Travel day today – a 12 hour bus journey between Surabaya and Yogyakarta, so it’s meditation, breakfast, hurry scurry and pack.
Goodbyes are said to those we leave behind for now. Andy sent us off with many kind words and wishes and as we are about to depart our new French friend Nico comes to the front of the bus and with love and gratitude flowing said, “You don’t know what you’ve done for me, but I know what you’ve done for me”
View Yogyakarta in a larger map
Numbers of seekers aside, just knowing that by being here collectively in this way can trigger such a powerful journey for even one individual is enough reason to be doing such tours. In truth though it is far more than this. Whilst it feels on many levels that there is so much to be done here and significant vibrational obstacles present themselves, we are confident that the collective support the locals are getting will bring about a new dynamism, as long as they receive continued support in follow up tours.
We took a slight detour and visited an Historic place in Trowulan. Trowulan was once the capital of the largest Hindu empire in Indonesian history. It was founded by a Singosari Prince, Wijaya in 1294 and it reached the height of power in the years 1350-89. During this time Majapahit claimed control over most of Indonesia as we know it today and even parts of the Malay peninsular. The capital was a grand affair, the kraton forming a miniature city within and surrounded by great fortified walls and watchtowers.
The empire came to a sudden end in 1478 when the city fell to the north coast power of Demak and the Majapahit elite fled to Bali, thus opening up Java for conquest by the Muslims.
The ruins of the kingdom now provide an important tourist trade. We visited the Tikus Temple. Tikus means mouse and was so named due to the massive amount of mice that were discovered on the site. On the site there is also a sugarcane plantation, the sweet nectar of which was all too tempting for Vishwanath who proceeded to uproot a stalk. A local villager duly came to his aid and sliced it with her machete. We thus enjoyed some sweet sugarcane!
The trip was longish and the meal upon arrival at the Shish Restaurant most welcome. We were met on entry by a young group of gamelan musicians, who provided a nice acoustic backdrop to our dining.
Sleep was well-deserved and appreciate.
Kind Regards
Martin Purcell