BOROBUDUR & A Chicken Church. Visit the Kraton Jogja Central Java

I have absolutely no idea where I am, or even if I'm supposed to be here. And I think that that is a toilet. So today we are heading towards the largest Buddhist temple in the world. It's a UNESCO World Heritage Site and it's located here in central Java. It's estimated to be around 1600 years old. This is Borobudur, one of the crown jewels of Indonesia. Wow. Pretty magnificent, eh? So the stonework here is assembled together using no mortar, no cement. Incredible. It was actually rediscovered by the British, by Sir Stamford Raffles. He was the governor of Singapore, actually. And they had control over the Dutch East Indies, which is now Indonesia. And apparently it was all covered in ash. And there have been rumors of some kind of ancient monument here. And they started digging and they found it. And then, not until relatively recently, it was classed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. And they actually rebuilt it and restored it to its former glory. It is absolutely magnificent. And up there as well is thousands of bas-relief carvings. So unfortunately we can't see it. On the top as well is these structures with Buddhas inside of them. Incredible. Absolutely amazing. Yeah, real shame we can't go up to the top. But unfortunately, Covid. Covid police won't let us up there. Oh well, next time. It's a church shaped like a bloody chicken. What the hell? This is not a chicken, but it's a dove. A dove? So it's picturing three things. They are loyalty, peace, and love. Our father is a Christian. So they make assumption that this place is church. But it's actually not. It's multiple religion. Yeah, it's place to pray for anybody. It's like a natural, natural from here. It's not artificial. And this is already here? Yeah. So the meaning of Bukit Rema or Rema here in English. Rema means enlightenment. We can hear about the road before. This is the Mr. Daniel. So why he decided to build a building like a dove here? Because yeah, there is a little story here. He met Jito, Orwad Jito. He is deaf. He is a boy from Gombong village near this place. So this is the first human that accompanied Mr. Daniel Alamshir to find this place. After that, Mr. Daniel looked at this place. It's him. About what he looked in his dream before. So after that, he decided to pray overnight here. And he got a vision to build a house of prayer for all nations. Two, three purposes. The first one, loyalty, peace. And the last one is love for everyone. The next stop is Yogyakarta. This is one of the major cities of this region. So it's going to be busy. It's the weekend as well. And we're going to go straight into a place called Maliabas Street. So we've got a one-hour drive ahead of us. And Ben has just said he wants a beer in his hand by 2.30. Which is an hour and a half away. And I agree. Cheers. That is so well-deserved. You are seeing the raw Indonesia. Yes. Couldn't be happier. That's bizarre, man. It's got peanuts, croutons, ginger. Never tried anything like it in my life. What do you reckon? I mean, it tastes good. It's... I don't know how to describe it. But it just seems to work, whatever it is. We don't know exactly what it is. But it does seem to work. It's mental, isn't it, eh? Horses everywhere. We have no f***ing idea where we're going. Nope. Don't know where we're going. Got to know where you're going. Oh, this looks so good. Malioboro Street. Traffic. Chaos. Absolute chaos. I love it. That is the Palace of the Sultan. I think he lives there. I'm gonna follow that horse. Wow, it's just so nice around here. Like, old. Really old houses. And just so much character. It's totally unique. Look at that there, mate. Oh, cool. So, Ben and I are gonna part ways now. He's off to the bus station. I'm gonna take him there now. And I'm gonna see him later on in the year. Back to riding solo. Ben is looking for his ticket. See you later, mate. Okay, now I am gonna go and try a coffee. Famous Central Java coffee with a piece of coal in it. Would you believe it? I didn't expect this at all. So, this used to be the Sultan's private bathhouse. I wonder what kind of parties he entertained here. It's definitely a little bit of a tourist trap. So many people here, but super cool. So much history here. Again, just why I love this city. I have absolutely no idea where I am or even if I'm supposed to be here. I've just stumbled across this wonderful little area. And I think that that is a toilet. So cool. There's just these like tunnels everywhere. It's just a labyrinth of different areas, different rooms. So, here we are again. I have no idea where I am now. Lost. I'm just totally getting lost in this maze of streets around here. See, there's an entrance there. That is the water temple that I've just been in. Hello. I'm gonna go down here. It's just a labyrinth of places. I'm not sure if I'm going into someone's house or garden or something. I don't know. It's a little bit scary. Working well. It's insane. I was just saying I'm scared of getting lost. This area is just amazing. I'm so happy I've come here. Because I was about to leave Yogyakarta without actually visiting some of this area. I'm so happy I did. Hello. Yeah, Yogyakarta. Awesome. This place is a must visit to Kraton. Just walking around here, getting lost here. It's incredible. I'm now back on this main road now. I think I know where I'm going. Still not quite sure. It's a maze. So I've been told to try this place. This El Soto Ayam. Give it a go. This is chicken soup. It's supposed to be really, really delicious here. Definitely having two scoops of this. ------- yes. You know it. Somewhere around here now is Brambanan Temple. Here we go. Very interesting. This was built 50 years after Borobudur. All of this is made in vast relief. So it's carved out of the rock. So much detail. Incredible. Really amazing. You can see here. Look, this is where the rocks must have been broken when it was damaged with an earthquake and it was actually a ruin. I'm not sure if these are all original or these are refurbished. But that so much time and effort has gone into building this. It's really incredible. So many broken structures which hopefully will be restored at some point. Ah, here we go. These look like the original carvings. Yeah, still in magnificent condition really. The area of Brambanan Temple is actually built on a lot of land. It's built all the way from over there. It goes quite far this way as well. But there's quite a few different temples. This is the largest Hindu temple complex in Indonesia. Here we have another temple complex. Look at this. It's just incredible. I think I'm quite lucky with the weather actually. It's pretty cloudy so not too hot. But still, I'm sweaty and very thirsty right now. It was so busy over at the Brambanan Temple which is a five-minute walk over that way. And it's so quiet here. There's nobody here. Only me and some workers who are busy restoring the place. I could just spend hours and hours and hours exploring this place. I wish I had more time actually. It's just incredible. So many different buildings in different states of ruin. I don't know what this is. It kind of looks like a toilet. I'm sure it's not. There must have been some statue there. Rows and rows and rows of buildings or piles of stone. I'm not sure. This place is like a labyrinth of rows and rows of stones. I've actually lost already. This is such a fantastic way to end my trip to Central Java. I've loved every minute of it. The people are so lovely. So much history here and culture, culture, culture, culture. Everywhere I've been in Central Java, I've just been hit literally in the face with the local culture, the real life, the real way people live here. It's just been incredible. And I'm not new to Indonesia. Such an amazing place this is. Really impressed.