Prambanan

This Hindu temple is another big tourist drawcard for Jogja, a marker of the huge Hindu influence that once used to dominate Javanese culture and is still the dominant religion found on neighboring Bali. Just like our trip to the Buddhist monument Borobudur the day before, we had to fight the elements in order to catch a glimpse of this place, and I also had to argue again with the ticket office (while our Chinese friend Beryl yet again slipped in as a local) since this place also charges foreigners about twelve times the entrance fee it does locals. But alas nothing could stop us from entering this great temple, nothing except for the wire fences everywhere keeping people at a safe distance from the temple ever since the 2006 earthquake did major damage to several of the buildings which are now deemed unstable. We were able to go inside two of the smaller side buildings though. Perhaps Hindu architecture and decoration just isn't as ostentatious as its Buddhist equivalents, but I wasn't especially impressed with these buildings. Perhaps if my friends had known much about the place or we had hired a guide, it would have been a bit more meaningful, but it was still worth seeing, even in the pouring rain.