is one of those places that can be a problem for me. Why? Because it’s located in a very rural location on an island in a country where the household annual disposable income income is about 70 million rupiah. While 70 million of anything represents what seems like a lot, 70 million of the local currency translates into an annual income for the average household of about $7,000 U.S. dollars. This means there’s not a lot of infrastructure in place and what infrastructure there is is very, very local. I also have to bang my head against the wall for saying that I’m going to a very rural place as the island of Java, where Borobudur is located, has a population of about 140 million people. Java is one of the most densely-populated geographic locations on the planet. Imagine 140 million people living on an island the size of the state of Mississippi and you can get a better of what it’s like. Now imagine those same 140 million people living in Mississippi and having an annual household income that’s about 20% the current household annual disposable income of a household in Mississippi. Plus 87% of them are Muslim. If you think Mississippi is rural, think about the picture I just painted. It boggles my mind when I think about Java in that context.

So what’s my biggest issue with Borobudur? It’s getting there. If I want to get get from the Yogyakarta airport, where I plan to land, to Borobudur, a distance of about 24 miles, I can take a local bus, rent a car, or hire a taxi. The rental car is out. I’ve driven vehicles in some fairly interesting locales, but this is Java. A taxi seems the next obvious choice, but the cost of a taxi compared to local transportation is, relatively, astronomical. I’m missionary in my zeal to get as close as possible to having a “local experience”, at least as far as transportation is concerned. The problem with local buses, as far as I’m concerned is not that the aren’t manufactured by Prevost, it’s that the probability of the driver speaking English is slim and none. I know it’s only 24 miles. But…

I’ve been to Java before. I know what it’s like. I even know what it’s like in the monsoon season. But I’ve never been to the most rural parts of Java, if you can call any area of Java rural. But I have been to the urban areas of the country and I can tell you that English is not a language that’s widely spoken in the country. Today, I’m going to work on my plan to get to Borobudur. It’s going to require a little research.

References: Yogyakarta Hostels; Borobudur Transportation; Wikitravel Borobudur; Trip Report – Yogyakarta, Wonosobo, Borobudur; yogyes; Yogyakarta > Borobudur > Mt. Bromo > Surabaya; The Borobudur area and more.