I’m close to the end of my trip to Indonesia. I arrived in Yogyakarta last night for a quick visit. You may have forgotten, but this city was badly damaged by an earthquake just less than a year ago, in May 2006. There’s been good progress on recovery, but you still see a lot of construction everywhere, especially at the airport.

Last evening, we walked along Malioboro street, which as usual, is lined with stalls selling batik, wood carvings, batik, clothes, batik, souvenirs, and did I mention batik? There is a lot of batik on display. We were even directed to a gallery off the street that had a large selection of batik artwork on sale. There were many nice examples, in many different styles. I ended up buying a small picture for my niece.

This morning, on the way to the airport we’re going to a couple of the old Hindu temples around Yogya. The first stop is Candi Sambisari, a tiny temple that was only discovered in 1966, having been buried by ash and dirt for nearly a thousand years. It now sits in the deep depression after having been excavated.

The next stop is the Prambanan complex. I’d first visited here five years ago but wasn’t happy with all my pictures. Unfortunately, the temples were badly damaged in the earthquake, and now you can’t go into the be towers any more. They’ve only cleared a path just inside the wall, where you can walk past the chapels. They’re busy trying to put them back together and make them safe, so you may be able to see them again one day.

Posted by michael under Just back from...

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