Friday March 27, 2026
Hi All! Guess what? Today we are exactly at the half way mark of our trip! (And practically half way around the world!). As much fun as we’ve had on this first half, I truly believe the best is yet to come! We still have our 3 Overland Tours to look forward to and many of the rest of the cities remaining we’ve never been to so very excited for the second half!
Today we were docked in Semarang, Indonesia, still on the island of Java. Kathy and I decided to do separate tours today. The decision was… largest Buddhist Temple in the world or largest mall in Indonesia?? Kathy chose the mall and I chose the temple! Or maybe she was just tired of me after 77 straight days?? Lol.
Although my tour was 9 hours long and included 5 hours on the bus it was well worth it. I went to see Borobudur, a UNESCO World Heritage site. It was started in the year 778 and took 85 years to build. In the 11th century an earthquake hit it and damaged it and some of the Buddhas and other figures are still broken. In 1991 it became a UNESCO World Heritage site.
It is a huge structure and is built as a stepped pyramid featuring six square terraces topped by three circular platforms, culminating in a large central stupa. A stupa looks like a handbell and is a very religious symbol to the Buddhists like the cross is to the Christians. Each stupa has a Buddha statue inside.
I climbed over 150 steps to reach the top with what they say is the path to enlightenment. I don’t know how enlightened I was but I sure was sweaty! We also had to wear special slippers to go to the top of the temple. That didn’t help either!
After climbing the temple, they served us a delicious buffet lunch with lots of Indonesian food. I’ll let the pictures do the talking and have so many I’ll send them in two batches. Sorry, no mall pictures! Lol.
PS: Today is my brother Jim’s birthday but sadly he passed away a few years ago. I really miss him but know he’s always watching over Kathy and I on our world travels. Love you Jim!
The Wandering Italian 