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In Solo, Java, Indonesia.

More from Candi Cetho

Really, really spectacular.

Street sweets

Foolishly, I never tried whatever this is.

In Yogya, Indonesia.

Gamelan

Wayang kulit (shadow puppet) show in Yogyakarta, Indonesia.

Banana pancake

As much as I love local food, there are some pretty tasty foreigner foods around too, like this beautifully caramelised banana pancake with honey, in Yogya.

Remains of Majapahit

Candi Cetho looms out of the mist, remains of the ancient Hindu kingdom of Majapahit perched at the top of a steep hill in one of the few remaining Hindu towns in Central Java. Most Hindus fled to Bali as Islam spread through Java, but a few people made offerings to a shiva linggam as we walked through the mist.

Planting out the seedlings

I don't know what it's like all over Indonesia, but the fertile equatorial islands of Java and Bali not only host three full harvests a year, but there is no season to the cycle (though rice is best planted in the wet season, and crop rotation is often practiced in the dry season - maybe sweet potato will be grown then, or soy).

So it was that along one small country road in one day, I was able to see all the steps of the cycle - harvest; the mature grains ripening; tall green shoots with no grain yet; delicate small shoots; the planting out of the new seedlings; a bed holding the seedlings in their first days; and ploughing the muddy fields.

It's hard work planting out the new seedlings, which are tied in little bundles and flung into the drowned paddies, then separated and planted painstakingly by hand. It's work mostly done by women, who in old age are often permanently bent, with rounded spines. These women were working cheerfully and energetically in the heat of the day just outside of Yogyakarta in Central Java, stopping to wave and smile as I called out Terima kasih! (Thank you).

There are seasons to other things though, and seasonal beauties just now are avocados, rambutan, salak, sirsak (soursop), and durian. It would be fun to come back when the cloves ripen on the trees - but whatever time of year it's incredibly green here. And full of friendly smiles.

Tempeh

Vegetarian heaven! Crisp freshly fried tempeh with a chile sauce. Too delicious to be properly focussed, apparently, but the textures come through so well that I wanted to post it anyhow.

Gado-gado

Not the first, not the last, just one of the many delicious gado-gado salads (sometimes written gado2 to my great delight) I've had in Indonesia. Vegetable and spicy peanut sauce heaven...

Nirvana

After climbing a few sets of steep stone steps, you emerge blinking into the open top level of the temple of Borobudur - Nirvana.

Each of these stupas contains a Buddha statue, many missing parts of themselves after all these centuries but still majestic. The diamond shaped gaps represent the instability of human existence; the square ones, the perfect equilibirum of enlightenment. One stupa's statue is known as the Lucky Buddha, as my guide Aisyah tells me. When terrorists hid 10 bombs in the temple complex, only this one, tucked right into the stupa, failed to explode. She tells me to touch the Buddha and make a wish.

I feel a bit unsure about touching such an ancient monument, but I do anyway. I lean precariously on the rough lip of the stupa and reach my arm through the gap between the interlocking stones, wrap my fingers around the stone thumb, close my eyes and wish.

Relief

Onlookers to the level of Earth, or Form, at Borobudur.

Borobudur!

Hot off the presses from my visit to the Buddhist temple of Borobudur in Java, Indonesia, this morning. It's reputed to be right up there with Angkor Wat (and Bagan, in Burma) - oh, and it is. One of the most beautifully intricate places I've visited, from the moralistic reliefs at the base, through the reliefs telling the jataka tales of Buddha's life, to the simple, beautiful stupas of "Nirvana" at the top level of the temple.

Kopi jawa

Appropriately mountainous remains of a strong black local coffee, Yogyakarta, Indonesia.

Rice fields of Bali

My Balinese neighbour

Friendly local gecko helps me out with the taboo watermelon accompanying my balcony breakfast.

If only I had had video to show you the titanic head-shaking struggle it went through to break off a piece that filled its little jaw, before the strategic retreat to nom it.

Sacred monkey forest

It's not easy being a parent of twins, whether you're a human or a monkey. I saw the mommy monkey desperately hanging onto each twin by the tail as they tried to dash in different directions with all their strength. When one escaped, the daddy monkey jumped in to prevent disaster, and the little family snuggled together for awhile, oblivious to the giant tourists standing right next to them.

In the Sacred Monkey Forest, Ubud, Bali.

Ricefields of Bali

Rice cultivation in the town of Ubud (Pengosekan). I did yoga at a studio that overlooked these fields.

Weaving for the volcano

Handwoven leaf and bamboo decorations honouring Gunung Agung (the large mountain) in Bali.

Balinese dance