Sunrise over BoroBudur

You don't have to stay at the hotel to be able to go on the 4:30 am  private viewing of the temple but it makes it easier.  Everyone gets a flashlight and a ticket (along with the batik shawl) - cost is $175,000 IR (~$21 USD) pax (per person).  Everyone mills around at the open air lobby and we are off in the dark following a guide.

 Due to a recent earthquake you are not allowed to go above the 7th level (so can't go into the "bells" top 3 levels).  In talking with the guide, he said that the 5th and 6th levels (not the 7th due to high walls) were the best viewing spots.

We wandered around and found a good spot about 4:45 on the 6th level to see the sunrise and sat and chilled out - making jokes that annoyed the Danish family sitting next to us.  The late teenage girl seem very much less than thrilled to be up at 4:30 - especially since the wait was roughly 45 minutes until the sun started to rise.

We entertained ourselves taking a few pictures in the dark - ok but not the main event ......

Sun starting to peak above the volcano

Trying different shots and then playing with the editing software

 As you can see from a couple of these bell (upside down lotus flowers) they don't look like angles form someone who had stayed on the 7th level.  More on the next post - sometimes it makes sense to challenge rules ......

These next set of pictures are from the 7th level - using the high walls to get different lighting

Showing we were actually here - I do need to get a UV or some other type of filter to reduce the glare

6:30 am - breakfast is calling and the gates have been opened for the unwashed masses (or at least those who didn't pay for the 4:30 private entrance).