits of burnt crust included.
They told me how they do it using small metal knives to cut and shape. I was then asked if I wanted to look at their work. So when we finished eating I followed them back to their room, listened and watched them at work. The Butter comes in big blocks. It was amazing. They made flowers, boats, elephants with monkeys on their backs. I just snapped away with the camera. The artwork was truly beautiful. The sculptures are not huge but they are strategically placed on a large wooden board to make 1 big sculpture. I did not see the finished project as their work was still in progress. Every item they finished they put away in cupboards or on tables in the air-conditioning until the ceremony otherwise the butter would melt. They had many different colours of butter. I had never seen this before! Incredible ................ Here I was watching 3 Tibetan Monks sculpturing butter, in a hotel room, in Java. I still shake my head. I was very lucky. AGAIN.
Anyway after thanking everyone so much and bowing with hands in an untidy prayer position, I went to pack. I practiced my bows in my room with much more success. This was the end of my organised trip. The next few days were unknown. No bookings but I decided to go to Semarang.
Heading North.....................