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2011 will be my year of Rice Terraces. The last couple months have been rice terraces in Philippines and Indonesia.
After going to Borobudur, we head up to an “obscure” temple in the mountains. Candi Selogriyo is a small Hindu temple, built earlier before Borobudur temple. It is located at the head of a small valley, with many terraced rice-fields on the slopes. This is the Java scenery one sees in magazines.
Selogriyo is about 30 km. away from Borobudur, and journey by car or motorcycle takes about one hour (each way), over paved, winding country lanes.
Walking through the village, you can see the backbreaking work needed to grow the rice and harvest wood etc. Never take your food for granted. I couldn’t even imagine walking up and down those terraces to plant and harvest rice every day.
More or less these guys struggling to move tree down mountain .. regardless of how illegal the forest cutting is here … people have to survive some way or the other.
After the 2 km walk watching lovely mountains and rice paddies, you get to the main gate. The temple is then reached after climbing about 200 steps.
When you’re as out of shape as I am right now, it is always best not to think about the steps but just all the lovely scenery that you just chewed through as well as a snapshot into the existence of other people around you.
As for Selogriyo, itself … well the journey is the highlight …
5 Essential Details for seeing Candi Selogriyo and being happy about it 😀
- The beauty is in the journey, not the destination. The main attraction is the actual walk through the mountains and rice paddies
- Tip the caretakers at Candi Selogriyo. 20000 rupiah should be reasonable. They work hard with only three people a day seeing their work. You can sign the guestbook for details.
- Find a reliable guide who knows the trail. It is a lovely hike in July, where the weather is cool and the heat isn’t overbearing. It takes about an hour from Borobudur to get there, so plan your time accordingly.
- Plan to climb some steps. Maybe about 200 steps in all, as well as a 20 min steep-ish walk. There will be some mud in parts, so plan for you feet to get dirty.
- The entire walk back and forth will take about 60-90 mins depending on how many pictures you take and how much scenery you chew.
Photolog
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