Knapsack Treks
  • Detian Waterfall Then & Now
  • Good Vices
  • Live From Lukla
  • NDP – National Day Pendaki
  • Trip Reports
    • Australia
      • Aussie Odyssey Part 1, Uluru, Kata Tjuta
      • Aussie Odyssey Part 2 Kings Canyon
      • Aussie Odyssey Part 3 Kangaroo Island
      • Dunes Downunder Part 1
      • Dunes Downunder Part 2
      • Dunes Downunder Part 3
    • Climbing Tianyou Peak 天游峰 @ Wuyi Shan 武夷山
    • Europe
      • My Greek Odyssey (Athens & Acropolis)
      • My Greek Odyssey (Delphi)
      • My Greek Odyssey (Meteora)
      • My Greek Odyssey (Mt Olympus)
      • My Greek Odyssey (Pella – birthplace of Alexander the Great)
      • My Greek Odyssey (Thessaloniki)
    • India
      • A Tale of Two Jahans
      • Akbar The Great
      • Dungeshwari – where mistakes are made and corrected
      • Horriday In India – Trains
      • Sarnath – first lesson
      • Shimla – legacy of British India
      • Taj Mahal
      • The Mahabodi Temple, Bodhgaya
      • Varanasi, a city as old as time
    • Indonesia
      • Beautiful Bali 2019
        • Batur Mountain & Lake
        • Kuta Sunset
        • Marvellous Munduk
        • Nusa Penida 1
        • Nusa Penida 2
        • Tirta Gangga
      • Dieng Antiquities
      • Gedung Songo
      • Gunung Lawu 2019
      • Sex & Temples
        • Candi Kethek & Ceto
        • Candi Sukuh
      • Back In Mt Bromo With A Kid In Tow 1
      • Back In Mt Bromo With A Kid In Tow 2
    • Kyrgyzstan, Land of Yurts, Horses, Vodka and 美女😆
      • Song Kul Lake Horse Trek
      • Beautiful Bishkek
      • The Ala Kul Lake Trek Via Telety & Karakol Valley
      • Dungan Mosque Kyrgyzstan
      • Holy Trinity Cathedral, Karakol
    • Magical Myanmar 2019
      • Hsipaw Trek
      • Paya Ko Thaung
      • Pining For Pyin Oo Lwin
      • Sunset In Sittwe
      • The Goteik Viaduct
      • Yangon Memories
    • Nepal
      • Everest Three Passes Trek Nepal
      • Tilicho Lake
      • Annapurna On Wheels With Two Kids In Tow
      • Gosainkund Winter Trek
      • Lost In Lumbini
    • The Water Curtain Cave
    • Kunming, Dali With A Kid In Tow
  • Wacky Workouts
    • Climb Stairs
    • Great Body Weight Exercise
    • Metabolic Principle – Fat Burn
    • Metabolic Principles – Muscles
    • Pull Ups Step By Step
    • Push Up Variations
    • Pushup Variations
    • Working With Elastics
  • About The Author
  • Knapsack Books
  • Fighting Fit
    • 1000 Squats
    • Alternatives For Prevention of AMS?
    • Buffering Your Blood
    • Carbo-loading: The Real Thing
    • Cold Dips
    • Fluid Replacement
    • Food For Hikes – Sweet Potatoes
    • Healthy Coffee?
    • High Altitude Diarrhoea
    • Jumpstart Cream
    • L-Carnitine
    • Low Carb Myths & Risks
    • MacRitchie To Bukit Timah Hike
    • Preventing Blisters
    • Sandfly Bites
    • Cheating AMS
  • Gear & Stuff
    • Choosing Footwear
    • Cooking Set
    • Cushion Gloves
    • Dressing Right For The Himalayas
    • Gelert Boots
    • High Fashion (Frogg Toggs)
    • Hiking Footwear Cheap & Good
    • How To Clean Mouldy Slides
    • My Neat Knapsack
    • New Hiking Boots From Decathlon
    • The Humble SAF Combat Boot
    • The Thermos Effect
    • Custom Made Hiking Boots
  • The Aging Adventurer
    • Bye Bye Bunions
      • 6 Weeks Post-op
      • Day 1
      • Day 2
      • Day 7
      • One Month Post-op
      • Trying On My Boots & Thongs
      • Week 3
    • Clogged Arteries: everyone has them!
    • Don’t Lose That Muscle
    • Foot On Ice
    • How Exercise Affects Blood Pressure
    • Keeping Fit Past 70
    • Secret To Burning Fat
    • Stairs Workout
    • Strength Training
    • The Best Doctors In The World
    • Toes & Poles
    • Too Old To Run?
    • Training For Seniors
  • Legends
    • Ernest Shackleton (1874-1922)
      • The Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition
    • Gigi The Bikini Hiker
    • Khoo Swee Chiow – K2, the ultimate peak
    • Xiao Peng 小鹏
    • Yu Chun Shun 余纯顺
    • Lei Dian Sheng 雷殿生
      • Horsehair & Blisters
      • Trust & Kindness
  • Other Sites by Chan Joon Yee
    • Chan Joon Yee On Homecooking
    • Chan Joon Yee On Social Issues

Login

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org
Tweets by toothfully
Follow me on twitter

Gedung Songo

Standing like outposts on the slopes of Gunung Ungaran 2050m, Gedung Songo refers to a group of ancient shrines bearing testimony to Java’s Hindu past. It is not known exactly how many of these shrines there were on this site originally, but archaeologists believe that there were once 400 temples on the Dieng Plateau. It is likely that there were as many over here, but there are hardly any reliable records to work on. Even the names of these shrines are unknown (they are named Candi 1, 2, 3, 4). These highly durable structures are the legacy of a lost civilisation.

It is believed that the site at Gedung Songo was originally built during the early period of the Mataram Kingdom which controlled Central Java during the 8th and 9th centuries – more than 1,000 years ago. Similar to the candis on Dieng Plateau, the candis at Gedung Songo were constructed from very hard volcanic stone which is only found on some volcanoes. Unlike the temples at Dieng, those at Gedung Songo are unnamed.

Built at high altitude, perhaps to test the endurance of pilgrims, the two sites of Gedung Songo and Dieng represent the oldest Hindu structures in Java. They actually predate Borobudur and Prambanan, and show considerable influence from Indian Hindu temple architecture. When I first visited Gedung Songo in 1997, the place was rather bare and rustic.

You can say that the place has gotten more commercialised. You can also say that there are more amenities now. Apart from the somewhat unnecessary playgrounds, there is plenty of horticulture invading the slopes and terraces leading up to these spectacular structures. At different times of the day, the shrines offer different perspectives for the keen photographer. The meditative and imaginative ones can also spend an entire day and a frigid night here, soaking in the eerie and mysterious atmosphere. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could have some lights inside one of those shrines?

Like at Borobudur, the exit from Gedung Songo also diverts the visitor into a maze of souvenir shops and warungs – places designed to fill your stomach and shopping bag while they empty your pocket.

There are now some amenities which allow visitors to camp overnight. For food, there are many warungs within the park to fill the tummy and toilets for emptying it. For a good soak, there is also a hot spring bath.

To visit Gedung Songo on a day trip, you can base yourself in Semarang or Bandungan (not to be confused with Bandung in West Java). I first visited Gedung Songo in 1997 while based in Semarang. This time, I chose to stay in Bangdungan – which wasn’t such a bad idea as Bandungan is situated in the highlands, so it’s cooler, less crowded and more interesting – with its pasar bunga or flower market which floods your eyes with a dazzling display of colours.

Longans, mangoesteen, oranges … Bandungan is also famous for fruits, the most interesting of which is the smooth-skinned avocado. However, don’t expect the the amenities of a city here. The hotels here are mostly basic. Those that look grand are old and poorly maintained. A little more about hotels later.

From Pasar Bandugan, you can charter a minibus that goes all the way to the entrance at Gedung Songo for about Rp 40,000. If you want to save money, you get ride on a crowded angkot to the base of Gedung Songo, then from there take an ojek to reach the entrance. It’s a long way up and the ojeks may fleece you, so it may be a better idea to charter the minibus from the market, especially when there’s more than one of you to choose from.

While Bandungan is pleasant enough to stay in, most of the eating places here are cheap, simple and somewhat unkind to the untrained stomach. Also, when you make an online booking with a hotel, you can tell what the rooms and the outside look like, but they don’t show you the neghbourhood. There are numerous karaoke bars at Bandungan and you can be sure that these places have little to do with singing.

It’s best to arrive here on a weekday, ride all the way up to the marketplace and scout around for a hotel in the vicinity. You’re sure to find decent rooms in a convenient location. These are mom and pop places not listed online and they are definitely worth checking out. Oh, I ended up staying in a very grand-looking hotel that cost me only $20 a night. As it turned out, the room was dirty and dusty and the fixtures were practically crumbling. There was an unplugged TV in the room and the biggest joke was, I couldn’t find a single electrical socket to plug in the TV or my phone charger!

Knapsack Books

2023 Knapsack Treks. Donna Theme powered by WordPress
Manage Cookie Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}