Indonesia - Candi Sewu

This is the final temple in the Prambanan temple complex. Unlike the main temple, this temple is a Buddhist temple. It's very similar in style to Borobudur. It's all Buddhist carvings, bell shaped domes and significant numbers. The best thing about this temple though, is that you can climb all over it!


The entrance to this temple is on the side, away from the main approach, so I was initially disappointed when I came up to it and thought it was closed. Seeing the gates wide open, was great. In I went with my climbing boots on!

The temple consists of one main temple, with a whole bunch of small temples surrounding it in every direction. There's apparently 240 separate temples surrounding it. They're in various states of decay. Some of them are still complete, but others are just a small pile of rubble. The main temple is shored up by a lot of scaffolding, so I'm guessing the earthquake took it's toll her as well.


The carving on all the temples is exquisite. The smaller temples are carved on all sides by ornate figures of people in court dress. Each side has two small figures and one huge central figure. They're all very ornate and deeply carved. Some of them are a bit worn, but others are as sharp as the day they were carved.

The central temple is very tall. Not quite as tall as the main Prambanan temple, but it's close. You can walk up the steep stairs to the top and actually go inside. That was a bit spooky. There were a lot of bats lurking around, no internal lighting and a bit of a strange smell. It's not somewhere I wanted to spend a great deal of time, so I stuck my camera in, fired off a few flashes and wandered off.


This temple is about a kilometer from the first temple. As a result, it's completely deserted! I think people are just too lazy to walk all this way. I had the whole temple to myself. It's weird to have such a big place to yourself, so I made sure I took lots of pics!

This was probably my favourite temple in the complex. It was richly decorated, 1200 years old and you can walk on it. What more can you ask for from a UNESCO World Heritage site!