Loose_Grip/Pete's photos with the keyword: Java

Borobudur is a Buddhist stupa and temple complex in Central Java, dating from the 8th century. It is one of the world's great ancient monuments, the single largest Buddhist structure anywhere on earth. Borobudur lay abandoned and hidden for centuries under layers of volcanic ash and thick jungle growth until The British governor Thomas Stamford Raffles instigated its partial exhumation in 1814. I thought it was crowded in 1981 but since it became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1991 it has become the most popular tourist attraction in modern day Indonesia and a major international attraction. HWW to everyone. Enjoy the day.

We were staying in the Mobil guesthouse in Puncak in the mountains south of Jakarta. This was the view looking west towards Mount Pangrango (3,019 m/ 9,905 ft) a dormant volcanic peak, one of many on the Sunda Arc.

We had been in Jakarta for a meeting with Pertamina and were now at the airport waiting for our Garuda flight back to Medan. We got a beer while we waited and as the doors to the departure lounge opened straight out onto the airstrip Ken took a stroll in the heat outside. I'm not sure where the barefoot little Indonesian girl came from but I thought the two of them made a nice composition.

Borobudur is a Buddhist stupa and temple complex in Central Java, Indonesia dating from the 8th century, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This is one of world's great ancient monuments, the single largest Buddhist structure anywhere on earth. This is the upper level of three. Inside every bell-shaped stupa is a statue of Buddha; the top has been taken off this one to reveal the content. I thought it was crowded in 1981 but since it became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1991 it has become the most popular tourist attraction in modern day Indonesia and a major international attraction.

From the Sunda Kelapa Harbourmaster's Tower looking north onto the Kali Besar and a veritable forest of masts on the pinisi, traditional two-masted wooden sailing ships which still provide inter-island freight services in the archipelago.

We were en route by boat from Jakarta to Pulau Seribu in the Java Sea when we passed this classic sailing ship carrying timber probably from Sulawesi. It made a fine sight. Lots of other working sailing ships in the background.

The second time I visited was as a tourist with my wife & this time we flew from Jakarta to the Pulau Seribu (the aptly-named Thousand Islands) in the Java Sea by light aircraft. The Pulau Seribu are actually a string of 105 coral reef-fringed islands stretching 45 kilometres north into the Java Sea.

Pulau Seribu sailing ship carrying wood from Sulewasi to Jakarta. The wooden framework on the right is a fishing platform common in the shallow water all over Indonesia. The photo was taken early morning en route from Jakarta to Pulau Seribu on a geological field trip to study the coral reefs. I know, it's a dirty job but somebody has to do it.

In 1981 I was working in Medan, North Sumatra but as I was about to transfer to The Hague we decided to take vacation and travel around some other parts of Indonesia before leaving. We had just spent a few days in Yogyakarta and were now flying east to Bali over East Java and the Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park. The islands of Sumatra and Java lie on a long volcanic arc above a subduction zone where the Indo-Australia plate is moving beneath the Eurasia plate making it very volcanically active.

A labourer walks the plank carrying planks. They are teak which had come from Sulawesi (formerly known as Celebes) on this beautiful wooden sailing freighter. As can be seen the harbour was full of them. A real glimpse into the past.