Borobudur Private Excursion From Semarang (Upper level access)

Budi made the tour experience just about as ideal as it could have been. He was right on time (actually early). He texted us and had signs ready so we could find him. The tour company accommodated our request for a combined tour with some friends who signed up later. He was extremely knowledgeable about the history of the area and the temple we were visiting. He carried our shoes and even made a remembrance video for us. His enthusiasm for his tours is infectious. This is about as ideal as it gets!

Magnificent experience. From the Temple to the friendly banter and education the was truly memorable.

We had a great trip to see and experience Borobudur. Our guide was very knowledgeable and we learned a lot of the history of Indonesia. We were picked up and brought back to our ship on time despite the traffic and port activities. We highly recommend this tour!

This was an excellent way to visit Borobudur, especially if you are short of time. All you need is an excellent driver and a very knowledgeable tour guide. He kept us informed all the way to the temple. Once there, he explained everything in detail. He is a great asset to the company.

Long drive from cruise port. I wouldn’t travel that far again to see the temple even though it was the largest Buddhist temple in the world.

Joko was an excellent guide, the tour was extremely well organized. Borobudur is magnificent and not to be missed!

Our guide Agung and driver Avan met us on time at the cruise port. Even though the SUV was clean and seemed to be in good shape, we couldn’t get either of the seat belts in the back to work. Agung and Avan worked on them for about 10 minutes and got one of them to work, but the other side had no lap belt and was shoulder harness only. I didn’t feel safe riding like that, so Agung offered to take that seat and I rode in front. The drive to Borobudur was over 2 hours and we enjoyed seeing the countryside on the way. Agung’s English was excellent and he was very friendly and knowledgeable. He made the drive go by quickly! The temple was huge and impressive. The temple supplied sandals that we had to wear, and they made a great souvenir of our day. We were assigned a temple guide with a small group. The temple has multiple levels that represent the different steps that lead up to nirvana. We were able to explore all the way up to the second highest level. We absolutely loved the temple! After the temple visit, Agung asked if we would like lunch but we weren’t hungry. So he suggested we go to a place where they demonstrate the process of batik. It was interesting and they had so many beautiful items for sale - we each bought a shirt. We arrived back at the port in plenty of time. We really enjoyed the entire tour, and we were especially impressed with our guide Agung.

+4

Long drive from the port but in a comfortable and clean vehicle with a very safe driver. In addition, a good English-speaking, extraordinarily sympathetic and helpful guide was on board, who gave us a lot of interesting information about the country and the region and made the ride very pleasant. The Borobudur World Heritage Site is extremely interesting to visit and perfectly organized on site.

OUTSTANDING experience, thanks to our guide WISNU. Wisnu and driver (?Yahya?) were ready to meet us even though we were able to disembark 30 minutes earlier than scheduled. We arrived Borobudur long before the ship buses arrived. Wisnu lives very close to the entrance, and his father had been head of the landscaping department at Borobudur, so knew most of the staff. This allowed us to very efficiently collect our upper level passes, and quickly join the next staff- guided tour of the upper levels (mandatory). We asked Wisnu to also accompany us, and we were so happy we did. He added so much more detail, and efficiently showed us as much as possible during the free time before our timed entry expired. Wisnu had played in the park as a child, and his familiarity with the "inner workings" of the park allowed us to save a lot of time avoiding the huge crowds and extended waiting for shuttles to access the car park and pickup area. Even had time to have a relaxing lunch, and still beat the ship tour busses back to Semarang in spite of New Years Eve traffic We have traveled extensively in the past 40 years, and have experienced (or endured) many tour guides. Wisnu was Absolutely one of the very best. For those of you that are contemplating whether to take an independent Borobudur upper-level tour, DO IT!

Zuqi and our driver gave us an amazing tour and excellent experience! We arrived before all the cruise tour buses and he stayed with us all the way until the climb. This was a great package because it included the climb but our cruise travel guide Ian said only the lucky ones would have the privilege of climbing to the Nirvana level, and the cruise tours did not get to do that. Zuqi took pictures and video of us and then made a 2 minute reel set to beautiful music. It’s such a poignant memory of our day. We also stopped for a beer and cocktail on the beach, fed monkeys, tried duryan (Rob liked it, I tolerated it but not the smell), and visited a Hindu temple, and a buffet lunch with souvenir shopping. I meant it when I told Zuqi that he was by far our best guide during our 2 week Malaysia and Indonesian cruise which we filled with private tours from Trip Advisor. He provided excellent commentary and explanations. When we return, we are contacting Zuqi again.