Punthuk Setumbu Sunrise, Borobudur Temple & Merapi Lava Tours

The sunrise at Borobudur was terrific. It was very atmospheric waiting for the sun and the majesty of seeing the structure you are on top of at first light was brilliant. The post-sunrise breakfast was surprisingly well-stocked. The second part of the day (a jeep ride up a volcano) was not so successful since the weather was very cloudy obscuring the views. The driver and our guide still did a really good job telling us the history of the volcano and showing us some sights though.

Experience shared by quite a lot of tourists helped by guides who take you to the temple and leave you to your experience 15 minutes before sunrise. And it is sitting on the temple of Borobudur that we gradually discover the volcano smoking slowly but surely. I advise during the wait to walk through the temple on the upper level and then, after sunrise, walk through the lower floors on the different levels of the temple to admire hundreds of sculptures.

The sunrise experience at Borobudur was incredible and I would highly recommend it. If you are booking this tour though you should know what to expect- you are basically booking a driver, not a tour guide. They pick you up at your hotel around 3:30am and drive you to Borobudur. You are then told to walk up to the temple and you just have to follow the crowds of people- definitely walk up right away and don't dawdle because you want to get a good spot to view the sunrise. The driver doesn't come with you and so you don't actually have a tour guide of the temple (this is what I did not realize when booking the tour). So you watch the sunrise and then explore the temple on your own. After that there is a buffet breakfast and then the driver takes you to Mt. Merapi where you get a new driver for the Jeep portion of the tour. This part is just OK and I wouldn't personally recommend it. It was cloudy so we didn't see the view of the top of Mt. Merapi- maybe if the weather is better it would be worth it. Anyway overall I would just recommend the sunrise tour of Borobudur and skip the rest.

Very rewarding. Local young tourists wanted a lot with us on the picture wT went nice. Been there during the day. Crowds were not so bad. I thought it was beautiful

Fantastic tour and guide. Perfect for seeing the two main sites near Magelang. Sunrise at the temple is worth it, then a Jeep ride up an active volcano after.

Day was well planned and I was picked up on time from my hotel. My guide Annang was great and supportive. Borobudur sunrise and Merrpi tour was a unique experience.

Our Tour was very cool. The Sunrise was beautiful but you have to Be early to get a good seat with a good view. Because a lot of People want to watch the sunrise. The breakfast was suprising yummy and they had fresh cooked eggs and omelett, fruits and traditional Indonesian Food. After that we went to 2 little temple also really beautiful, BUT be careful! On the Street there are a lot of women selling souvenirs and clothes. They are really annoying and persistent. And they want to force you buying something. The Jeep Tour was ok and the driver Wants to take hundreds of Photos of us but that was very Sweet and funny. All in all everthing was Fine and interesting and its worth it to book this Tour. But only the sunrise Borobudur would be enough. Our driver of the hole Tour was pretty amazing and he told us a lot about the culture.

Excellent day spent with our driver Dudu, who left us in the hands of an exceptional guide in Borobudur, who knew how to tell us the history of the site and Buddhist culture, with a little history of the country and all this mixed with humor. Like all the guides he knew how to position us best to take magnificent photos, moreover he facilitated us to exchange with locals. In short this visit was perfect. The other temples are to be made but without more for me, after all depends on your interests for the temples. The rest of the visit takes place in Merapi, it is quite special especially for the first stop in the village that suffered the volcanic eruptions of 2006 and 2010 (among others), a place quite silly for the blow, since they made it a museum with quite a few objects recovered after the incident. The rest of the tour is more fun though and I don't know if all the guides are as good photographer as ours (Agus) but we leave with exceptional photos.

It was a worth it option. We were up and running by 3:30am and came back at 3pm. Action packed but still with enough breathing room to relax halfway the tour. I recommend this tour as it has highlights of the yogyakarta experience.

Borobodur temple is stunning, but I was stunned to find that 5 chained elephants are available for tourists to ride them and take photo's with them. Nowadays it's all over the news and social media that this is a severe form of exploitation of these animals and we should all refrain from stimulating that. Please enjoy the beauty of the temple and please, don't go riding on the elephants or take photo's with them.