Dieng Plateau - You are so Worth it (1 of 3)

Dieng Plateau is a marshy plateau that forms the floor of a caldera complex on the Dieng Volcanic Complex near Wonosobo, Central Java, Indonesia.

From Omah Garengpoeng Guesthouse in Magelang, I booked my tour. There was no group tour so I booked a private tour inclusive of driver, car and refreshments. It was a 3-hour drive from Borobudur. The drive was along the countryside with amazing views.

I paid 550,000 IDR for this tour to the hotel and entrance fees to all the attractions were very minimal and not more than 100,000 IDR total because my driver purchased all as a local (domestic price).

The drive on the way - Mount Sinidoro from a distance. 

Passed through local villages.

This blue and green mix colours of nature.

Seeing locals on motor bikes.

Locals in their daily chores.

3 hours on the road -- I have captured several photos!

Quick stop-over to stretch!

Bebek Goreng - Fried Duck!

Who will get tired of this view?

This is the start of the ascent. Going up the mountains.

Finally - the Welcome Sign Board.

The much-obliged tourist photo - Welcome to Dieng Plateau.

The driver took me to four different places here in Dieng. It is not a popular tourist destination to the non-Indonesian foreigners. Most of the people I saw visiting were local Indonesians. So this is a good change from the very congested Borobudur.

First stop at Dieng - Arjuna Temples.

The main temples compound clustered around the Arjuna temple in the plain surrounded by mountains and hills. Arjuna cluster located in the central area of Dieng plateau, consisting of four temples that lined elongated in north-south direction.

Place was surrounded by pine trees and peculiar yellow flowers, amazing weather, breezy but not too cold.

There were several mascots there where you can take a photo with a minimal tip kf IDR 5,000 (up to you, really). No one eas taking a photo with this one so I deckded to cheer him up.

Check for more photos of the other places I've visited in Dieng Plateau on my next post.

Picturesque Prambanan

Candi Prambanan or Candi Rara Jonggrang is a 9th-century Hindu temple compound in Central Java,Indonesia, dedicated to the Trimurti, the expression of God as the Creator, the Preserver and the Destroyer.  Wikipedia

This temple is as equally gorgeous as jts neighbour, Borobudur. Borobudur is a Buddhist temple while Prambanan is Hindu.

Prambanan is 15-20 minutes from the airport so I decided to visit this at the latter part of my trip (on the way back).

It was raining on the way from Magelang (2-hour drive), but the rain stopped when we got there. I meet people at the guesthouse we were staying at so we decided to go all together to Prambanan.

Picturesque Prambanan

The temples from afar.

Prambanan has its own charisma.

For some reasons, I liked it better than Borobudur.

Fellow travellers I met at the guesthouse.

A must-do selfie.

When we were about to leave Prambanan, it started to rain again.

Talk about God's intervention. 😄

Majestic Borobudur

I travelled solo to Yogyakarta (Jogjakarta) from KL. It was a way to spend the Easter weekend. I left on Friday afternoon from KL and arrived in Jogja around 5:00pm local time where I was picked-up by the driver I have arranged through the hotel. From the airport, it was a 1.5 hour drive to Magelang, the guesthouse I chose to be my humble abode for the weekend is very near the famous temple.

Saturday morning I got up for the sun rise tour at 4:00am but because of the weather - rainy season, there was not much to see in the fog. So I left at around 6:30 am to catch a shower and breakfast before my next tour - Dieng Plateau.

I was able to take good shots of Borobudur still especially on the Sunday when I returned (but I did not get up at 4:00 am!). I decided to go a bit later - 6:00am the following day.

The shadows of Borobudur at 4:00am. The fog makes it all have that dreamy feeling.

The sun eventually coming at at 5:30ish am.

Everyone is waiting for it - sun rise.

This was a photo at the west side, with the mountains on the background.

Selfie with Stuppas.

Took a bike from the guesthouse to the temple on Sunday. Cycled through the paddy fields.

The fog in the morning.

Borobudur. 

Stuppas. 

Finally - the sun rise shot. I was only able to take this on Sunday. I did not catch it the first time.

It was well worth it. 

After the sun rise tour, a breakfast was offered with this view.

Coffee after the descent from the magnificent Borobudur.

Passage through India

I had a visit with the ENT at 10:30am today where my left ear was cleaned. The doctor took a sample of the bacteria to have it checked because the infection keeps coming back! 

After which, I had lunch at Passage thru India at Jalan Delima. Simple, yet a full and scrumptious meal.

        Rojan Gosh (Tasty Lamb!)

       Murgh Chicken Butter Masala

                  Nasi Briyani

That was a joyful lunch. 😀