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Last Friday, our mentor at SMAN 2 Semarang, Mr. Mat Ibnu, invited us to join their family vacation at Borobudur Temple and CitraElo on Sunday. I was flabbergasted when he asked us to come. For me, there was no amount of doubt that I wouldn’t say yes. Who would say no to that? Borobudur Temple is a UNESCO World Heritage Site! Without hesitation, we accepted his invitation.
September 8, 2019: It was THE DAY! As agreed, Walter and I waited in front of the school around 6 am. In a few minutes, they arrived. We met Mr. Ibnu and his wife as well as his son, Bagas. We hopped inside their car and began talking to each other. They asked us about the Philippines where we came from. It was mainly on our culture and the languages that we use there. The chat went well and talking about the Philippines is such an honor and a pleasure to discuss. After a couple of hours, we stopped by at a restaurant to eat breakfast. I ordered Ayam Bakar (Grilled Chicken) and coffee. The food was delicious.
Breakfast was done! It was time to hit the road again. We spent an hour before we finally reached Borobudur at Yogyakarta, Indonesia. We lined up and paid the entrance fee worth Rp50,000. It was strange though. When I looked around, I saw that there are two kinds of tickets: a ticket for locals and foreigners. What’s the difference? I asked about this to some of the locals here but they didn’t know the exact answer. I dismissed my curiosity for a while and focused on entering the premises first.
A few moments later, we’re finally inside! Before going to the temple, we walked for a few meters more and stopped by for some photo ops at random times. After a lot of walks, We can finally see the Borobudur temple from afar. It is huge! Majestic! I think I’ve also said “WOW” too many times while looking at it. It was an absolute pleasure to witness the beauty and see the cultural/historical value of this famous landmark.
We climb the stairs together. There were too many tourists at that time and it was extremely hot. I was actually worried because I might get a sunburn or dehydrate myself due to the hot weather. Luckily, we brought bottled water with us. And just like what every tourist does, we took pictures of the place.
Interesting belief: they say that if you touch the Buddhist statue inside, you can make a wish. Guess what, I was able to touch it! And I hoped for something good. (I won’t tell you my wish because it might not come true!)
After our tour at Borobudur Temple, we went straight ahead to CitraElo Rafting at Magelang around 1 pm. We waited for a while before our names were called. It was exciting because I haven't done this before. Thanks to Mr. Ibnu and his family, I get to experience this for the first time!
When they called our names, the staff assisted us to wear our vests, helmets and gave us oars. Then, we traveled for about 10 minutes before we reached the starting point of the river. We gathered around and the instructor taught us some precautionary measures to prevent unnecessary accidents. Finally, our rafting adventure began!
We rafted for about 3 hours because we passed through a 12-kilometer river. We spent our time talking about a lot of things. The chat was very interesting but what's more interesting is the fresh environment that I got to see. I can feel the breeze, the battle against the river currents, the sound of the river flowing and the splash of water on my skin. It was a delightful experience.
After a long travel, we stopped by a cozy cottage near the river. We swam at the river and enjoyed some local delicacies such as coconut juice, arem-arem and sweet sticky rice with a banana filling.
Reaching the end of the river, we bathed ourselves at CitraElo's swimming pool then changed our clothes. We ate dinner with a classic order of Ayam Bakar (grilled chicken) and some staple food like some vegetables, Sambal (spicy sauce), Krupuk (fish chips) and a lot more.
That's the end of our trip to Borobudur and CitraElo. It was the best Sunday that I had so far and the most incredible experience. If given the chance to visit this place again, I dream of bringing my family or friends to this beautiful place. That's all! Terima Kasih!
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