R. Doug Wicker's Blog, page 25

Fun Photo Friday — Semarang Favorites 2

Borobudur View

Time for one last Fun Photo Friday look at Central Java:

Borobudur Buddhas and Stupas Ursula Heading Back Down from Borobudur Borobudur Buddha MS Volendam Mooring Lines Borobudur Details

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Indonesia — Semarang, Pawon Buddhist Temple and Silver Filigree

Pawon Buddhist Temple, Central Java, Indonesia

As I mentioned in a preceding article, there are three Buddhist temples in this area. And if you take a map and connect them, you’ll get a straight line. Borobudur lies 1.09 miles/1.75km west. Mendut is east and lies slightly closer to the middle temple, .71 miles/1.15km. We did not visit Mendut, but we did travel from Borobudur to the middle temple, Pawon.

Borobudur, Pawon, and Mendut Buddhist Temples (Wikipedia)

As with Borobudur, Pawon is...

Indonesia — Semarang, Trying Kopi Luwak (civet poop coffee, a.k.a, Cat-Pooh-Chino)

Pawon Luwak Coffee — Cat-Pooh-Chino

Borobudur is not the only Buddhist temple in this area. There are two others, and together all three from a straight line on a map. With Borobudur anchoring the west end of this line and Mendut the east, there lies between those two a third — Pawon Temple. I’ll be showing that temple to you in Wednesday’s article. As for today, I’m going to present of Javan delicacy. That would be a cup of java. Or, to be more precise, a cup of Kopi Luwak from the nearby Pa...

Fun Photo Friday — Semarang Favorites 1

More Tourists Getting Touristy

Today is the first of two Fun Photo Friday’s featuring Central Java favorites. After next week we move on to visit some vicious dragons (the hint for the day).

Ursula Making the Trek

A photo gallery/slide show of Borobudur details:

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Indonesia — Semarang, Borobadur Temple

And the answer to Monday’s question is… Borobudur Temple

South of Semarang, in Central Java’s Magelang Regency, lies a Marayana Buddhist temple. The name of this immense temple it Borobudur and it is believed to date back to the 9th century, possibly to the year 842. Borobudur is shrouded in mystery, as no one knows for sure exactly when it was built, when it was eventually abandoned, or why it was no longer used. The assumption is that it may have fallen into disuse following the rise in Ind...

Indonesia — Semarang, Our Tour Awaits

Holland America’s MS Volendam moored in Semarang, Central Java, Indonesia

Our next Southeast Asia destination on this cruise was Semarang, the capital of Central Java Provence, in the Republic of Indonesia. And as is often the case, Ursula had us lined up for a tour. But before I show you our minibus, let me introduce you to two people who were very instrumental in getting us back to our ship:

Java Police would come in VERY handy later in the tour

These two save our bacon, so to speak. W...

Fun Photo Friday — Jakarta Favorites 3

Where’s Barbie?

Today we finish up with Jakarta. Next weeks I’ll take you to what was our next Indonesian destination, the city of Semarang in Central Java.

Ursula Taking In the Local Color A Riot of Rust Pristine Pinisi Commuter Parking Rigging and Wood Bunga Sentosa (Sentosa Flower) II

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Indonesia — Jakarta, More Magnificent Views of Sunda Kelapa

Pinisi Rigging

Today I continue with the color images of pinisi cargo vessels using Sunda Kelapa Jakarta (Jakarta Old Port):

Narrow Gangplank Blue View A Modern “Pinisi” Rustbucket

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Indonesia — Jakarta, Lots of Color at Sunda Kelapa Shipyard

Jakarta’s old port is Sunda Kelapa, and it was by far the most colorful place we encountered on our tour of Jakarta. Sunda Kelapa is incapable for handling today’s larger ships, but it’s still an active port for a very specific type of ship, the pinisi. Pinisi refers to a traditional Indonesian two-masted ketch. The are old, colorful, and just plain fun to photograph. As such, I’ll be concentrating today and Wednesday on the sights in this old port.

Here is today’s selection from Sunda Ke...

Wishing Everyone a Happy Easter

Wishing Everyone a Happy Easter

Last evening Ursula and I were given an early Easter treat in the form of the spectacular sunset you see above. I though I would share it with you with a special Easter blog post. And while I’m at it, here’s another image from our backyard that was recorded last month, just twelve days before Lent:

Magnificent Rainbow

I hope these images give you a nice start to your Easter Sunday.

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