Candi Borobudur 2014

Last Monday, I visited Candi Borobudur, the biggest Buddhist temple in the world. I went there with Arisa, a couchsurfer from Japan.

To go to Borobudur temple from my house, Semarang, it takes 3 hours. Since my dad didn't want to drive that long, he asked our cousins to join us.

It was a long journey. Arisa even slept in the car.

There wasnt a big crowd there. I bet since it is Ramadhan month and it wasnt a weekend too.

When we got off from the car, there were many seller offered their things such as hats, souvenirs, glasses, even umbrella.

*just for a note: if you want to buy souvenir, I suggest you to buy in Prambanan temple. The price is cheaper than in Borobudur temple.

There are two entrances for the tourist, foreigners and local people. The ticket for local people is around 30.000 rupiahs while for foreigner is 240.000 rupiahs. I felt bad for Arisa since she had to pay more.

Borobudur has changed a lot since my last visit. The way to go to the east entrance of the temple was long and hot. But now, it is a bit shady and short.

Other thing that has changed is the sarong, a cloth to cover our hips. It is a new tradition. For people who are more than 18 y/o, they have to wear sarong. Its color is blue with the print of Borobudur on it.

My First Couch, Arisa :)

Meet Arisa, a Japanese woman who has travelled since March. She is my first couch. She spent two nights in my parents' house. I took her to see the night view of Semarang in Gombel, the Greatest Masjid in South East Asia, Lawang Sewu and Tugu Muda.

It was raining when we went out. I was a bit worried I couldn't take her to the places I promised. When we were arrived in Gombel to see the night view, it was raining very hard. The view was covered by fogs. We needed to wait for an hour so that the fog disappear and the rain stopped. While we were waiting for the rain, we met an acquaintance. He worked in a Japanese company. Hearing we were talking in English he was curious and introduced himself. It was a great night.

After that we took several pictures with the Semarang night view as the background. Knowing the rain was just drizzling, I rode my bike fastly to go the next destination, The Greatest Masjid in South East Asia.

When we almost there, the heavy rain started. I speed up my motorbike. We arrived safely in front of the

Masjid. I wanted to parked my motorbike, the officer said I can't. I have passed the time. I tried to persuade them by saying I have a friend from Japan. She just wanted to take some pictures. I was so glad that he let me to park my bike near the mountain.

Well, taking foreigner with you can give you a super privilege :)

We continued our journey to Lawang Sewu. She was so surprised since Lawang Sewu looked more beautiful at night. She was so impressed with the view. Me, as a host, I am happy I could take her there. 

Hitchhike: сарапул, Meeting ex KGB Officer

The next morning, we went to сарапул. This city is located at the south of Izhevsk. This city is kind of far. We agreed to meet at the южная автостанция at 10.30 am. The weather was not very nice. It was cloudy, cold and kind of dark. I even brought umbrella in case it would be raining.

And it was. hehehe. When we started to hitchhike, the day started drizzling. We were kind of worried since we haven't got any ride. Then, Rinat said we needed to walk further. There is a T-junction ahead. We crossed it and waited.

Around 45 minutes, there was a car stopped for us. Rinat had a talk with him and he gave me a sign to get in the car. First thing first of hitchhiking is talk to the driver and be as friendly as possible. Though I dont speak Russian, I can mark up some words.

The driver is kind of old, I bet he has some grandchildren. From what I understand, they talked about me, where I am from and what I was doing in Izhevsk.

What shocked me is the driver was an KGB

Places to Visit In Yekaterinburg, Russia

I went to Yekaterinburg, Russia from 8-10 May 2014. I went there because I had an exchange program in Izhevsk. For me, Yekaterinburg is kind of the mixture of Moscow, St. Petersburg, and suburbs. Me and Rinat when there beside for seeing the tourism places but also to meet his friend from Tunisia, Marwan.

At there, we met Olya and Elena. They are couchsurfer. They took us to beautiful places there even Olya's friend invited us to a birthday party. Three of us stayed in Olya's flat. 

We were so lucky. We were there when they were celebrating Russian Victoy's Day. And I had a chance to see the huge weapons Russia has. Here are the places in Yekaterinburg you must visited.

1. The Church of Blood

Most of in every city in Russia have church on blood. It doesn't mean that the church is really on blood. The church is actually dedicated to Romanov family who killed cruelly at the end of the revolution time. All the family members and their servant were killed.

Everyone is allowed to visit this church as long as you (woman) cover your hair, no short skirt, and wear long dress. If you are not, the church usually provides some cloth to cover the legs and scarf. For man, wearing shorts is a big no no.

2.  The Beatles Monument

In Yekaterinburg, there is the beatles monument. Though the wall is full with graffiti but it's still nice. There is a quote on the wall, "the love you give is equal to love you make ..."

Places to Visit in Moscow, Russia

I have visited Moscow, Russia last week. I was there twice. First, when I arrived from Indonesia and the second one, when I was going to leave Russia. I was accompanied by Indah Larassakti, an Indonesian woman who are taking her master degree in Moscow State Pedagogical University. Here are the places we visited :)

1. Love Lock

Love lock is located in Luzhkov Bridge, Moscow, Russia. If I'm not mistaken, there are several steel strees where you can put your lock. When I was there, it was raining. The picture didn't come out good. Laras said that people who are couple or married, they put their lock in one of the lock trees then throw the key to the river. :)

2. St. Basil Museum

St. Basil is the main site I want to visit in Moscow. I remembered when I was a child, I saw an ensiklopedia book about Russia and there was a picture of St. Basil. At that time, I refer St. Basil as a castle for princess. I said to myself, one day, I have to visit it. And there I was. 

St. Basil is located in Red Square, Moscow. The ticket price to get inside the St. Basil is 100 rub for student, 350 rub for adult or non student. There was a sad story behind the beauty of St. Basil. The workers who built it, they lost their eyes. It is because the architect was so afraid that the workers would make similar one with St. Basil.