Borobodur

What You Need To Know Before Visiting Borobodur

• The park opens at 6:30am but you cannot climb the temple until 8:30am. If you arrive before 6:30am, they will not let you in (I arrived 6:20). 

• There is a limit of 1200 people per day who can climb Borobodur, divided into 8 sessions of one hour each, with 150 people. 

• You have to climb with a tour, but they don't actually make you stay with the tour and you can wander at your own pace if you prefer. I recommend you watch this 15 minute Youtube video on Borobodur before you go, and you’ll know everything the tour guides tell you. At twenty past every hour, the staff sweep people off the top and tell them their time is up. Simply pop down to one of the lower levels and go half way between the sets of stairs when the security starts sweeping people off, if you want to spend more time on Borobodur. 

• The grounds are beautiful, but personally I don't think visiting the grounds alone is worth it without climbing Borobodur. If you're coming specifically to visit the temple, it’s worth the money. If you're just visiting because you're in the area anyway, or you're not too excited about the temple, then you may reconsider.  

• If you are deterred from the price, the Two Birds Breaking Free details how you can sneak into the grounds for free. It is not possible to sneak up the temple for free, and the daily limits on visitors up the temple are in place to protect it.  

• It is the same price to buy your ticket online as it is at the gate. Buy your ticket on the official website only: ticket.borobudurpark.com. Because it's such a popular site, we saw lots of misinformation online. You can buy tickets here weeks in advance, there's no need to get a guide to broker a ticket for you, it's not cheaper if you go early. You also buy combination tickets for both Borobodur and Prambanan through this website, via their email, or at the gate. 

• There is no “morning session” to climb Borobodur for sunrise. The earliest climb is at 8:30am. You can enter the grounds from 6:30am though, and in some months it may be misty at this time if you’re an eager photographer. Check the sunrise time at Borobodur using TimeAndDate.com.

• There are many sunrise points. Get there a bit early as most will involve a little walk. On a clear day, you may see the sunrise with a clear view of Mount Merapi and Mount Merbabu in the background, with wasps of mist covering the forest and plateau surrounding Borobodur. It is a beautiful view.

• If you are visiting during school holidays or Indonesian public holidays, expect larger crowds. Weekends will attract more visitors than on weekdays. On our day (Tuesday 12th February) there were very few people and we were able to enjoy the grounds and temple in relative peace. Lots of Indonesian school children were very eager to chase us and ask for photos, but we were really surprised to find it so quiet. 

Getting to Borobodur and Avoiding the Traffic of Yogyakarta

If you’ve found this page, odds are that you like to travel off the beaten path and avoid the crowds. Yogyakarta is a very large and busy city, and if you’re just coming to visit Borobodur, here’s my suggestions for how to best visit!

If you’re flying into YIA airport, you can consider heading straight to Balaboedoer/Borobodur so that you’re already next to the Candi (temple) for the early morning. I’d recommend this strongly. 

Alternatively, if you’re taking the train in, catch a train that goes to Wates (pronounced Wah-tes) station instead of Yogyakarta. This is an hour west of Yogyakarta, and only 20 minutes from the airport. Furthermore, it’s the same distance from Borobodur as Yogyakarta is, but without any of the heavy city traffic! It is definitely not a tourist town so you’re limited on accommodation, but you’ll get an authentic Javanese experience and locals will be surprised to see a foreigner there! 

If you want to avoid tourists and experience nature, there are also several caves and waterfalls that you can visit in the mountains for a detour on the way to or from Borobodur (we enjoyed the detour on the way to Borobodur so much that we did it again on the way back). Most of these roads are very smooth, but if you take a detour via the mountains on the way from Wates to Borobodur, includes 30-45 minutes of rough gravel, so you do want to be confident on a bike for this. Alternatively, you can hire a driver for the day.

Accommodation in Wates 

There’s really limited accommodation here as this really is a hidden secret. We stayed at Wetpas for only 100,000 - plus it was only a 5 minute walk from the train station, which was safe to walk at 10pm when we arrived. This is actually a student lodging but they have short stay rooms which are perfect for a backpacker on a budget who doesn’t mind living like the locals for a night or too. The rooms don’t have aircon but do come with a fan, and they’re very basic, with a squat toilet only instead of western loo. BUT, this was one of our favourite places in Indonesia to stay because of how incredible the owner is!

Sistha is the woman behind Wetpas, and she is an absolute POWERHOUSE. She speaks fluent English - which isn’t very common in Java. She works as a part time guide and runs Wetpas as her own small business. We hit it off with her really well and she was telling us about the hidden drag shows in Yogyakarta. She also took us to the local market one morning and helped us pick out traditional foods and drinks from local vendors at local prices (no haggling needed), and showed us around the area. She gave us heaps of recommendations of her favourite places to visit, and after chatting with her we had to think about adding a few weeks to our trip! 

Wates is very much a local accommodation and is not oriented towards backpackers. We were the first foreign backpackers Sistha ever had stay, but she was very excited to have more come. 

There were a few other accommodations I found through Google Maps but didn’t get immediate replies from any others. There were a few homestays that looked like they’d have air conditioning but you may need to organise this in advance, rather than the day of like we usually do!

Motorbike Hire in Wates 

The guys at INSERT NAME motorbike hire were aboslutely great. They charged us 90,000 per day per bike with the option to get a phone stand if you request it. They dropped the bikes to us, and then when we returned the bikes one of heir workers offered to drive us to the airport (20 minutes away) for free. They were really flexible and didn't mind us extending hire via text. No fuss, no headache, good quality service. 

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Sunrise View over Borobodur

There are many sunrise points where you can see the sunrise over Borobodur. On a clear morning, you may be able to see Mount Merapi and Mount Merbabu in the background. Misty mornings are just as beautiful though, as thin wisps of clouds waft between the trees and rice paddies, and the tip of Borobodur can be seen over the forest. It is magical. If it’s raining though you’re unlikely to see anything, unless if the rain clears up. 

Sunrise viewpoint I visited was Puncak View Sunrise  - it cost 50,000 entry and 3,000 for parking. There were 12 other people here in February and it was far from packed. From the car park it’s a 5-10 minute walk to the lookout point. Along the pathway are souvenirs from Borobodur and cafes/warungs where you can stop to get coffee and have a basic meal. 

There is no “morning session” to climb Borobodur for sunrise. In researching Borobodur, there seemed to be lots of information suggesting that you can climb Borobodur for the sunrise, but many of these are organised guides that will charge you a small fortune to take you to the sunrise point, then Borobudur temple afterwards. The earliest climb is at 8:30am. You can enter the grounds from 6:30am. Check the sunrise time at Borobodur using TimeAndDate. 

The Best Massage In Indonesia - Next to Borobodur 

Karthik Beauty - Hariati & Rosy 

I don’t think I've ever written that a massage is worth the detour for, but this one takes the cake.

Karthik Beauty is a humble beauty salon, massage parlour, and hair dresser rolled into one. It is owned by Hariati, a jovial Javanese woman, and staffed by her close friends and her children. We stumbled across this by accident - prior to writing this there was no mention of her massage parlour online or on google maps. It was that good that we hung around to take pictures for them, learn the prices of their services, and take the effort to write this blog. If you’re going to Borobudur, you want to visit here! 

Located just around the corner from the entrance to Borobudur, Karthik Beauty is both local, affordable, and worth it. The parlour is attached to the family home, and is like stepping into an eclectic Javanese Mad Hatter Tea Party. There were two carved deer on the wall that Hariati told us had belonged to her parents. Family photos, traditional outfits, modern relics and a whole array of nick-nacks lined the walls. The smell of rich scents and perfumes lulled you in with sweeping calm. Without going on too much more about it, this was not only the best massage I’ve had, but the best environment to get a massage in. 

The open hours are 7am to 9pm, although you are in Indonesia, so this may fluctuate. You don’t need to make a reservation in advance although you can if you wish. You can do this either via WhatsApp, or rocking up and verbally requesting a reservation time. The details are: 

WhatsApp: 

Address: 

We each paid 150,000 for a 60 minute full body massage - and felt compelled to tip as well. I’ve never been worked on like that before. Hariati even had to stop a few times to catch her breath. I normally like a soft massage, but there was something about the knowledgeable strength in her hands that made the pain feel incredible. 

For beauty, Hariati has a network of staff (friends and family) who can provide her various other services. The benefit of going here is that you know this is locally owned, and every dollar you spend will directly benefit the family. We’d actually walked into the place next door originally for a massage, given this was one of the only places showing on google maps, and left after 10 minutes. Unsure why, but there was a seriously uneasy sense there. It felt corporate, sterile, the staff member we spoke to seemed really unhappy, and I suspect that the staff rely heavily on tips, and are held to stringent rules. But I’m glad we walked in still - had we not walked in (and left!) we would have never met Hariati and Rosy!

Here is the full price list of what they have to offer:

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