This year for the challenge I will be blogging about some premier sites & sights that I have experienced on my travels overseas.

Indonesia has the largest Muslim population of any country, with all the islands of the archipelago being majority Islamic apart from Hindu Bali.

On the largest island of Java you find perhaps the finest temple in the nation, the 9th Century Buddhist temple of Borobudur. A throwback from its pre-Islamic days, with the island not converting to Islam until the 14th Century.

The Mahayana temple is the world’s largest temple dedicated to Buddha. It consists of nine stacked platforms topped by a central dome and is decorated with 2,672 relief panels and 504 Buddha statues. The central dome is surrounded by 72 Buddha statues, each seated inside a perforated stupa.

My visit was in October 1997 as part of a three-week independent tour from Java to Bali.

Tourists were pretty scarce in Java, so much so that in Borobudur my friend Hamish & I became somewhat of a curiosity and were not only asked to pose for countless photographs with Javanese children, but also to give autographs. The first and last time that has ever happened to me.

Nice to have been a celebrity for a few hours at least!