Twilight Over Borobudur – The Sunrise Tour

Here I was on an ancient wonder  patiently waiting for the last hour or so for the sun to show itself. Trying to find the best spot to catch this mystical twilight was a very indecisive decision on my part. I was always moving from one spot to another thinking maybe… just maybe… I could get a better shot when the fiery star begins to emerge.

Booking a spot is impossible unless you have friends along to station at various places along the corridors until you find the best one! I wasn’t that fortunate… hence I picked a spot, set my camera and prayed I would capture the moment just how I imagined it!

Twilight is the moment between dawn and sunrise and between sunset and dusk. My moment of twilight was during cloudy and misty conditions early in the morning making the experience even more mysterious. Scattering rays of light in the upper atmosphere illuminates the lower atmosphere, making the surface of the earth neither completely lit nor completely dark.

Standing on an architectural marvel constructed around 800 AD in a time frame of approximately 75 years was mind blowing in itself. But when twilight began….. I was truly blown away!

How to do it

Catch the Sunrise on your next trip there, its truly a magical way to see Borobudur. Using a torch you rise up through the levels of the temple whilst it is still dark, watch as the sun emerges and experience the complexity and scale of Borobudur, as it comes to light.

The only hotel that conducts this sunrise tour is the Manohara Hotel  located within the Borobudur Cultural Park. You do not have to stay here in order to do the tour. You can just head over at 4am to register yourself. The tour usually starts at 4.30am and cost approximately IDR320,000 (USD35) per person.

The Manohara Hotel is located at Komplek Taman Wisata Candi Borobudur, Jl. Badrawati, Borobudur – Magelang 56553, Jawa Tengah, Indonesia.

Rose

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